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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
|
Issue of 2023‒11‒27
thirty-six papers chosen by |
| By: | Alfani, Guido |
| Abstract: | This article provides an overview of long-term trends in income and wealth inequality, from ca. 1300 until today. It discusses recent acquisitions in terms of inequality measurement, building upon earlier research and systematically connecting preindustrial, industrial and post-industrial tendencies. It shows that in the last seven centuries or so, inequality of both income and wealth had tended to grow continuously, with two exceptions: the century or so following the Black Death pandemic of 1347-52, and the period from the beginning of World War I until the mid-1970s. It discusses recent encompassing hypotheses about the factors leading to long-run inequality change, highlighting their relative merits and faults and arguing for the need to pay close attention to the historical context. (Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Working Paper) |
| Date: | 2023–10–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:94dgs&r=his |
| By: | Arthi, Vellore; Schneider, Eric B. |
| Abstract: | Evidence on the post-weaning benefits of early-life breastfeeding is mixed, and highly context-dependent. Moreover, this evidence is drawn almost exclusively from modern settings, limiting our understanding of the relationship between breastfeeding and subsequent health in the past. We provide novel evidence on the nature and reach of these post-weaning benefits in a historical setting, drawing on a rich new longitudinal dataset covering nearly 1000 children from the Foundling Hospital, an orphanage in turn-of-the-century London. We find that even after the cessation of breastfeeding, ever-breastfed status reduced mortality risk and raised weight-for-age in infancy, that exclusive breastfeeding conferred additional benefits, and that breastfeeding duration had little impact. We also find a U-shaped pattern in weight-for-age by time since weaning, indicating a deterioration in health shortly after weaning, followed by a recovery. The early post-weaning advantages associated with breastfeeding, however, did not persist into mid-childhood. This indicates that any protective effects of earlier breastfeeding attenuated with age, and suggests a strong role for catch-up growth. This study contributes to the data and empirical settings available to explore the relationship between infant feeding and post-weaning health, and helps shed light on the contribution of changing breastfeeding norms to trends in health in twentieth-century Britain. |
| Keywords: | anthropometric growth; breastfeeding; early-life health; mortality |
| JEL: | J13 N33 |
| Date: | 2021–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:112520&r=his |
| By: | Franciscos Koutentakis (Department of Economics, University of Crete, Greece) |
| Abstract: | The paper studies the historical process of fiscal state-building in 19th and early 20th century Greece. A new public finances dataset, compiled from primary sources, is combined with international databases in a graphical network analysis revealing a rich set of dynamic interactions between economic (tax revenue, debt payments and GDP per capita) and institutional variables (army and representation). The emphasis is on two particular results closely related to the fiscal capacity literature: (a) the size of the army had a positive causal effect on tax revenues whereas (b) representation had a negative causal effect on tax revenue. |
| Keywords: | Economic History, Applied research |
| JEL: | N01 N20 N50 |
| Date: | 2023–11–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crt:wpaper:2307&r=his |
| By: | Ishida, Shigehiro; Yokoyama, Kazuki |
| Abstract: | The histories of certain stock exchanges suggest that stockbrokers were already versed in the rules and methods of existing trading types prior to the foundation of these exchanges. This paper addresses the establishment of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) during the 19th century in Japan, with a focus on the extent to which the TSE’s adopted system resembled rules and methods already familiar to brokers. The majority of the primary brokers at the TSE had dealt with yogin trading, which involved the foreign exchange of Mexican and Japanese silver currencies. This paper finds that the evolution of the stock trading systems in the TSE is a case of path dependence in that it originates from yogin trading, and that the narrative that regards futures trading at Osaka Dojima in the 18th century as the prototype of stock trading is an case of the invention of tradition that has exaggerated historical facts. |
| Keywords: | Tokyo Stock Exchange; Yogin trading; Path dependence; Invention of tradition. |
| JEL: | N2 N25 |
| Date: | 2023–10–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:118829&r=his |
| By: | Horn, Karen |
