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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
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Issue of 2021‒02‒15
43 papers chosen by |
| By: | Pedersen, Maja Uhre (University of Southern Denmark); Geloso, Vincent (King’s University College); Sharp, Paul (University of Southern Denmark) |
| Abstract: | Previous work has demonstrated the potential for wheat market integration between the US and the UK before the ‘first era of globalization’ in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was however frequently interrupted by policy and ‘exogenous’ events such as war. This paper adds Canada to this story by looking at trade and price data, as well as contemporary debates. We find that she faced similar barriers to the US, and that membership of the British Empire was therefore not a great benefit. We also describe the limitations she faced accessing the US market, in particular after American independence. Transportation costs do not appear to be the main barrier to the emergence of a globalized economy before around 1850. |
| Keywords: | British Empire, Canada, globalization, market integration, United Kingdom, United States, wheat JEL Classification: N51, N53, N71, N73 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:531&r=all |
| By: | Martin Beddeleem (Aarhus University [Aarhus]); Nathanael Colin-Jaeger (TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] - IEP Lyon - Sciences Po Lyon - Institut d'études politiques de Lyon - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | The 1930s and 1940s marked a period of crisis for liberalism. Authors as diverse as Hayek, Röpke, Lippmann, Polanyi and Rougier came together at two founding events, the Walter Lippmann Colloquium in 1938 and the creation of the Mont-Pèlerin Society in 1947, to rethink liberalism. This rethinking of the liberal project led them to establish a diagnosis of the crisis of liberalism, which, for the authors mentioned, goes back to the French Revolution. This article proposes to show the coherence of the neoliberal project from their historical diagnosis in this period of crisis. Indeed, by criticizing the French Revolution and its effects as part of a harmful rationalism, which gave rise to both laissez-faire and various collectivisms, neoliberals explicitly take up concepts from critics of the revolution, especially Edmund Burke. The concept of tradition, understood as covering social and legal rules that have slowly evolved to constitute coordination mechanisms that allow our actions, is thus very largely taken up and valued by neoliberals. We thus interpret neoliberal theory on the basis of this recategorization of the concept of tradition, and point out the affinities of neoliberal positions with philosophical conservatism. This rapprochement reveals several conceptual tensions between cultural evolutionism on the one hand and the defence of substantial Western values on the other. |
| Abstract: | Les années 1930 et 1940 marquent une période de crise pour le libéralisme. Des auteurs aussi divers que Hayek, Röpke, Lippmann ou encore Polanyi et Rougier se réunissent, lors de deux événements fondateurs, le Colloque Walter Lippmann en 1938 et la création de la Société du Mont Pèlerin en 1947, pour repenser le libéralisme. Cette refonte du projet libéral les pousse à établir un diagnostic relatif à la crise du libéralisme, remontant, pour les auteurs mentionnés, à la Révolution Française. Cet article se propose de montrer la cohérence du projet néolibéral à partir de leur diagnostic historique dans cette période de crise. En effet en critiquant la Révolution Française et ses effets comme participant d'un rationalisme néfaste, ayant donné naissance aussi bien au laissez-faire qu'aux divers collectivismes, les néolibéraux reprennent explicitement des concepts des critiques de la révolution, au premier rang desquels Edmund Burke. Le concept de tradition, compris comme recouvrant des règles sociales et juridiques ayant lentement évoluées de façon à constituer des dispositifs de coordination permettant nos actions, est ainsi très largement repris et valorisé par les néolibéraux. Nous interprétons ainsi la théorie néolibérale à partir de cette recatégorisation du concept de tradition, et pointons les affinités des positions néolibérales avec le conservatisme philosophique. Ce rapprochement fait apparaître plusieurs tensions conceptuelles entre d'une part un évolutionnisme culturel et d'autre part la défense de valeurs occidentales substantielles. |
| Keywords: | Néoliberalisme,Conservatisme,tradition,Hayek,Röpke |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02488697&r=all |
| By: | Luna Bellani; Anselm Hager; Stephan E. Maurer |
| Abstract: | This paper documents the persistence of the Southern slave owning elite in political power after the end of the American Civil War. We draw on a database of Texan state legislators between 1860 and 1900 and link them to their or their ancestors' slaveholdings in 1860. We then show that former slave owners made up more than half of nearly each legislature's members until the late 1890s. Legislators with slave owning backgrounds differ systematically from those without, being more likely to represent the Democratic party and more likely to work in an agricultural occupation. Regional characteristics matter for this persistence, as counties with higher soil suitability for growing cotton on average elect more former slave owners. |
| Keywords: | Wealth inequality, elites and development, US south, intergenerational persistence, slavery |
| JEL: | D72 J62 N31 H4 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1714&r=all |
| By: | Martin Ravallion |
