|
on Business, Economic and Financial History |
|
Issue of 2021‒08‒30
thirty papers chosen by |
| By: | Michael D. Bordo |
| Abstract: | Digitalization of Money is a crossroad in monetary history. Advances in technology has led to the development of new forms of money: virtual (crypto) currencies like bitcoin; stable coins like libra/diem; and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) like the Bahamian sand dollar. These innovations in money and finance have resonance to earlier shifts in monetary history: 1) The shift in the eighteenth and nineteenth century from commodity money (gold and silver coins) to convertible fiduciary money and inconvertible fiat money; 2) the shift in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from central bank notes to a central bank monopoly; 3) Then evolution since the seventeenth century of central banks and the tools of monetary policy. This paper analyzes the arguments for a CBDC through the lens of monetary history. The bottom line is that the history of transformations in monetary systems suggests that technical change in money is inevitably driven by the financial incentives of a market economy. Government has always had a key role in the provision of outside money, which is a public good. Government has also regulated inside money provided by the private sector. This held for fiduciary money and will likely hold for digital money. CBDC could make monetary policy more efficient, and it could transform the international monetary and payments systems. |
| JEL: | E42 E52 E58 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29171&r= |
| By: | Kedrosky, Davis; Palma, Nuno |
| Abstract: | As late as 1750, Portugal had an output per head considerably higher than those of France or Spain. Yet just a century later, Portugal was Western Europe’s poorest country. In this paper we show that the discovery of massive quantities of gold in Brazil over the eighteenth century played a key role for the long-run development of Portugal’s economy. We focus on the economic resource curse: the loss of competitiveness of the tradables sector manifested in the rise of the price of non-traded goods relative to traded imports. Using original price data from archives for four Portuguese regions between 1650 and 1800, we show that a real exchange rate appreciation of about 30 percent occurred during the eighteenth century, which led to a loss of the competitiveness of national industry from which the country did not recover until considerably later. |
| Keywords: | Dutch Disease; resource curse; early modern Portugal; the Little Divergence JEL Classification: N10, N13, N50, N53, N73 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:574&r= |
| By: | Fourie, Johan (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University, South Africa); Norling, Johannes (Department of Economics, Mount Holyoke College, United States) |
| Abstract: | How did the 1918 influenza outbreak, the deadliest pandemic of the twentieth century, affect household income and spending in the United States? Using the 1917–1919 BLS cost of living survey, we compare households in 99 cities observed at different stages of the pandemic. We find a six percent decrease in real income, driven by cities with higher mortality. Men’s wages fell, but more women worked. People spent less on nondurable goods and services, about the same on durables, and more on medicine. Spending varied by region, age, and affluence. Governmentimposed non-pharmaceutical interventions had little correlation with consumer behavior. |
| Keywords: | Spanish flu, Pandemic, Income, Spending JEL Classification: N32, I18 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:571&r= |
| By: | Lucas Chancel (WIL - World Inequality Lab , PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 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 Paris 1 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); Thomas Piketty (WIL - World Inequality Lab , PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 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 Paris 1 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: | In this paper, we mobilize newly available historical series from the World Inequality Database to construct world income distribution estimates from 1820 to 2020. We find that the level of global income inequality has always been very large, reflecting the persistence of a highly hierarchical world economic system. Global inequality increased between 1820 and 1910, in the context of the rise of Western dominance and colonial empires, and then stabilized at a very high level between 1910 and 2020. Between 1820 and 1910, both between-country and within-country inequality were increasing. In contrast, these two components of global inequality have moved separately between 1910 and 2020: within-country inequality dropped in 1910- 1980 (while between-country inequality kept increasing) but rose in 1980-2020 (while between-country inequality started to decline). As a consequence of these contradictory and compensating evolutions, early 21st century neo-colonial capitalism involves similar levels of inequality as early 20th century colonial capitalism, though it is based upon a different set of rules and institutions. We also discuss how alternative rules such as fiscal revenue sharing could lead to a significant drop in global inequality. |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wilwps:halshs-03321887&r= |