| Abstract: | Ordoliberalism and Keynesianism are not exactly known to fit hand in glove. Accordingly, the German economists Walter Eucken, head of the Freiburg school, and Wilhelm Röpke, from his Istanbul and Geneva exiles, were in near perfect agreement in their opposition to the interventionist "full employment" teachings of their English colleague John Maynard Keynes. An article by Röpke on Keynes in the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) published in 1946 however met with "fundamental objections" by Eucken, and a controversy took off. The bone of contention between the two colleagues and rather dissimilar friends was Keynes's famous earlier critique of the Versailles Peace Treaty, and the lessons to be drawn for the post-WW II situation. This paper tells the story of this unusual and puzzling controversy, quoting from the letters between the two, and contextualizes the exchange in order to make sense of it. It turns out that there was an economic, a human, and - most significantly - a political side to their disagreement. Eucken and Röpke assessed the economic development since 1919 somewhat differently, and Eucken felt compelled to defend Keynes against the heavy moral accusation of having contributed to the Nazi catastrophe. But perhaps most of all, he found it tactically unwise in 1946 to endorse arguments that would support an even harsher attitude by the Allies toward Germany after WW II. In a first translation, the paper's appendixes contain Röpke's NZZ article that sparked the controversy, as well as the rejoinder by Eucken's former student Valentin F. Wagner. A new, full translation of an earlier NZZ article by Röpke on Keynes in lieu of an obituary is also provided. |
| Keywords: | Eucken, Röpke, Keynes, Versailles Peace Treaty, reparations, full employment policy |
| JEL: | B20 B31 N14 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:aluord:279555&r=his |
| By: | Diego Battiston; Stephan Maurer; Andrei Potlogea; Jose V. Rodriguez Mora |
| Abstract: | We use linked historical US censuses to study the empirical relationship between inequality and intergenerational mobility. We first confirm that the 'Great Gatsby Curve' already existed in the early 20th century. We then study a 'dynamic' version of the curve that relates changes in equality to changes in intergenerational mobility. Interestingly, we find that this relationship varies over two-decade periods for income but remains consistent for education. Finally, we propose novel unitless measures of intergenerational mobility and inequality to show that the 'Great Gatsby Curve' result re-emerges over the long run, for the period 1920 to 2011. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, inequality, Great Gatsby curve |
| Date: | 2023–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1928&r=his |
| By: | YiLi Chien; Ashley Stewart |
| Abstract: | A look at the U.S. national debt since World War II reveals that economic growth and fiscal austerity (i.e., spending cuts and raising taxes) are two of the ways to reduce the debt burden. |
| Keywords: | national debt; fiscal austerity |
| Date: | 2023–04–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:l00001:95958&r=his |
| By: | Becker, Sascha O. (Monash University); Voth, Hans-Joachim (University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Can weakened religiosity lead to the rise of totalitarianism? The Nazi Party set itself up as a political religion, emphasizing redemption, sacrifice, rituals, and communal spirit. This had a major impact on its success: Where the Christian Church only had shallow roots, the Nazis received higher electoral support and saw more party entry. "Shallow Christianity" reflects the geography of medieval Christianization and the strength of pagan practices, which we use as sources of exogenous variation. We also find predictive power at the individual level: Within each municipality, the likelihood of joining the Nazi Party was higher for those with less Christian first names. |
| Keywords: | political religion, behavioral political economy, voting, Nazi Party, Protestantism, Shallow Christianity, political religion, Paganism |
| JEL: | N13 N14 N44 P16 Z12 Z18 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16538&r=his |
| By: | Partson Paradza; Joseph Awoamim Yacim; Benita G. Zulch |
| Abstract: | Zimbabwe has a rich history of compulsory land acquisition, dating to the origins of colonial rule in 1890. This history is documented in policy documents, print and social media, and academic publications. However, to the researchers' knowledge for a complete history of the trajectory followed by the laws guiding expropriation and compensation from 1890 to 2022, multiple sources must be consulted. Currently, limited work (if any) does not provide a complete picture of the genesis/evolution of statutory compulsory land acquisition laws covering the entire period. Thus, the purpose of this study was to provide a complete history of compensation for expropriation in Zimbabwe while pointing out issues relative to equity and natural justice that occurred during the period under review. This paper was based on desktop research from 2018 to 2023. Documents which included statutes and government policies were obtained online from the official websites of government institutions. Systematic content analysis was adopted, and data coding was done manually based on themes derived from the data. The findings of this study supported the view that compensation for expropriation in Zimbabwe is complex and the international community can help to bring closure to the issue. |