| Abstract: | The other side of the coin to post-reform success is often pre-reform failure, and the policy lessons are found on both sides. The paper estimates how much of China’s poverty rate around 1980—near the outset of Deng Xiaoping’s pro-market reforms—is attributable to the prior Maoist regime. Based on the history, it is argued that South Korea and Taiwan provide a relevant counterfactual. Then a difference-in-difference estimate using historical data indicates that about two thirds of China’s poverty in 1980 is attributed to the impact of the Maoist path since 1950. Further checks and tests suggest that (if anything) this is likely to be an underestimate. It took 10-20 years for China’s post-reform economy to make up the lost ground. The impact of the Maoist path had begun to fade in the 1970s, and half or more of the catch-up was in period up to 1990, under Deng’s rule. |
| JEL: | I32 N35 O53 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28370&r=all |
| By: | Michaël Assous (TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] - IEP Lyon - Sciences Po Lyon - Institut d'études politiques de Lyon - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Vincent Carret (TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] - IEP Lyon - Sciences Po Lyon - Institut d'études politiques de Lyon - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2) |
| Abstract: | In 1932, Jan Tinbergen proposed an explanation of the Great Depression based on a specific treatment of unstable processes and multiple equilibria. While he outlined a possible mechanism based on a specific treatment of firms' interactions, this first explanation was later abandoned in favor of more dynamic mechanisms, but he did not cast aside the idea of multiple equilibria and instability. After his involvement in the early meetings of the econometric society, he started working on different dynamic models that would account for this instability. In 1934, Tinbergen built a model to generate new types of economic movements that did not return to an equilibrium. This led him in 1936 to consider the possibility of having two equilibria, one stable, one unstable, with damped or self-sustained cycles around the high equilibrium and a collapse once the economy reaches the low equilibrium. Tinbergen saw these models, with reference to Fisher's 1933 classic Econometrica paper, as a way to interpret the potential of a crisis to trigger the collapse of the economy. At the end of the day, it turns out that Tinbergen managed to open a new avenue of research which, strikingly, remains almost totally ignored in most history of macroeconomics and econometrics. |
| Keywords: | Jan Tinbergen,Great Depression |
| Date: | 2020–12–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03087375&r=all |
| By: | Hadiza Wada (Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria) |
| Abstract: | This work studied the trends set so far by privately owned radio stations after almost thirty years of operation in Nigeria. The Nigerian professional media history goes back a long way, with the recording of the first modern style newspaper in 1859. Radio came in the early 1930s, and television in 1959. But it was not until August 24, 1992 with the proclamation of a military decree No. 38, more than a century later, that media professionals in Nigeria were able to officially register privately owned radio and television stations through the National Broadcasting Commission. It’s been almost thirty years of privatized media operations, but not much empirical studies have been conducted to measure the impact of privatized media on the industry, trends established so far, as well as impact on the nation’s economic, political and social development. A survey of employees of two private radio stations was conducted. Program quality in comparison to government owned media was rated very high by the respondents, while ownership influence in programming decisions was a major hindrance, so also financing problems. Data was analysed within the framework of developmental media theory. It was recommended that the government generate and commit to solid short, medium, and long term development plans for the media to complement with advocacy and programming content. And for the stations to find alternative ways of fundraising to allow them function more in line with their professional calling and expectations, while serving public interests. |
| Keywords: | Nigerian Media, Media and development, development communication |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:bpaper:019hw&r=all |
| By: | Becker, Sascha O. (Monash U and U Warwick, CAGE, CEPR, CESifo, Ifo, IZA and ROA); Won, Cheongyeon (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | In the mid 19th century, pre-colonial Korea under the Joseon dynasty was increasingly isolated and lagging behind in its economic development. Joseon Korea was forced to sign unequal treaties with foreign powers as a result of which Christian missionaries entered the country and contributed to the establishment of private schools. We show that areas with a larger presence of Christians have higher literacy rates in 1930, during the Japanese colonial period. We also show that a higher number of Protestants is associated with higher female literacy, consistent with a stronger emphasis on female education in Protestant denominations. |
| Keywords: | Literacy, Religion, Missionaries, Gender gap, Korea. JEL Classification: I21; N35; Z12; J16. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:533&r=all |
| By: | Aurelia Sabiescu (University of Craiova, Craiova, Romania) |