| By: | Becker, Sascha O. (Department of Economics, Monash University and U Warwick); Pino, Francisco J. (Department of Economics, University of Chile); Vidal-Robert, Jordi (Department of Economics, University of Sydney) |
| Abstract: | The Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century challenged the monopoly of the Catholic Church. The printing press helped the new movement spread its ideas well beyond the cradle of the Reformation in Luther’s city of Wittenberg. The Catholic Church reacted by issuing indexes of forbidden books which blacklisted not only Protestant authors but all authors whose ideas were considered to be in conflict with Catholic doctrine. We use newly digitized data on the universe of books censored by the Catholic Church during the Counter-Reformation, containing information on titles, authors, printers and printing locations. We classify censored books by topic (religion, sciences, social sciences and arts) and language and record when and where books were indexed. Our results show that Catholic censorship did reduce printing of forbidden authors, as intended, but also negatively impacted on the diffusion of knowledge, and city growth. |
| Keywords: | Censorship; Counter-Reformation; Political Economy; Elite Human Capital. JEL Classification: D7; N93; J24 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:562&r= |
| By: | Emma M., Iglesias; J. Carles, Maixé-Altés |
| Abstract: | Are transaction costs and half-lives between two cities the same in both directions in traditional city-based monetary systems? Market conditions and political circumstances may not justify this assumption; and we provide evidence that it does not hold in the 1825-1885 period in Spain. Moreover, we show empirical evidence that market integration in Spain from 1875 to 1885 was a slow process of monetary unification with decreasing transaction costs, and a very inefficient convergence. Therefore, full integration did not happen in the period 1875-1885 and had to wait until mid-1880s, when the Spanish money-market was unified due to financial innovations. |
| Keywords: | Integration of monetary markets; Nineteenth century; Monetary and financial history; Market Convergence and Efficiency; Western Europe; Private Finance, Capital Markets |
| JEL: | E02 E42 F02 F15 F31 F36 L10 N13 N73 |
| Date: | 2021–08–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:109219&r= |
| By: | Luca Benati |
| Abstract: | Since the XIX century, technological progress has allowed commercial banks to create ever greater amounts of broad money and credit starting from a unit of monetary base. Crucially, however, at the very low frequencies the relative amounts of the two aggregates created out of a unit of base money have remained unchanged over time in each of the 42 countries I analyze. This finding questions the widespread notion that, since WWII, credit has become disconnected from broad money, and suggests that, except for their greater productivity at creating broad money and credit out of base money, today’s commercial banks are not fundamentally different from their XIX century’s counterparts. The implication is that only the ascent of shadow banks has introduced a disconnect between broad money and credit. |
| Keywords: | Money; credit; Lucas critique; financial crises. |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ube:dpvwib:dp2112&r= |
| By: | Lambert, Thomas |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to estimate trends in the levels of economic surplus, public and private investment, and national government surpluses and deficits from accumulated capital income, taxation, and rents estimated by different economic historians for England and the UK. The data support historical accounts that income per capita growth begins to increase around the 1600s in Britain perhaps due to the level of capital, tax, and land income achieving an adequate threshold amount. According to some historians, this would also be about the time of capitalism’s ascent as the dominant economic system in England. Even then, dramatic increases in investment and economic growth do not appear until the late 18th Century when investment and deficits reach even higher levels. The data developed in this research note are offered as additional macroeconomic data supplements to works created by other authors and researchers. |
| Keywords: | Economic Surplus, Deficits, Investments, Private Investment, Public Investment, Tax Revenues, |
| JEL: | B50 C82 N13 O11 O52 |