| Keywords: | Compensation; Evolution; Expropriation; properties; Zimbabwe |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2023–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:afr:wpaper:afres2023-011&r=his |
| By: | Tertilt, Michèle; Doepke, Matthias; Hannusch, Anne; Montenbruck, Laura |
| Abstract: | Two centuries ago, in most countries around the world, women were unable to vote, had no say over their own children or property, and could not obtain a divorce. Women have gradually gained rights in many areas of life, and this legal expansion has been closely intertwined with economic development. We aim to understand the drivers behind these reforms. To this end, we distinguish between four types of dwomen’s rights—economic, political, labor, and body—and document their evolution over the past 50 years across countries. We summarize the political-economy mechanisms that link economic development to changes in women’s rights and show empirically that these mechanisms account for a large share of the variation in women’s rights across countries and over time. |
| Keywords: | women's rights; female suffrage; family economics; bargaining; political economy |
| JEL: | D13 D72 E24 J12 J16 N30 N40 O10 |
| Date: | 2022–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:117369&r=his |
| By: | Ernesto Dal Bo; Karolina Hutkova; Lukas Leucht; Noam Yuchtman |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the role of taxes on trade in the development of imperial Britain's fiscal-military state. Influential work, e.g., Brewer's (1989) Sinews of Power, attributed increased fiscal capacity to the taxation of domestic, rather than traded, goods: excise revenues, coarsely associated with domestic goods, grew faster than customs revenues. We construct new historical revenue series disaggregating excise revenues from traded and domestic goods. We find substantial growth in taxes on traded goods, accounting for over half of indirect taxation around 1800. This challenges the conventional wisdom attributing the development of the British state to domestic factors: international factors mattered, too. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal capacity, international trade, British empire, taxation |
| Date: | 2022–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:poidwp:065&r=his |
| By: | Ernesto Dal Bo; Karolina Hutkova; Lukas Leucht; Noam Yuchtman |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the role of taxes on trade in the development of imperial Britain's fiscal-military state. Influential work, e.g., Brewer's (1989) Sinews of Power, attributed increased fiscal capacity to the taxation of domestic, rather than traded, goods: excise revenues, coarsely associated with domestic goods, grew faster than customs revenues. We construct new historical revenue series disaggregating excise revenues from traded and domestic goods. We find substantial growth in taxes on traded goods, accounting for over half of indirect taxation around 1800. This challenges the conventional wisdom attributing the development of the British state to domestic factors: international factors mattered, too. |
| Keywords: | fiscal capacity, international trade, British empire, taxation |
| Date: | 2023–07–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1931&r=his |
| By: | Grant Fleming; Zhangxin (Frank) Liu; David Merrett; Simon Ville |
| Abstract: | An evolving literature addresses the role of women in business in colonial Australia. We know less about their contribution as investors, a topic that has received much greater attention in other nations, particularly Britain. We address this lacuna by deploying a dataset of shareholders in Australian companies between 1857 and 1937, covering all major sectors in the economy. We calculate the female share of shareholdings and shareowners, their occupational and geographic backgrounds, and analyse their investment patterns and behaviours including their risk profiles and portfolio construction decisions. Our findings suggest that ‘gender equity’ – and more - had been reached, for at least some companies, by the interwar period. Women investors came from many walks of life, had different motives, and as a class appear to have largely acted independently. |
| Date: | 2023–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auu:hpaper:115&r=his |
| By: | Enrico Berkes; Davide M. Coluccia; Gaia Dossi; Mara P. Squicciarini |
| Abstract: | How do societies respond to adversity? After a negative shock, separate strands of research document either an increase in religiosity or a boost in innovation efforts. In this paper, we show that both reactions can occur at the same time, driven by different individuals within society. The setting of our study is the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic in the United States. To measure religiosity, we construct a novel indicator based on naming patterns of newborns. We measure innovation through the universe of granted patents. Exploiting plausibly exogenous county-level variation in exposure to the pandemic, we provide evidence that more-affected counties become both more religious and more innovative. Looking within counties, we uncover heterogeneous responses: individuals from more religious backgrounds further embrace religion, while those from less religious backgrounds become more likely to choose a scientific occupation. Facing adversity widens the distance in religiosity between science oriented individuals and the rest of the population, and it increases the polarization of religious beliefs. |