| Abstract: | It is important to say that a decisive part within De Martino’s process of intellectual becoming is represented both by the evolution of his thinking process starting from theories and concepts that he initially embraces, which he later abandons or nuances, but also by his relationship with other intellectuals, that is the dialogue he had with these and the extremely fruitful role of reciprocate criticism. It is what we actually find within the things exposed above. A remarkable thing to notice is the dialogue between Ernesto de Martino and Mircea Eliade. But before formulating some conclusive remarks of these reciprocate exchange of impressions and objections on the theoretical level regarding their implications on De Martino’s work, it is important to bear in mind some substantial aspects of De Martino’s major influences prior to his dialogue with Eliade. Starting from his initial argument, which he expressed when he was young, on the importance of the necessity of exploring the world of mystery, but also from the major loss of western thinking of ignoring this subject, De Martino structures his analytical work on Benedetto Croce’s conceptual basis. After internalizing Croce’s perspective on history, even on mystery, De Martino takes over on Croce’s basic idea of the mystery’s own existence as imaginary abstract category, which reason cannot define accurately, but particularly emphasizes on the western world accumulation of prejudices (pre-conceived ideas) on this topic. Moreover, De Martino notices the essence of Croce’s idea, which he takes and applies conscientiously as methodologic landmark of his entire work: the fact that, the irrational, which is an intricate aspect linked to the “mystery†theme, operates on the level of history. |
| Keywords: | mystery, the irrational, history, abstract category, intellectual |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:bpaper:028sa&r=all |
| By: | Sascha O. Becker; Cheongyeon Won |
| Abstract: | In the mid 19th century, pre-colonial Korea under the Joseon dynasty was increasingly isolated and lagging behind in its economic development. Joseon Korea was forced to sign unequal treaties with foreign powers as a result of which Christian missionaries entered the country and contributed to the establishment of private schools. We show that areas with a larger presence of Christians have higher literacy rates in 1930, during the Japanese colonial period. We also show that a higher number of Protestants is associated with higher female literacy, consistent with a stronger emphasis on female education in Protestant denominations. |
| Keywords: | literacy, religion, missionaries, gender gap, Korea |
| JEL: | I21 N35 Z12 J16 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8824&r=all |
| By: | , AISDL |
| Abstract: | Until French colonization in the mid-19th century, Vietnam's economy was uniformly agrarian, subsistence, and village-oriented. French colonizers, however, deliberately developed the regions differently, designating the South for agricultural production and the North for manufacturing. |
| Date: | 2021–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:3bgwq&r=all |
| By: | Cheng, Nora (National Taiwan University); Fan, Elliott (National Taiwan University); Wu, Tsong-Min (National Taiwan University) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the sudden disappearance of foot-binding, a costly custom practiced for centuries in China and Taiwan prior to its demise. We estimate the numbers of women who unbound their feet in response to the rapid growth of the sugarcane cultivation in Taiwan in the early 20th century, growth which boosted the demand for female labor relative to male labor. Cross-township variations based upon multiple history datasets indicate that cane cultivation had a strong and robust effect on unbinding. The IV estimations utilizing cane railroads – lines built exclusively for cane transportation – support a causal interpretation of the estimated effect. This finding implies that a change in gender-specific labor productivity can help eliminate costly norms against women, and it also provides additional support for the argument that foot-binding was incentivized by economic motives. We also present evidence lending credit for the conventional hypothesis of foot-binding as a form of marriage competition. |
| Keywords: | foot-binding, social norms, gender roles, sugarcane |
| JEL: | J16 N35 Z13 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14076&r=all |
| By: | Fabien Tarrit (REGARDS - Recherches en Économie Gestion AgroRessources Durabilité Santé- EA 6292 - URCA - Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne - MSH-URCA - Maison des Sciences Humaines de Champagne-Ardenne - URCA - Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne) |
| Abstract: | Can Marx's economic thought be reconstructed from neoclassical economics? This is the question John Roemer tried to answer. He was a major actor of Analytical Marxism – especially of Rational Choice Marxism –, mainly during the 1980s. The founding objective of this school of thought has been to reach conclusions that are close to Marx's in using different methodological tools. Roemer's research program is based on the neoclassical theory. We shall discuss the consistency and the relevance of this approach through a critical examination. We wonder either what is questioned is Marx's theory or the possibility to associate it to the tools of the neoclassical theory. |
| Abstract: | Peut-on reconstruire sans la trahir la pensée économique de Marx à partir de la théorie néoclassique ? C'est la question à laquelle a tenté de répondre John Roemer. Il fut l'un des principaux contributeurs du marxisme analytique-plus précisément du marxisme de choix rationnel-, principalement au cours des années 1980. L'objectif fondateur de ce courant a été de parvenir à des conclusions proches de celles de Marx en utilisant des outils méthodologiques différents. Le programme de recherche de Roemer se fonde sur la théorie néoclassique. Nous discutons, d'un point de vue critique, la cohérence et la pertinence de cette approche. Nous nous demandons si ce qui est remis en cause est la théorie de Marx ou la possibilité de l'associer aux outils de la théorie néoclassique. |
| Keywords: | labour value,historical materialism,Marx,valeur-travail,profit,exploitation,matérialisme historique |
| Date: | 2020–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03090142&r=all |