| Date: | 2021–08–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:109080&r= |
| By: | Lafond, François; Farmer, J. Doyne; Greenwald, Diana |
| Abstract: | For many products, increases in cumulative production are associated with decreasing unit costs. However, a serious problem of reverse causality (lower prices leading to increasing demand) makes it difficult to use this relationship for policy. We study World War II, during which the demand for military products was largely exogenous, and the correlation between production, cumulative production and an exogenous time trend was limited. Our results indicate that decreases in cost can be attributed roughly equally to the growth of experience and to an exogenous time trend. |
| Keywords: | innovation policy, learning curve, natural experiment, World War II |
| JEL: | N62 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:amz:wpaper:2020-02&r= |
| By: | Anbinder, Tyler (George Washington University); Connor, Dylan (Arizona State University); O Grada, Cormac (University College, Dublin); Wegge, Simone (College of Staten Island and The Graduate Center—CUNY) |
| Abstract: | Automated census linkage algorithms have become popular for generating longitudinal data on social mobility, especially for immigrants and their children. But what if these algorithms are particularly bad at tracking immigrants? Using nineteenth-century Irish immigrants as a test case, we examine the most popular of these algorithms—that created by Abramitzky, Boustan, Eriksson (ABE), and their collaborators. Our findings raise serious questions about the quality of automated census links. False positives range from about one-third to one-half of all links depending on the ABE variant used. These bad links lead to sizeable estimation errors when measuring Irish immigrant social mobility. |
| Keywords: | JEL Classification: |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:568&r= |
| By: | Clarke, Damian (University of Chile); Llorca-Jaña, Manuel (Universidad de Valparaíso); Pailañir, Daniel (University of Chile) |
| Abstract: | Quantile regression and quantile treatment effect methods are powerful econometric tools for considering economic impacts of events or variables of interest beyond the mean. The use of quantile methods allows for an examination of impacts of some independent variable over the entire distribution of continuous dependent variables. Measurement in many quantative settings in economic history have as a key input continuous outcome variables of interest. Among many other cases, human height and demographics, economic growth, earnings and wages, and crop production are generally recorded as continuous measures, and are collected and studied by economic historians. In this paper we describe and discuss the broad utility of quantile regression for use in research in economic history, review recent quantitive literature in the field, and provide an illustrative example of the use of these methods based on 20,000 records of human height measured across 50-plus years in the 19th and 20th centuries. We suggest that there is considerably more room in the literature on economic history to convincingly and productively apply quantile regression methods. |
| Keywords: | quantile regression, quantile treatment effects, economic history, practitioners |
| JEL: | N30 B41 C21 C22 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14659&r= |
| By: | Amir Sufi; Alan M. Taylor |
| Abstract: | Financial crises have large deleterious effects on economic activity, and as such have been the focus of a large body of research. This study surveys the existing literature on financial crises, exploring how crises are measured, whether they are predictable, and why they are associated with economic contractions. Historical narrative techniques continue to form the backbone for measuring crises, but there have been exciting developments in using quantitative data as well. Crises are predictable with growth in credit and elevated asset prices playing an especially important role; recent research points convincingly to the importance of behavioral biases in explaining such predictability. The negative consequences of a crisis are due to both the crisis itself but also to the imbalances that precede a crisis. Crises do not occur randomly, and, as a result, an understanding of financial crises requires an investigation into the booms that precede them. |
| JEL: | E32 E44 E7 G01 G10 N20 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29155&r= |
| By: | António S. Cruz; Ines A. Ferreira; Johnny Flentø; Finn Tarp; Mariam Umarji |
| Abstract: | At independence in 1975, the Frelimo government took over public administration from the colonial system and started to transform it. The public financial management (PFM) system was adapted to the central planning and management of the economy in line with nationalist and Marxist-Leninist thinking. Collapse followed in the mid-1980s, amidst the Cold War and the liberalization of the economy. |