| Keywords: | Religiosity, science, innovation, Great Influenza Pandemic |
| Date: | 2023–03–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:poidwp:068&r=his |
| By: | Enrico Berkes; Davide M. Coluccia; Gaia Dossi; Mara P. Squicciarini |
| Abstract: | How do societies respond to adversity? After a negative shock, separate strands of research document either an increase in religiosity or a boost in innovation efforts. In this paper, we show that both reactions can occur at the same time, driven by different individuals within society. The setting of our study is the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic in the United States. To measure religiosity, we construct a novel indicator based on naming patterns of newborns. We measure innovation through the universe of granted patents. Exploiting plausibly exogenous county-level variation in exposure to the pandemic, we provide evidence that more-affected counties become both more religious and more innovative. Looking within counties, we uncover heterogeneous responses: individuals from more religious backgrounds further embrace religion, while those from less religious backgrounds become more likely to choose a scientific occupation. Facing adversity widens the distance in religiosity between science-oriented individuals and the rest of the population, and it increases the polarization of religious beliefs. |
| Keywords: | religiosity, science, innovation, great influenza pandemic |
| Date: | 2023–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1927&r=his |
| By: | Felipe Carozzi; Edward W. Pinchbeck; Luca Repetto |
| Abstract: | Deaths of soldiers in wartime naturally have a powerful impact on the communities from which they come. Research by Edward Pinchbeck, Felipe Carozzi and Luca Repetto reveals how losses in the first world war have reverberated through subsequent generations, shaping local memories, behaviour and social values. |
| Keywords: | world war, combat motivation, conflict, civic capital, memory |
| Date: | 2023–10–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:667&r=his |
| By: | Alvaredo, Facundo; Bourguignon, François; Ferreira, Francisco H. G.; Lustig, Nora |
| Abstract: | Drawing on a comprehensive compilation of quantile shares and inequality measures for 34 countries, including over 5, 600 estimated Gini coefficients, we review the measurement of income inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean over the last seven decades. Although the evidence from the first quarter century – roughly until the 1970s – is too fragmentary and difficult to compare, clearer patterns emerge for the last fifty years. The central feature of these patterns is a broad inverted U curve, with inequality rising in most countries prior to the 1990s, and falling during the early 21st Century, at least until the mid-2010s, when trends appear to diverge across countries. This broad pattern is modified by country specificities, with considerable variation in timing and magnitude. Whereas this broad picture emerges for income inequality dynamics, there is much more uncertainty about the exact levels of inequality in the region. The uncertainty arises from the disparity in estimates for the same country/year combinations, depending on whether they come from household surveys exclusively; from some combination of surveys and administrative tax data; and on whether they attempt to scale income aggregates to achieve consistency with National Accounts estimates. Since no single method is fully convincing at present, we are left with (often wide) ranges, or bands, of inequality as our best summaries of inequality levels. Reassuringly, however, the dynamic patterns are generally robust across the bands. |
| Keywords: | income inequality; measurement; Latin America and the Caribbean |
| JEL: | D31 D63 O54 |
| Date: | 2023–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:120557&r=his |
| By: | David Autor; Caroline Chin; Anna Salomons; Bryan Seegmiller |
| Abstract: | We address three core questions about the hypothesized role of newly emerging job categories ('new work') in counterbalancing the erosive effect of task-displacing automation on labor demand: what is the substantive content of new work; where does it come from; and what effect does it have on labor demand? To address these questions, we construct a novel database spanning eight decades of new job titles linked both to US Census microdata and to patent-based measures of occupations' exposure to labor-augmenting and labor-automating innovations. We find, first, that the majority of current employment is in new job specialties introduced after 1940, but the locus of new work creation has shifted - from middle-paid production and clerical occupations over 1940-1980, to high-paid professional and, secondarily, low-paid services since 1980. Second, new work emerges in response to technological innovations that