| By: | Fourie, Johan (Stellenbosch University); Jayes, Jonathan (Stellenbosch University) |
| Abstract: | The 1918 influenza – the Spanish flu – killed an estimated 6% of South Africans. Not all were equally affected. Mortality rates were particularly high in districts with a large share of black and coloured residents. To investigate why this happened, we transcribed 39,482 death certificates from the Cape Province. Using a novel indicator – whether a doctor’s name appears on the death certificate – we argue that the unequal health outcomes were a consequence of unequal access to healthcare. Our results show that the racial inequalities in health outcomes that existed before October 1918 were exacerbated during the pandemic. Access to healthcare, as we expected, worsened for black and coloured residents of the Cape Province. Unexpectedly, however, we found that other inequalities were unchanged, or even reversed, notably age, occupation and location. Living in the city, for instance, became a health hazard rather than a benefit during the pandemic. These surprising results contradict the general assumption that all forms of inequality are exacerbated during a crisis. Our analyses suggest explanations for the widening racial gap in healthcare access during the 1918 pandemic, from both the demand and the supply side. We could find, however, no evidence of racial prejudice. Our findings confirm the importance of taking race into account in studying the effects of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic or other world crises. |
| Keywords: | Spanish flu, health care, inequality, healthcare, influenza, pandemic JEL Classification: I14, N37 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:532&r=all |
| By: | Gilles Campagnolo (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Christel Vivel (ESDES - École de management de Lyon - Université Catholique de Lyon) |
| Abstract: | This paper is the last part of a trilogy on the theory and history of entrepreneurship in Austrian school of economics. The triptych ends with contemporary members by comparing Israel Kirzner and Murray Rothbard. The migration of the Austrian school induced a new assessment of Austrian traits in a new setting. While we do not focus on the history of the Austrian school in America as such, we will stress how Kirzner focused his view of entrepreneurship on the concepts of alertness, discovery by opportunity and the equilibrating action of the entrepreneur – while Rothbard's contribution was more ideologically engaged. |
| Keywords: | methodology,institutions,Kirzner (Israel),Austrian School of Economics,entrepreneurship,Rothbard (Murray). |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03107316&r=all |
| By: | Etienne Peyrat (IEP Lille - Sciences Po Lille - Institut d'études politiques de Lille, IRHiS - Institut de Recherches Historiques du Septentrion (IRHiS) - UMR 8529 - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Lille); Kristy Ironside (McGill University = Université McGill [Montréal, Canada]) |
| Keywords: | Public Debt,Finance,Political Economy |
| Date: | 2020–11–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02971296&r=all |
| By: | Roberto Basile (University of L'Aquila); Carlo Ciccarelli (CEIS & DEF, University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Peter Groote (Faculty of Spatial Sciences,Groningen) |
| Abstract: | Italy was unified in 1861. As part of the process of nation-building, a free and mandatory national primary school system was established. While the new school system greatly contributed to the modernization of the country, its initial design did not reduce considerably regional disparities in human capital, with Southern regions lagging behind. The paper studies the effect of the heterogeneous territorial diffusion of literacy during the postunification period (1871-1911) on economic and social outcomes of Italian provinces 100 years later. We exploit the exogenous variations in the territorial spread in literacy rates arising from the gradual building and expansion of the railway network across provinces. We find evidence that provinces with a higher territorial diffusion of primary education in the post-unification period have today higher income per capita, less unemployment, and greater educational attainment. The evidence in terms of social capital outcomes is instead mixed, depending on the indicator considered. |
| Keywords: | Education, long-term effects, regions, Italy. |
| JEL: | J24 H75 R12 N13 |
| Date: | 2020–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:497&r=all |
| By: | Cecile Gaubert; Patrick M. Kline; Damián Vergara; Danny Yagan |
| Abstract: | We study trends in income inequality across U.S. states and counties 1960-2019 using a mix of administrative and survey data sources. Both states and counties have diverged in terms of per-capita pre-tax incomes since the late 1990s, with transfers serving to dampen this divergence. County incomes have been diverging since the late 1970s. These trends in mean income mask opposing patterns among top and bottom income quantiles. Top incomes have diverged markedly across states since the late 1970s. In contrast, bottom income quantiles and poverty rates have converged across areas in recent decades. |
| JEL: | E01 H2 R1 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28385&r=all |
| By: | Nguyen, Minh-Hoang |
| Abstract: | The innovative and systematic viewpoint in the book titled Kinh tế Việt Nam: Thăng trầm và Đột phá inspired me to write this review. |
| Date: | 2021–01–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:vmqdx&r=all |
| By: | Naef, Alain |
| Abstract: | This paper presents new daily data on central bank reserves during the Bretton Woods period. It is the first paper to provide daily data for the Bank of France, Bank of England and Swiss National Bank directly from these central bank’s archives. I discuss some of the issue with these data and make them available to other researchers for further analysis. |