| Keywords: | Public finance management, Mozambique, Reforms, Budget |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2021-136&r= |
| By: | Sasse, Lea |
| Abstract: | Starting on 18 October 2019, Chile experienced the largest mass protests in its history. The movement was immensely broad in its demands and diverse in tactics and participants. The citizens' discontent went beyond solely one issue, addressing a more equal welfare system and social justice, among other things. But it was not only about street protests; the social movement also caused an avalanche in social media exchanges and initiated a dialogue among Chileans in the form of neighbourhood associations. This paper argues that long-standing inequalities, the inability of politics to address them, a growing distancing of the population from politics, and the process of the citizens' politicisation were the reasons for the mass protests. |
| Keywords: | Social movements,Chile,inequality,mass protests,civil society,Latin America,social media,political opportunities,social justice |
| JEL: | O54 I38 Z13 N36 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ipewps:1662021&r= |
| By: | Jaimovich, Dany; Toledo, Felipe |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of the Chilean land reform (1962-1973) on the intensity of the current indigenous self-determination conflict (1990-2016). The Mapuche were actively involved in the land reform process, and at least 150,000 hectares were expropriated in their favor. Nevertheless, the counter-reform process, after the 1973 military coup, almost fully reverted these expropriations. This failed land reform potentially created local grievances that may explain some aspects of the current social and political conflict in the region. To test this hypothesis, a unique geocoded plot-level database for the Araucania Region has been assembled. The results from OLS estimates suggest that plots involved in the land reform are more likely to be invaded and attacked. The effect is larger for plots located around indigenous reservations and those in which there was direct Mapuche participation during the land reform. To deal with potential endogeneity problems, we implement an instrumental variable identification strategy based on historical rainfall in the region. The IV estimates mostly confirm the main results. We show that the development of intensive forestry plantations after the land reform is a potential channel for explaining our results. |
| Keywords: | Land reform, conflict, indigenous people, Chile. |
| JEL: | D74 N46 O13 Q15 |
| Date: | 2021–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:109136&r= |
| By: | Leone Walters (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa); Carolyn Chisadza (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa); Matthew Clance (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa) |
| Abstract: | We study whether present-day women political participation in sub-Saharan Africa can be linked to the temporary gender ratio imbalances caused by the transatlantic and Indian Ocean slave trades, taking into account pre-existing gender norms influenced by kinship structures. Using individual-level data for 29 sub-Saharan African countries from the latest Afrobarometer surveys, ethnic region kinship and slave trade data, we find that a woman's ethnic region exposure to the transatlantic slave trade is associated with an increase in her likelihood to vote, however, only in non-patrilineal ethnic regions. This effect is mitigated in patrilineal ethnic regions, where women have less decision-making power. This paper contributes to the literature on the contemporary sub-national effects of the slave trades and the historical causes of gender gaps in political participation. |
| Keywords: | Slave Trade, Gender, Africa |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:202156&r= |
| By: | Thomas Piketty (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 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 Paris 1 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, WIL - World Inequality Lab); Li Yang (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 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, INSEAD - Institut Européen d'administration des Affaires) |
| Abstract: | This paper combines national accounts, household surveys, fiscal data, wealth rankings and election polls, in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of income and wealth inequality in Hong Kong, as well as its impact on political cleavages over the 1981-2020 period. We find a very large rise in wage inequality since 1981, especially since the Handover of Hong Kong to China. Top 1% earners now receive a much larger fraction of the total wage bill than bottom 50% earners, while the opposite was true in pre-Handover Hong Kong. We also observe an enormous increase in the capital share and the top wealth share (normalized by national income) since 2000. Today Hong Kong's very top wealth share (top 0.001%) is ranked at very top in the world. Finally, we find that the top income earners and high-income professions (such as executives and managers) are more likely to vote for pro-Beijing camp, while the bottom 85% income group, students and lower-income professionals are more likely to be pro-democratic. |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03321889&r= |