complement the outputs of occupations and demand shocks that raise occupational demand; conversely, innovations that automate tasks or reduce occupational demand slow new work emergence. Third, although flows of augmentation and automation innovations are positively correlated across occupations, the former boosts occupational labor demand while the latter depresses it. Harnessing shocks to the flow of augmentation and automation innovations spurred by breakthrough innovations two decades earlier, we establish that the effects of augmentation and automation innovations on new work emergence and occupational labor demand are causal. Finally, our results suggest that the demand-eroding effects of automation innovations have intensified in the last four decades while the demand-increasing effects of augmentation innovations have not. |
| Keywords: | technological change, new tasks, augmentation, automation, demand shifts |
| Date: | 2022–12–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:poidwp:049&r=his |
| By: | Mehrl, Marius; Thurner, Paul |
| Abstract: | International weapons transfers send military capabilities, make arms production economically feasible, and construct security relations. They influence buyers’ and sellers’ foreign policies, domestic politics, and military spending behavior. However, data availability has limited their study to the bipolar Cold War and unipolar post-Cold War periods. We thus introduce the Interwar Period International Trade in Arms (IPITA) data, covering dyadic transfers of small arms, light weapons, ammunition, explosives, and major conventional weapons in the years 1920-1939. The IPITA data will offer new avenues to study the drivers, dynamics, and consequences of arms transfers, both in past and future multipolar systems. |
| Date: | 2023–11–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:vnxth&r=his |
| By: | Katarzyna Reyman; Gunther Maier |
| Abstract: | The system of property right, the way it is organised, protected and executed affects the land development process and the timing of land development. Real options literature that explains impact of additional uncertainties connected with organisation of property right system on timing of land development concerns mostly western countries. Poland and other CEEC (Central and Eastern European Countries) have some unique issues concerning ownership right system that come from post-war, communists, and transition times (previous owners, specific property titles derived from a communist era, reprivatisation, communalisation, etc.). Ownership right is perceived as a very strong right by society, what results from long time of collective ownership, and have some implications on executing property rights. Thus, this paper explains on an example of Poland, CEEC specific property right issues and analyses how it can affect the timing of land development basing on western solutions from real option theory. The importance of topic: The topic is important because land markets are strongly influenced by institutions which may vary even in countries with the same economic and political systems like unified EU countries. Therefore, it is essential to understand past historical influence and societal background that have an effect on those institutions. Design/methodology/approach: secondary literature review, desk based study, qualitative institutional analysis |
| Keywords: | CEEC; property rights regime; Real option theory; the timing of land development |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2023–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2023_230&r=his |
| By: | Brunello, Giorgio (University of Padova); Yamamura, Eiji (Seinan Gakuin University) |
| Abstract: | Using data on wrestlers and tournaments since the early 1970s, we study promotion practices in Sumo, a Japanese traditional sport. We show that, especially since 2010, foreign-born wrestlers trying to attain the second highest rank in Sumo were treated less favorably than Japanese born wrestlers. Similar practices, however, do not apply to foreign-born wrestlers competing for the top rank, probably because of the much higher public scrutiny attracted by promotions to this rank. Together with the 2010 Reform that effectively restricted access to foreign-born wrestlers, existing promotion practices may favor the return of Japanese born players to the top rank of the game. |
| Keywords: | promotion, Sumo, sports, Japan |
| JEL: | J40 J71 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16536&r=his |
| By: | Baptiste Parent (AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Lauriane Mouysset (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Antoine Missemer (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Harold Levrel (AgroParisTech, CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay) |