| Date: | 2021–01–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:he7gx&r=all |
| By: | Belmonte, Alessandro (IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca) |
| Abstract: | States typically leverage on schooling to transmit desired values to the population. However, indoctrination through schooling typically requires teachers, school buildings and other capabilities. This paper documents that a low school capacity hampered the effort of the Italian fascist regime in transmitting a fascist ideology. I use evidence from a natural experiment of history—the reclamation of the Pontine Marshes. I argue that the reclamation acted as a shock in the regime’s school capacity. The design and construction of new rural villages gave the regime the opportunity to build schools on a large scale, improving the regime’s capability in transmitting a fascist ideology. This was hardly the case in the contiguous, pre-existent area, in the same province of Latina, where enrollment rates were low. I use this variation in schooling before WWII in an instrumental variable analysis. It shows that better educated areas in the province were more supporting of a post-fascist party in the elections freely held in 1948. Further analyses indicate that school capacity is a critical extensive margin of pedagogical reforms in shaping people values. |
| Keywords: | state capacity, schooling, education, indoctrination, political values, voting, fascism. JEL Classification: H11, H75, I28, H13, P16, N44 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:528&r=all |
| By: | C. Pezon (LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM]) |
| Abstract: | In France, for nearly 150 years, the provision of water services fell under the responsibility of 36,000 municipalities which could organize these services at their own scale or within the framework of a variety of communal associations. Municipalities also decided if water services were to be publicly managed or delegated to private operators. Despite recurrent reforms, these arrangements remained in place for many decades, but in 2015 the NOTRe Law transferred jurisdiction over water services from 36,600 municipalities to 2,000 urban and rural communities. This Law is the culmination of a series of policy reforms aimed at restructuring the management of water services and constitutes a significant challenge for rural areas and small towns. |
| Keywords: | history of water services,municipal services,public management,private management,water services reform,France |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03102777&r=all |
| By: | Emilie Bonhoure (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Agency issues (the conflicts that arise due to the divergence of stakeholders' interests within firms) remain a critical challenge faced by companies. Unfortunately, there is hardly any existing solution that can claim to mitigate all agency issues at the same time. In this study, I examine an original governance mechanism, widespread within French firms at the turn of the 20th century, which could do so: a statutory rule of profit allocation. It fixed in corporate statutes the part of profits to be allocated to a pre-determined set of agents. Contrary to other solutions, this rule could indeed be a way to solve several types of agency issues at the same time. Focusing on the allocations to shareholders, I show that this was the case: firms with more severe agency conflicts promised a higher part of profits to shareholders. I also provide evidence of the efficiency of this rule. Firms with more severe agency issues did not deviate too much from it (despite the specific deviations sometimes allowed) and distributed actual dividends close to the promised ones. |
| Keywords: | profit allocation,corporate governance,dividend policy,agency theory,historical finance,France |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03107869&r=all |
| By: | Latika Chaudhary (Naval Post Graduate School); Fenske, James (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | Abstract. We study the effect of railroads, the single largest public investment in colonial India, on human capital. Using district-level data on literacy, we find railroads had positive effects on literacy, in particular on male and English literacy. We employ two identification strategies. First, we exploit synthetic panel variation contained in cohort-specific literacy rates due to differences in the timing of railroad exposure of different cohorts within the same district and census year. We find a one standard deviation increase in railroad exposure raises literacy by 0.29 standard deviations. Second, we use distance from an early railway plan as an instrument for district railway exposure in the cross section and find results of similar magnitude. We show that railroads increased literacy by raising secondary, rather than primary, schooling. Our mediation analysis suggests that non-agricultural income and opportunities for skilled employment are important mechanisms, while agricultural income is not. |
| Keywords: | Colonialism, Railways, Literacy. JEL Classification: N75, N35, R40 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:529&r=all |
| By: | Ho, Manh-Toan (Thanh Tay University Hanoi) |
| Abstract: | Vietnam should teach economics to high school students [1]. The need for this subject is apparent. However, where should we begin? Indeed, classic works, or at least certain passages, are recommendable. A simple search on Google can point you to a lot of good selections [2-5]. However, this is the easy part. How about books on Vietnam’s economy, especially the economic history of Vietnam. High school is a great opportunity to study basic knowledge and get to know about history. |
| Date: | 2021–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:k3pbz&r=all |