| By: | Shahid Mehmood (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad.) |
| Abstract: | The recorded history of human civilisation is replete with instances of recessions that have brought financial despair upon the people. Pandemicinduced recessions are different because the adverse shock to the workings of the economy is purely biological rather than economic or financial. But they are no less destructive in their tendency to deflate economies and put all economic activity in peril. A study of the past episodes offers us a window into the lessons learned that could be valuable in managing today’s as well as future challenges caused by adverse shocks to the system. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:wpaper:2021:5&r= |
| By: | Dominique Desbois (ECO-PUB - Economie Publique - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AgroParisTech) |
| Abstract: | Le libéralisme contre le capitalisme Valérie Charolles Gallimard, Essay Folio n°667, 383 S. Diese überarbeitete und erweiterte Taschenbuchausgabe bietet dem Leser eine Reflexion, die vorschlägt, dem Ökonomismus, der unsere Gesellschaft beherrscht, zu entkommen. Dieser Ökonomismus nimmt die Form eines Zwanges an, der von ökonomischen Kräften ausgeübt wird, die uns zur Ohnmacht verurteilen. Zu diesem Zweck schlägt das Buch vor, die Grundlagen der Wirtschaft zu hinterfragen, zunächst in den Buchhaltungsprinzipien, die das Funktionieren der Unternehmen regeln, und stellt fest, dass das Humankapital in ihren Büchern nicht vorkommt. Diese Situation ist umso paradoxer, als die neue Wirtschaft zunehmend auf "Humankapital" basiert. In seinem Werk "The Wealth of Nations" setzt sich Adam Smith sehr kritisch mit Kapitaleinkommen auseinander. Für ihn muss das freie Spiel des Marktes eine gewisse Form der Gleichheit angesichts der vom Wettbewerb getroffenen Auswahl gewährleisten. Wie Adam Smith ist der Autor der Ansicht, dass der wirtschaftliche Reichtum aus der Arbeit und nicht aus dem Kapital kommt, denn Arbeit ist die theoretische Quelle allen Reichtums. Von der Beobachtung einer entwerteten Arbeit gehen wir zum Problem des Wertes der Arbeit über, bei dem die Arbeit nicht mehr nur als Last betrachtet wird, sondern gleichberechtigt mit dem Kapital in einer Weise behandelt würde, die den Grundlagen des Liberalismus besser entspricht. |
| Abstract: | Le libéralisme contre le capitalisme Valérie Charolles Gallimard, essay Folio n°667, 383 p. This revised and enlarged paperback edition provides readers with a reflection that aims to escape the economism that dominates our society. This economism takes the form of a constraint exerted by economic forces that condemn us to impotence. To this end, the book proposes to question the foundations of the economy first in the accounting principles that govern the functioning of companies, noting that human capital is absent from their books. This situation is all the more paradoxical as the new economy is increasingly based on "human capital". In his work "The Wealth of Nations", Adam Smith is very critical of income from capital. For him, the free play of the market must ensure a certain form of equality in the face of the selection made by competition. Like Adam Smith, the author considers that economic wealth comes from labour and not from capital, because labour is the theoretical source of all wealth. From the observation that labour is devalued, we move on to the problem of labour-value, where labour is no longer considered only as a burden but is treated on an equal footing with capital, in a way that is more consistent with the fundamentals of liberalism. |
| Abstract: | Le libéralisme contre le capitalisme Valérie Charolles Gallimard, essai Folio n°667, 383 p. Cette édition revue et augmentée dans un format poche met à disposition des lecteurs une réflexion qui se propose d'échapper à l'économisme qui domine notre société. Cet économisme se présente sous la forme d'une contrainte exercée par les forces économiques qui nous condamnent à l'impuissance. À cet effet, l'ouvrage se propose d'interroger les fondements de l'économie d'abord dans les principes comptables qui régissent le fonctionnement des entreprises, constatant que le capital humain est absent de leurs livres de comptes. Situation d'autant plus paradoxale que la nouvelle économie repose de plus en plus sur le « capital humain ». Dans son oeuvre « La richesse des nations », Adam Smith se montre très critique vis à vis des revenus tirés du capital. Pour lui, le libre jeu du marché doit assurer une certaine forme d'égalité devant la sélection opérée par la concurrence. À l'instar d'Adam Smith, l'auteure considère que la richesse économique provient du travail et non du capital car le travail est source théorique de toute richesse. Du constat d'un travail dévalorisé, on passe ainsi à la problématique de la valeur-travail où le travail n'est plus seulement considéré comme une charge mais serait traité sur un pied d'égalité avec le capital de façon plus cohérente avec les fondamentaux du libéralisme. |