| Abstract: | Environmental and natural resource economics lies inherently at the interface between economic and natural dynamics (e.g., geological constraints, climate change, biodiversity evolution). Building models in that field often means building integrated models, calling on knowledge and methods from economics and physics, climatology, biology, or ecology. Howard Scott Gordon's 1954 article on fishery economics is considered to be seminal in the history of bioeconomic modeling, integrating biological and economic variables in a microeconomic model. Yet the precise role played by biology in Gordon's initial work remains unclear. On the basis of archival material and thorough analysis of Gordon's early research, this paper examines Gordon's model building and his persistent oscillation between two objectives-the production of a heuristic economic model with standard assumptions, and the conception of a predictive policy tool relevant from a fishery-biology |
| Keywords: | Integrated Model, interdisciplinarity, Fishery Economics, History of Economics |
| Date: | 2023–08–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04250105&r=his |
| By: | Thomas Changeux (MIO - Institut méditerranéen d'océanologie - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers - UTLN - Université de Toulon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Philippe Boisneau (CONAPPED - Comité National de la Pêche Professionnelle en Eau Douce); Nicolas Stolzenberg (CONAPPED - Comité National de la Pêche Professionnelle en Eau Douce); Chloé Goulon (CARRTEL - Centre Alpin de Recherche sur les Réseaux Trophiques et Ecosystèmes Limniques - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | The large-scale production and economy of French freshwater fisheries is not documented in the scientific literature. This article fills this knowledge gap by synthesizing the data collected since the post-war period, including a large part of the grey literature. France presents a wide variety of surface waters, benefiting from a reduction in pollution and a growing population with an emphasis on leisure activities and on locally sourced food products. Despite this favorable geographical, ecological and human situation, French freshwater fisheries have been in decline since the mid-1970s with a chronically negative trade balance for aquatic products. During this period, numbers of commercial fishers have decreased three-fold due to their affiliation to an agricultural status, and to their dependence on migratory species such as eel, shad and lamprey, which are all in decline. Simultaneously, numbers of anglers have also seen a slow but continuous decline, cushioned somewhat in the last 10 years thanks to the creation of sub-annual fishing cards and the expansion of the total to include the younger classes. Vestiges of a non-commercial fishery, similar to recreational subsistence fishing and employing gear such as dip nets, traps, long lines or even gillnets, have been maintained in a much reduced state around large rivers as well as in the marshes and estuaries of the Atlantic coast. In this detailed study of these different categories of fishing practices in the mid-2010s, we estimate numbers of fishers at 2 million active anglers, 4000 subsistence fishers, and 400 commercial fishers. Their catches are roughly 7600, 200 and 1200 tonnes/year, respectively, for a total of 9000 tonnes/year. The major part of the overall economic worth, estimated at 980, 000 K€, is attributable to recreational fishers (anglers). |
| Keywords: | Inland Fisheries, Commercial fisheries, Recreational fisheries, Subsistence fisheries, Angler, Fishing effort, Catches, Economic importance |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04244953&r=his |
| By: | Amy Smaldone; Mark L. J. Wright |
| Abstract: | The world’s population had been doubling every 47 years to reach 8 billion today. But it is expected to peak at 10.5 billion before declining by century’s end. |
| Keywords: | world population; global population; fertility rates; life expectancy at birth; population aging |
| Date: | 2023–03–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:l00001:95792&r=his |
| By: | Nicolas Piluso (CERTOP - Centre d'Etude et de Recherche Travail Organisation Pouvoir - UT2J - Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès - UT - Université de Toulouse - UT3 - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier - UT - Université de Toulouse - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UT3 - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier - UT - Université de Toulouse) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this article is to study Walrasian money theory in the light of Cartelier's general criticism of standard theory, which justifies his direct monetary approach to the economy. We argue that Walras succeeded well before his successors in integrating money into the theory of value, avoiding many of the pitfalls into which many contemporary monetary theories fall. This work will highlight a paradoxical result: despite being a value theorist, Walras has an affinity with the monetary tradition, unlike most of his neoclassical successors. Nevertheless, Walras is not clear on the question of the nature of the money supply. This is the weakness of his model, which may well be open to Cartelier's criticism. |