| By: | Dincecco, Mark (University of Michigan); Fenske, James (University of Warwick); Menon, Anil (University of Michigan) |
| Abstract: | Difference in difference and event study analyses in a panel of Asian grid cells over nine centuries demonstrate that greater agricultural potential due to New World crops increased violent conflict after 1500. Rising caloric potential in a typical grid cell increased conflict by roughly its mean. The result holds across several New World crops and conflict types. It is largely driven by South Asia, a densely populated, diverse region with several competing historical states. The evidence supports a rapacity effect – increases in the gains from appropriation to Asian and non-Asian belligerents – as a mechanism. Population density, urbanization, and British imperialism significantly mediate the impact of the Columbian Exchange. |
| Keywords: | JEL Classification: |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:527&r=all |
| By: | Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M.; Barr, Jason |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a synthesis of the state of knowledge on the economics of skyscrapers. First, we document how vertical urban growth has gained pace over the course of the 20th century. Second, we lay out a simple theoretical model of optimal building heights in a competitive market to rationalize this trend. Third, we provide estimates of a range of parameters that shape the urban height profile along with a summary of the related theoretical and empirical literature. Fourth, we discuss factors outside the competitive market framework that explain the rich variation in building height over short distances, such as durability of the structures, height competition, and building regulations. Fifth, we suggest priority areas for future research into the vertical dimension of cities. |
| Keywords: | density; economics; history; skyscraper; urban |
| JEL: | R14 J01 N0 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:108469&r=all |
| By: | Samuel Demeulemeester (TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] - IEP Lyon - Sciences Po Lyon - Institut d'études politiques de Lyon - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03103172&r=all |
| By: | Michael Gurven; Thomas S. Kraft; Sarah Alami; Juan Copajira Adrian; Edhitt Cortez Linares; Daniel Cummings; Daniel Eid Rodriguez; Paul L. Hooper; Adrian Jaeggi; Raul Quispe Gutierrez; Ivan Maldonado Suarez; Edmond Seabright; Hillard Kaplan; Jonathan Stieglitz (TSE - Toulouse School of Economics - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Benjamin C. Trumble |
| Abstract: | Normal human body temperature (BT) has long been considered to be 37.0°C. Yet, BTs have declined over the past two centuries in the United States, coinciding with reductions in infection and increasing life expectancy. The generality of and reasons behind this phenomenon have not yet been well studied. Here, we show that Bolivian forager-farmers (n = 17,958 observations of 5481 adults age 15+ years) inhabiting a pathogen-rich environment exhibited higher BT when first examined in the early 21st century (~37.0°C). BT subsequently declined by ~0.05°C/year over 16 years of socioeconomic and epidemiological change to ~36.5°C by 2018. As predicted, infections and other lifestyle factors explain variation in BT, but these factors do not account for the temporal declines. Changes in physical activity, body composition, antibiotic usage, and thermal environment are potential causes of the temporal decline. |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03081481&r=all |
| By: | Juhasz, Reka (Columbia, NBER and CEPR); Squicciarini, Mara P. (Bocconi and CEPR); Voigtlander, Nico (UCLA, NBER, and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the future of remote work by drawing parallels between two contexts: The move from home to factory-based production during the Industrial Revolution and the shift to work from home today. Both are characterized by a similar trade-off: the potential productivity advantage of the new working arrangement made possible by technology (mechanization or ICT), versus organizational barriers such as coordinating workers. Using contemporary data, we show that organizational barriers seem to be present today. Without further technological or organizational innovations, remote work may not be here to stay just yet. |
| Keywords: | Work from Home, Industrial Revolution, Coordination JEL Classification: F63, O14 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:535&r=all |
| By: | Timothy Hills; Huy Nguyen; Randa Sab |
| Abstract: | This study focuses on identifying the main factors that influenced country-specific and aggregate demand for IMF concessional financing between 1986 and 2018 and makes within-period and out-of-period forecasts. We find that the external debt level, inflation, and real effective exchange rate are the main economic variables influencing concessional borrowing for most eligible countries. Finally, our approach is able to provide quite accurate country-level and aggregate forecasts for historical financing events prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| Date: | 2021–01–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2021/015&r=all |
| By: | Huston, Simon (Coventry University) |
| Abstract: | Academic letter or brief synopsis of forthcoming French Indochina War study |
| Date: | 2020–12–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:2p9by&r=all |
| By: | Amior, Michael |