| Date: | 2021–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03188316&r= |
| By: | Nadeem Ul Haque (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad.); Amin Husain (Doktorand, Uppsala University.) |
| Abstract: | “For all practical purposes, the 22 families had preempted most investment permits, import licenses, foreign credits and government patronage because they controlled or influenced most of the decision-making forums handing out such permissions. They had virtually established a stranglehold on the system and were in a position to keep out any new entrepreneurs. The 22 families were a by-product of government policies and a primitive capitalistic system. The Government did not have the courage to change the company law of 1913 under which the industrial sector of Pakistan was still being governed in 1968. This antiquated framework of capital permitted the industrial sector to have managing agencies, cartels, trusts and all other antisocial practices aimed at cheating both the consumer and the Government. The latter became both a conscious and unconscious ally of the private industrialists by giving them generous protection, excessive tax concessions, explicit and hidden subsidies, and representation on many decision making forums.” |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:wpaper:2021:3&r= |
| By: | Crafts, Nicholas (CAGE, University of Warwick and University of Sussex) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the claim that economic policymakers in the post-Covid UK should learn the lessons of the 1940s. Post-1945 policies relating to delivering full employment, levelling up, upgrading social security, dealing with the public debt legacy, and addressing the productivity puzzle are considered. The paper finds many reasons to criticize 1940s’ policies. Although, superficially, outcomes appear to have been good, a closer look reveals significant failings notably concerning design of the welfare state and supply-side policy for growth. The main lesson from the 1940s is not to repeat the policy errors of those days. |
| Keywords: | economic growth; policy reform; post-war settlement; welfare state. JEL Classification: N14; N34. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:579&r= |
| By: | James Alm (Tulane University); Trey Dronyk-Trosper (Amazon.com, Inc) |
| Abstract: | It is widely believed that basic infrastructure in the United States has been seriously underfunded in recent years. We examine this broad issue by focusing on two specific questions. First, how has subnational government spending on infrastructure changed over the last half-century, focusing especially on transportation spending? Second, what factors have driven these spending changes? To answer these questions, we collect data on local, state, and combined state and local government spending on roads and other expenditure categories from 1957 to 2013. With these data, we first demonstrate that infrastructure spending has increased on average in real per capita terms across all states, even while it has declined significantly across all states as a percentage of government spending. Second, we also examine empirically several causal factors that help explain what has driven these changes in transportation spending over time, using several estimation methods and robustness tests. We find suggestive evidence that it is primarily changes in government spending on welfare programs that have driven these sizeable changes in transportation spending. Indeed, we calculate that, if state governments were spending the same percentage of their budgets on transportation in 2013 as they had been in 1957, then state government spending on transportation across all states would increase in total by an additional $133.5 billion in 2013, an amount equal to an additional $422 per capita. |
| Keywords: | Infrastructure, state and local governments |
| JEL: | H72 R42 H41 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tul:wpaper:2114&r= |
| By: | Advani, Arun (University of Warwick and Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS)); Ash, Elliot (ETH Zurich); Cai, David (ETH Zurich); Rasul, Imran (University College London and IFS) |