| Abstract: | Cet article a pour objet d'étudier la théorie walrassienne de la monnaie à la lumière des critiques que Cartelier a formulées d'une manière générale contre la théorie standard et qui justifient son approche directement monétaire de l'économie. Nous soutenons que Walras a réussi bien avant ses successeurs l'intégration de la monnaie à la théorie de la valeur en échappant à nombre d'écueils dans lesquels s'engouffrent plusieurs théories monétaires contemporaines. Ce travail mettra en avant un résultat paradoxal : bien que théoricien de la valeur, Walras présente une affinité avec la tradition monétaire, à rebours de la plupart de ses successeurs néoclassiques. Néanmoins, Walras n'est pas clair sur la question de la nature de l'offre de la monnaie. C'est ce qui fait la faiblesse de son modèle qui prête possiblement le flanc à la critique de Cartelier. |
| Keywords: | division of labor, money, price, value, division du travail, monnaie, prix, valeur |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04254549&r=his |
| By: | Kevin L. Kliesen |
| Abstract: | Two measures of housing construction have tended to peak before U.S. recessions after 1970, but the time from those peaks to a recession’s onset has differed. |
| Keywords: | housing construction; recessions |
| Date: | 2022–09–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:l00001:94933&r=his |
| By: | Oksana Leukhina; Amy Smaldone |
| Abstract: | The narrowing of the gender pay gap since the 1970s appears to be linked to women increasing their labor force attachment and shifting to higher-paying occupations. |
| Keywords: | gender pay gap; women's labor force participation |
| Date: | 2023–05–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:l00001:96190&r=his |
| By: | Ríos, Viridiana |
| Abstract: | México es un país de extrema desigualdad. Una gran parte de esta desigualdad se explica por la progresiva concentración de la riqueza en las élites empresariales que han logrado consolidar su influencia por medio de conexiones entre ellas mismas y con el poder político. Gracias a ello, las élites han conseguido perpetuarse y tener una influencia creciente en la economía mexicana, lo que es evidente en la proporción cada vez mayor que representan las ventas de las 500 empresas más grandes de México en relación con el PIB: dicha proporción pasó del 15% en 1976 al 69% en 2022. También es visible en la permanencia de empresas en la cúpula de la economía: el 44% de las empresas y grupos económicos que hoy están entre las 20 más grandes han sido parte de las más grandes desde 1976. La investigación concluye con una serie de recomendaciones para modificar este fenómeno y transitar hacia una economía más inclusiva. |
| Date: | 2023–10–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col031:67996.2&r=his |
| By: | Brunori, Paolo; Ferreira, Francisco H. G.; Neidhöfer, Guido |
| Abstract: | How strong is the transmission of socio-economic status across generations in Latin America? To answer this question, we first review the empirical literature on intergenerational mobility and inequality of opportunity for the region, summarizing results for both income and educational outcomes. We find that, whereas the income mobility literature is hampered by a paucity of representative datasets containing linked information on parents and children, the inequality of opportunity approach – which relies on other inherited and pre-determined circumstance variables – has suffered from arbitrariness in the choice of population partitions. Two new data-driven approaches – one aligned with the ex-ante and the other with the ex-post conception of inequality of opportunity – are introduced to address this shortcoming. They yield a set of new inequality of opportunity estimates for twenty-seven surveys covering nine Latin American countries over various years between 2000 and 2015. In most cases, more than half of the current generation’s inequality is inherited from the past – with a range between 44% and 63%. We argue that on balance, given the parsimony of the population partitions, these are still likely to be underestimates. |
| JEL: | D31 I39 J62 O15 |
| Date: | 2023–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:120555&r=his |
| By: | François Facchini (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | L'objet de cette note est de savoir si Hayek a soutenu la dictature chilienne et inspiré son action. La réponse donnée n'est pas originale. Elle se contente de reprendre les informations rassemblées sur les deux visites d'Hayek au Chili par les Pr. Bruce Caldwell et Leonidas Montes et publiées dans la Review of Austrian Economics de 2015. Ils montrent sur la base d'un travail d'archives qu'Hayek n'a ni soutenu la dictature chilienne ni inspiré l'écriture de la constitution chilienne et en particulier ses articles les plus liberticides. Hayek a bien rencontré en 1977 le général Pinochet durant vingt minutes, il a bien réuni la société du Mont Pèlerin en 1981 au Chili à Viña del Mar, mais il n'est pas l'inspirateur des choix de politiques publiques du dictateur. La thèse d'un idéal libéral autoritaire véhiculée par de nombreux sociologues et politistes est en ce sens un contresens. |
| Keywords: | Hayek, Chili, Pinochet, Néolibéralisme, démocratie, dictature, constitution |
| Date: | 2023–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-04261553&r=his |
| By: | Goutsmedt, Aurélien (UC Louvain - F.R.S-FNRS); Sergi, Francesco; Claveau, François; Fontan, Clément |