| Abstract: | Revised May 2020. Revised January 2021. Using decadal census data since 1960, I cannot reject the hypothesis that new immigrants crowd out existing residents from US commuting zones and states one-for-one. My estimate is precise and robust to numerous specifications, as well as accounting for local dynamics; and I show how it can be reconciled with apparently conflicting results in the literature. Exploiting my model's structure, I attribute 30% of the observed effect to mismeasurement, specifically undercoverage of immigrants. Based on a remarkably simple decomposition, I show that population mobility accounts for 90% of local adjustment, and labor demand the remainder. These results have important methodological implications for the estimation of immigration effects. |
| Keywords: | immigration; geographic mobility; local labor markets; employment |
| JEL: | J61 J64 R23 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:108490&r=all |
| By: | Morales Meoqui, Jorge |
| Abstract: | The recent demystification of David Ricardo’s famous numerical example in chapter 7 of the Principles bears important implications for the longstanding attribution debate on the law of comparative advantage. It has now become apparent that neither Ricardo nor Smith had anything to do with it. In reality, they both adhered to the classical rule for specialization, allegedly refuted by the law of comparative advantage. The unfounded belief in the existence of this so-called law gradually grew out of the confusion created by John Stuart Mill’s misreading of the purpose, content and implications of Ricardo’s four numbers. As shown in the paper, J. S. Mill, James Mill and Robert Torrens also always adhered to the classical rule for specialization. Thus, the law of comparative advantage is nothing more than an illusion, so no one should be credited for it. |
| Date: | 2021–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:uwdbk&r=all |
| By: | Ho, Manh-Toan (Thanh Tay University Hanoi) |
| Abstract: | This short explorative article looks at the list of papers on Vietnam's entrepreneurship in the past ten years. |
| Date: | 2021–01–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:2qnp9&r=all |
| By: | Michael Amior |
| Abstract: | Using decadal census data since 1960, I cannot reject the hypothesis that new immigrants crowd out existing residents from US commuting zones and states one-for-one. My estimate is precise and robust to numerous specifications, as well as accounting for local dynamics; and I show how it can be reconciled with apparently conflicting results in the literature. Exploiting my model's structure, I attribute 30% of the observed effect to mismeasurement, specifically undercoverage of immigrants. Though labor demand does respond, population mobility accounts for 90% of local adjustment. These results have important implications for both structural and reduced form estimation of immigration effects. |
| Keywords: | immigration, geographical mobility, local labor markets, employment |
| JEL: | J61 J64 R23 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1669&r=all |
| By: | Eberle, Ulrich |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the impact of dams on local conflict across the world with georeferenced location information on dams and conflict events for the years 1989 to 2016. The identification strategy exploits exogenous variation in the river gradient to instrument for endogenous dam placement. The results document strong and robust evidence for an increase in intrastate conflict in the immediate vicinity of newly-built dams, but no robust effect for interstate conflict can be identified. Examining the mechanisms, ethnically polarized and fractionalized regions are more likely to experience the negative economic consequences as well as a surge in violence associated with dams. Further, countries with low levels of political competition are subject to more violence, suggesting that an institutional failure to account for local preferences may lead to violent confrontations. Finally, the policy analysis reveals that organizations providing the funding for dams, usually international financial institutions, have effective tools such as transboundary water treaties to prevent an outbreak of violence by enforcing regulation and monitoring during the implementation phases of dams. |
| Keywords: | dams; infrastructure; conflict; civil war; ethnicity; fractionalization; inequality; Doc.Mobility fellowship P1LAP1\_181253 |
| JEL: | D74 H54 N40 O13 O18 |
| Date: | 2020–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:108457&r=all |
| By: | Antonie, Luiza; Inwood, Kris; Minns, Chris; Summerfield, Fraser |
| Abstract: | This paper uses new linked full-count census data for Canada to document intergenerational occupational mobility from 1871 to1901. We find significant differences between Canadian regions and language groups, with linguistic minorities experiencing notably lower rates of intergenerational mobility. International comparisons place Canada midway between other economies in the Americas and the most mobile European societies. Decompositions of overall mobility show that the Canadian experience shared the New World feature of high mobility from manual occupations, but also the Old World feature of greater persistence in white collar jobs. |
| Keywords: | Canada; intergenerational mobility; social mobility; linkage |
| JEL: | J62 N31 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:108411&r=all |
| By: | Nicole M. Fortin; Thomas Lemieux; Neil Lloyd |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of spillover effects of minimum wages and threat effects of unionization in changes in wage inequality in the United States between 1979 and 2017. A distribution regression framework is introduced to estimate both types of spillover effects. Threat effects double the contribution of de-unionization to the increase in male wage inequality. Spillover effects magnify the explanatory power of declining minimum wages to two-thirds of the increase in inequality at the bottom end of the female wage distribution. |
| JEL: | D31 J31 J51 J80 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28375&r=all |
| By: | Ho, Manh-Toan (Thanh Tay University Hanoi) |