| Abstract: | How does economics compare to other social sciences in its study of issues related to race and ethnicity? We assess this using a corpus of 500,000 academic publications in economics, political science, and sociology. Using an algorithmic approach to classify race-related publications, we document that economics lags far behind the other disciplines in the volume and share of race-related research, despite having higher absolute volumes of research output. Since 1960, there have been 13,000 race-related publications in sociology, 4,000 in political science, and 3,000 in economics. Since around 1970, the share of economics publications that are race-related has hovered just below 2% (although the share is higher in top-5 journals); in political science the share has been around 4% since the mid-1990s, while in sociology it has been above 6% since the 1960s and risen to over 12% in the last decade. Finally, using survey data collected from the Social Science Prediction Platform, we find economists tend to overestimate the amount of race-related research in all disciplines, but especially so in economics. |
| Keywords: | JEL Classification: A11, Z13 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:565&r= |
| By: | Cynthia Bansak; Ellen E. Meade; Martha Starr-McCluer |
| Abstract: | The shortage of women and historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in the economics profession has received considerable public attention in the past several years. The American Economic Association (AEA), the professional organization for economists, has been taking steps to address criticism that the economics discipline is unwelcoming to women and underrepresented minorities. |
| Date: | 2021–08–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfn:2021-08-06-2&r= |
| By: | Amina Saoussany (École Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion -Agadir); Nabila Kidaye (École Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion -Agadir) |
| Abstract: | This article proposes a literature review summarizing the evolution of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, starting from the 50s to the early 21st century. It traces the development of CSR, from a concept evoked as a "good practice" expressing good intentions and ethics of the company, to a practice that is no longer voluntary, that must be included in the company's strategy and based on creating a shared value. This article provides a review of the main events that contributed to the understanding, explanation, and enrichment of the concept studied, based on articles, international events, and books. We also present a table summarizing the evolution of CSR, including the most recent events that contributed to the conception of CSR in its currents form. The concept of CSR has undergone various fluctuations and upgrades that have contributed to standardizing its understanding, meeting stakeholder expectations, and questioning the shared value generated if integrated into the company's strategy. The association of CSR with context, time, and cultural specificities, makes its modeling difficult, if not impossible. On the other hand, the permanent change of stakeholders' expectations has forced this concept to change as well in order to face the new expectations created by the company's environment. In sum, our work contributes to the literature by exploring first the evolution of CSR over time, then the impact of stakeholders on corporate behavior, and finally, the models of CSR developed in the scientific field. |
| Abstract: | Le présent article propose une revue de littérature qui résume l'évolution du concept de la Responsabilité Sociétale de l'Entreprise dans le temps, depuis les années 50 du siècle passé jusqu'au début du XXIème siècle. Il trace le développement de la RSE, d'un concept évoqué comme « bonne pratique » exprimant les bonnes intentions et l'éthique de l'entreprise, à une pratique qui n'est plus volontaire, qui doit être incluse dans la stratégie de l'entreprise et est basée surtout sur la création de la valeur partagée. Dans cet article, nous allons passer en revue les événements phares qui ont participé à la compréhension, l'explication et l'enrichissement du concept étudié en nous basant sur des articles, des événements internationaux et des ouvrages de spécialité. Notre approche de l'évolution de la RSE est présentée dans un tableau synthétique qui rend compte des principaux événements qui ont contribué à la conception de la RSE sous sa forme actuelle. Le concept de la RSE a connu des fluctuations et des mises à niveau qui ont contribué à standardiser sa compréhension, à répondre aux attentes des parties prenantes et à s'interroger sur la valeur partagée qu'il génère s'il est intégré dans la stratégie de l'entreprise. La dépendance de la RSE du contexte, des temps et des spécificités culturelles rend sa modélisation difficile, voire impossible. De son côté, le changement permanent des attentes des parties prenantes ont contraint ce concept à changer à son tour pour faire face aux nouvelles exigences créées par l'environnement de l'entreprise. En somme, notre travail contribue à la littérature en explorant tout d'abord l'évolution de la RSE dans le temps, ensuite l'impact des parties prenantes sur le comportement des entreprises et enfin, les modèles de la RSE qui ont été développés dans le champ scientifique. |