| Abstract: | This article investigates the scientization process in central banks, using the Bank of England (BoE) as a case study. It proposes an ideal type of the scientized central bank, which is tied to the core idea that the scientization of an organization grows with its willingness to contribute to the relevant science. We derive from this ideal type empirically observable characteristics regarding leadership and staff profiles, use of internal resources, composition of external networks, and publication and discursive outputs. The BoE is then contrasted to this ideal type of a thoroughly scientized central bank. The empirical material includes archives and interviews as well as three databases providing quantitative information from 1980 to 2019. We find that the path towards scientization is strategically motivated and varied, influenced by factors such as balancing the imperatives of expert credibility and informing policymaking. Based on this empirical analysis, we underline the multifaceted dynamics of the scientization process and call for more nuanced representations in the academic literature. |
| Date: | 2023–10–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:jzwdt&r=his |
| By: | Enrico Berkes; Davide M. Coluccia; Gaia Dossi; Mara P. Squicciarini |
| Abstract: | When faced with catastrophic events, do people turn to religion or science? Enrico Berkes, Davide Coluccia, Gaia Dossi and Mara Squicciarini find that both reactions can occur at the same time: people affected by the flu epidemic of 1918 become both more religious and more innovative. |
| Keywords: | growth, productivity |
| Date: | 2023–10–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:668&r=his |
| By: | Maarten de Ridder |
| Abstract: | This paper offers a unified explanation for the slowdown of productivity growth, the decline in business dynamism and the rise of market power. Using a quantitative framework, I show that the rise of intangible inputs - such as software - can explain these trends. Intangibles reduce marginal costs and raise fixed costs, which gives firms with high-intangible adoption a competitive advantage, in turn deterring other firms from entering. I structurally estimate the model on French and U.S. micro data. After initially boosting productivity, the rise of intangibles causes a decline in productivity growth, consistent with the empirical trends observed since themid-1990s. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, Growth, Business Dynamism, Intangible Inputs, Market Power |
| Date: | 2022–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:poidwp:064&r=his |
| By: | Shahrokni, Nazanin; Sofos, Spyros |
| Abstract: | The development of Kuwait City’s urban agglomeration – home to 3 million inhabitants, 71.2 percent of the country’s population – is connected to the country’s discovery of oil in 1938. As citizenship became the key to benefiting from Kuwait’s oil wealth, a complex system of differential inclusion and exclusion was devised to identify those entitled and the type and extent of entitlement. Kuwait’s oil wealth presented the emirate’s rulers with the resources to turn Kuwait’s citadel into a modern administrative and commercial centre, but the new city plans largely failed to have an equalising effect. Instead, the existing hierarchical character and divides of Kuwait were grafted onto its urban space. The urban sprawl that replaced Kuwait’s citadel was divided into districts whose boundaries reinforced status, class, ethnic and gender divides. Housing and mobility in the city, leisure and work all became entangled in a complex web of exclusion and inclusion. This paper draws on the findings of a year-long project on the ecologies of inclusion and exclusion in urban Kuwait and its impact on inclusive and effective urban governance. |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2023–10–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:120519&r=his |
| By: | Grajzl, Peter; Gutmann, Jerg; Voigt, Stefan |
| Abstract: | We bring attention to a previously overlooked determinant of de jure-de facto constitutional gaps: a polity's transition to a nation-state. We argue that nation-statehood, predicated on the formation of a strong sense of national identity, lowers the government's incentive to violate constitutional provisions. To test our theory, we use a recently released longitudinal database on constitutional compliance and exploit variation in the timing of countries' attainment of nation-statehood. Our empirical findings substantiate our hypothesis. Based on our preferred estimation approach, nation-statehood bolsters both overall constitutional compliance and constitutional compliance within the subdomains of basic rights, civil rights, and property rights & the rule of law. The estimated long-run effects of nation-statehood on constitutional compliance are considerable in size. Our analysis, thus, illuminates the foundational role of nation-statehood in fostering constitutional compliance. |
| Keywords: | constitutional compliance, de jure-de facto gap, nation-state, national identity, statehood |
| JEL: | D02 D72 K10 K42 P51 Z13 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ilewps:76&r=his |
| By: | Cerutti, Eugenio; Hale, Galina; Minoiu, Camelia |
| Date: | 2023–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucscec:qt9m42j1b7&r=his |