| Abstract: | This short explorative article looks at the list of papers on Vietnam's political economy in the past ten years. |
| Date: | 2020–12–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:jqw4a&r=all |
| By: | Damir Galaz-Mandakovic (Universidad Católica del Norte [Antofagasta]) |
| Abstract: | This article, through various primary and secondary sources, characterizes the socioeconomic history of Tocopilla since the industrialization of copper and saltpeter mining, emphasizing macro-processes and their derivations in society, both economic, political and health, analyzing in a last stage, community actions that, in the framework of a series of protests, sought to make visible and reverse the dense evolution of asymmetry, economic inequality and precariousness in health care, especially with the social outbreak-or popular rebellion-of Tocopilla in 2013. In that direction, this work raises two hypotheses, the first referring to the fact that the processes of mining capitalism historically demonstrate the irremediable disarticulation with the environment and the need for a community subsidiarity, in the sense that someone has to contribute with the costs and help with a diversity of dispositions to an alien activity. As a second approach, we propose that the community processes that led to the riots in 2013, in which the accumulation of memories of asymmetries and lag was expressed and made visible, only resulted in the manifestation of a localist story, which is It was based on a performativity, as a result of contentious representations, which did not alter the structures of the economic and health system at the regional level, which deepened the lag. In this way, the version of the hegemonic narrative of politics and the local and regional analysis of said phenomenon is contravened. |
| Abstract: | En este artículo se caracteriza la historia socioeconómica de Tocopilla, enfatizando en los macroprocesos y en sus derivaciones sanitarias y políticas, analizándose en una última etapa las agencias comunitarias que, en el marco de una serie de protestas, buscaron revertir el devenir espeso de la asimetría, la desigualdad y la precariedad en la atención de salud. En esa dirección, este manuscrito plantea dos hipótesis, la primera remitida a que los procesos del capitalismo minero históricamente demuestran la necesidad de una subsidiaridad comunitaria, en el sentido que alguien tiene que pagar los costos y subsidiar con una diversidad de disposiciones a una actividad ajena. Como segundo planteamiento, proponemos que los procesos comunitarios que agenciaron visibilizadas protestas en el año 2013, en las cuales se expresó la acumulación de las memorias de las asimetrías, solamente devinieron en la manifestación de un relato localista el cual se sustentó en una performatividad, por efecto de representaciones contenciosas, que no alteraron las estructuras del sistema económico y sanitario que a nivel regional profundizan el rezago. |
| Keywords: | Tocopilla,underdevelopment,contamination,lag,poverty,extractivism,subdesarrollo,contaminación,rezago,pobreza,extractivismo |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03085761&r=all |
| By: | Le Bris, David |
| Abstract: | This paper links economic development to age-old family characteristics through the propensity to invest and thus increase human productivity. Inequality among siblings favors investment in physical capital, while a high status of women and strong parental authority favor investment in human capital. To test this theory, a family score is built according to the presence of these three characteristics in the traditional family type of each country. This family score as well as basic family characteristics are significantly associated with better economic outcomes (GDP per capita as well as proxies for investment in human and physical capital). These relationships are robust to other factors already identified as playing a role, such as geography, ethnic fractionalization, genetic diversity, religion, and formal institutions. Reverse causality is rejected by both historical anthropology and an instrumental investigation. |
| Keywords: | Economic development, Family model, Cultural Economics, Reversal of fortune |
| JEL: | N10 N30 N50 O10 O50 Z10 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:105325&r=all |
| By: | Ho, Manh-Toan (Thanh Tay University Hanoi) |
| Abstract: | Nonetheless, economics is an attractive field, and it is also fundamentally human. Therefore, one of the greatest contributions of Kinh tế Việt Nam: Thăng trầm và đột phá (2009) is how the book focuses on the fundamentals: a good story, with strong support from statistics, economic foundations, and sensibility. |
| Date: | 2021–01–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:9rwe4&r=all |
| By: | Benetos, Emmanouil (Queen Mary University of London and The Alan Turing Institute); Ragano, Alessandro (University College Dublin); Sgroi, Daniel (University of Warwick, ESRC CAGE Centre and IZA Bonn.); Tuckwell, Anthony (University of Warwick and ESRC CAGE Centre.) |
| Abstract: | We propose a new measure for national happiness based on the emotional content of a country’s most popular songs. Using machine learning to detect the valence of the UK’s chart-topping song of each year since the 1970s, we find that it reliably predicts the leading survey-based measure of life satisfaction. Moreover, we find that music valence is better able to predict life satisfaction than a recently-proposed measure of happiness based on the valence of words in books (Hills et al., 2019). Our results have implications for the role of music in society, and at the same time validate a new use of music as a measure of public sentiment. |
| Keywords: | subjective wellbeing, life satisfaction, national happiness, music information retrieval, machine learning. JEL Classification: N30, Z11, Z13 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:537&r=all |