| Keywords: | Literature Review, CSR Models, Historical Evolution of CSR, Shared Value,Responsabilité Sociétale de l’Entreprise,Évolution Historique de la RSE,Valeur Partagée |
| Date: | 2021–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03269218&r= |
| By: | Nolan, Brian; Weisstanner, David |
| Abstract: | The declining 'subjective social status' of the low-educated working class has been advanced as a prominent explanation for right-wing populism. The working class has certainly been adversely affected by rising income inequality over the past decades, but we do not actually know if their perceived standing in the social hierarchy has declined correspondingly over time. This paper examines trends in subjective social status in two 'most likely cases' - Germany and the US - between 1980 and 2018. We find that the subjective social status of the working class has not declined in absolute terms. However, there is evidence for relative status declines of the working class in Germany and substantial within-class heterogeneity in both countries. These findings imply that rising income inequality has a nuanced impact on status perceptions. When assessing the role of subjective social status for political outcomes, longitudinal perspectives that consider both absolute and relative changes seem promising. |
| Keywords: | subjective social status, income inequality, working class, absolute and relative changes |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:amz:wpaper:2021-09&r= |
| By: | Jorge M. Streb (ed.); Jessica Fastman; Augusto Mamone; Santiago Rebollini; Francisco Tomas Calderón |
| Abstract: | Como el anterior documento de trabajo (Documento de Trabajo 761, octubre de 2020), esta colección de ensayos se enfoca en diferentes elementos analíticos de la Teoría de Sentimientos Morales (TSM) de Smith. Fastman analiza cómo el tema de los “like” en la internet trastoca la sensación de amistad que describe TSM, al confundir la cercanía de las amistades reales con las virtuales. Mamone se pregunta hasta qué punto los valores morales en TSM son universales o relativos a una sociedad históricamente dada, comparándolos con los así llamados “valores asiáticos” y con algo mucho más concreto, el budismo. Rebollini contrasta el tratamiento de la justicia en Riqueza de las Naciones como uno de los deberes del Estado con el tratamiento en TSM, donde aparece como virtud y se discute su relación con la justicia legal. Tomas Calderón relaciona, en base a evidencia empírica moderna, la discusión de TSM sobre el amor con la pasión por el fútbol. |
| Keywords: | Adam Smith, amistad, valores, normas legales, pasiones |
| JEL: | B12 D01 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cem:doctra:807&r= |
| By: | Carvalho, Vasco M. (University of Cambridge); Draca, Mirko (University of Warwick and CAGE); Kuhlen, Nikolas (University of Cambridge and The Alan Turing Institute) |
| Abstract: | How do firms and inventors move through ‘knowledge space’ as they develop their innovations? We propose a method for tracking patterns of ‘exploration and exploitation’ in patenting behaviour in the US for the period since 1920. Our exploration measure is constructed from the text of patents and involves the use of ‘Bayesian Surprise’ to measure how different current patent-based innovations are from existing portfolios. Our results indicate that there are distinct ‘life-cycle’ patterns to firm and inventor exploration. Furthermore, exploration activity is more geographically concentrated than general patenting, but this concentration is centred outside the main hubs of patenting. |
| Keywords: | JEL Classification: |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:575&r= |
| By: | Crafts, Nicholas (University of Sussex and CAGE, University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | In 1930 Keynes opined that by 2030 people would work only 15 hours per week. As such, this prediction will not be realised. However, expected lifetime hours of leisure and non-market work in the UK rose by 60 per cent between 1931 and 2011, considerably more than Keynes would have expected. This reflects increases in life expectancy at older ages and much longer expected periods of retirement. Leisure in retirement contributes to high life satisfaction for the elderly but building up savings to pay for it is a barrier to working only 15 hours per week. |
| Keywords: | Leisure: Life Expectancy; Retirement; Work JEL Classification: J22; J26; N34 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:566&r= |
| By: | Olivia Muza (University of Rwanda); Ramit Debnath (EPRG, CJBS, University of Cambridge) |
| Keywords: | Energy transition, Off-grid system, Sub-Saharan Africa, Social Shaping of Technology, Gender, Disruptive innovation |
| JEL: | D1 N37 P28 P46 Q4 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:enp:wpaper:eprg2017&r= |