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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
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Issue of 2024‒01‒29
47 papers chosen by |
| By: | Turner, John D. |
| Abstract: | As articulated by Adam Smith, one of the central issues facing companies is that managers will not run the business in the interests of its owners and will misuse resources. This ultimately has a detrimental consequence for the wealth of the nation. This survey reviews the nature and evolution of the corporate governance of UK public companies over the past 300 years. It makes two principal arguments. First, because the separation of ownership and control was one of the rationales for the introduction of the corporate form, we should not be surprised that corporate ownership has generally been diffuse. Second, over time, the way in which owners ensure that managers act in their interests has gradually changed from a system in which shareholders monitored and exercised voice to one where there was more reliance on external forces and exiting ownership. |
| Keywords: | Corporate governance, shareholders, ownership, control, agency costs, UK |
| JEL: | G30 G34 K22 N23 N24 N83 N83 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:qucehw:281060&r=his |
| By: | Jean-François Mignot (GEMASS - Groupe d'Etude des Méthodes de l'Analyse Sociologique de la Sorbonne - UP4 - Université Paris-Sorbonne - FMSH - Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Why did cycling become professional as early as the nineteenth century while other sports (such as rugby) and other sport events (such as the Olympic Games) remained amateur until the 1980s? Why are the organizers of the most important bicycle races private companies while in other sports such as soccer the main event organizer is a nonprofit organization? To what extent have bicycle races changed since the nineteenth century? The history of professional road cycling helps answer these and many related questions. Following the introduction, this chapter provides a historical account on the development of professional road cycling, from local races to global sport events; discusses a century of Grand Tours, which have long been epic races stirring up national passions; and details the current organizational structure of professional road cycling. The conclusion draws attention to the fact that cycling reflects long-term economic changes. The chapter is founded on both an analysis of quantitative time series on the Grand Tours and a review of the existing literature on the history of professional cycling. |
| Keywords: | Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a Espana, Monuments of cycling, International Cycling Union |
| Date: | 2022–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03909034&r=his |
| By: | Morshed, Safya |
| Abstract: | This article summarizes my thesis, which studies the impact of conflicts on the Mughal South Asian state formation in the seventeenth century. This thesis examines the relationship between states, elites, and the peasantry in the face of changing conflict intensity. It uses newly collected conflict and state-personnel data to map the evolving structure of the state, arguing that the patterns indicate a localization of the state's administration. By comparing patterns to other large early modern land empires, the text reflects on our broader understanding of the way in which conflict affected changes in state institutions, and the evolving dynamics between core and periphery. |
| Keywords: | OUP deal |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2023–12–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:120982&r=his |
| By: | Yohann Le Moigne (3L.AM - Langues, Littératures, Linguistique des Universités d'Angers et du Mans - UM - Le Mans Université - UA - Université d'Angers) |
| Keywords: | Race, classe, capitalisme, Africains-Américains, ghetto, hyperghetto, Los Angeles |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04361497&r=his |
| By: | Gallagher, Catherine |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, 150W, english, berkeley, uc berkeley, cal, Lucy Sprague, faculty |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt82f9b59w&r=his |
| By: | Fisk, Catherine |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, University of California, Berkeley, 150 Years of Women, Law |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt6sn9z1wf&r=his |
| By: | Lennard, Jason; Kenny, Seán; Horgan, Emma |
| Abstract: | This paper studies a natural experiment in macroeconomic history: the Irish bank strike of 1966, which led to the closure of the major commercial banks for three months. We use synthetic control to estimate how the economy would have evolved had the strike not happened. We find that economic activity slowed, deviating by 6% from the counterfactual path. Narrative evidence not only supports this finding, but also depicts the struggles of households and firms managing a credit crunch, a liquidity shock, and rising transaction costs. This case study highlights the importance of banks for economic performance. |
| Keywords: | Banks, Ireland, macroeconomy, post-war |
| JEL: | E32 E44 G21 N14 N24 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:qucehw:280962&r=his |
| By: | Calabrese, Matteo; Van Leeuwen, Bas |
| Abstract: | In Modernization Theory, it is argued that both the socio-economic background and education level of labourers affect the job market. In this article, we analyse the effects of both factors on the job market of Piedmont, a region in the north-west of Italy, using a new dataset of job-offer advertisements (job ads) from the newspaper La Stampa between 1867 and 2005. In line with Modernization Theory, we find that the number of job ads mentioning job-unrelated factors (e.g. ‘family background’) as a requirement for hiring, declined over the years. Yet, when present in the text of the job ads, job-unrelated characteristics increased the probability of ending up in jobs with a lower occupational status. However, contrary to job-unrelated factors, the frequency of mentions of socio-attitudinal characteristics (e.g. the ‘ability to deal with the public’) increased over time in the job ads while contributing to the probability of ending in jobs with higher occupational status. |
| Keywords: | Italy, Piedmont, job ads, newspaper, La Stampa, job characteristics |
| JEL: | J24 J28 N33 N34 N83 N84 |
| Date: | 2023–11–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:119299&r=his |
| By: | J. Doyne Farmer; John Geanakoplos; Matteo G. Richiardi; Miquel Montero; Josep Perell\'o; Jaume Masoliver |
| Abstract: | We present a thorough empirical study on real interest rates by also including risk aversion through the introduction of the market price of risk. With the view of complex systems science and its multidisciplinary approach, we use the theory of bond pricing to study the long term discount rate. Century-long historical records of 3 month bonds, 10 year bonds, and inflation allow us to estimate real interest rates for the UK and the US. Real interest rates are negative about a third of the time and the real yield curves are inverted more than a third of the time, sometimes by substantial amounts. This rules out most of the standard bond pricing models, which are designed for nominal rates that are assumed to be positive. We therefore use the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model which allows negative rates and gives a good match to inversions of the yield curve. We derive the discount function using the method of Fourier transforms and fit it to the historical data. The estimated long term discount rate is $1.7$ \% for the UK and $2.2$ \% for the US. The value of $1.4$ \% used by Stern is less than a standard deviation from our estimated long run return rate for the UK, and less than two standard deviations of the estimated value for the US. All of this once more reinforces the support for immediate and substantial spending to combat climate change. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2312.17157&r=his |
| By: | d'Wylde, Marge |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, UC Berkeley, Women in Chemistry, First Women Chemists |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt95k8h75v&r=his |
| By: | Berry, Mary Elizabeth |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, Women in History, UC Berkeley |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt3dp4g4vj&r=his |
| By: | Saleh, Mohamed |
| Abstract: | I investigate the effects of trade on labor coercion under the dual-coercive institutions of slavery and state coercion. Employing novel data from Egypt, I document that the cotton boom in 1861–1865 increased both imported slaveholdings of the rural middle class, and state coercion of local workers by the elite. As state coercion reduced wage employment, it reinforced the demand for slaves among the rural middle class. While the abolition of slavery in 1877 increased wages, it did not affect state coercion or wage employment. I discuss the political effects of the abolition as a potential explanation for these findings. |
| Keywords: | slavery; state corecion; trade; abolition; cotton |
| JEL: | F16 N35 |
| Date: | 2023–12–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:121130&r=his |
| By: | Masuda, Kazuya; Shigeoka, Hitoshi |
| Abstract: | We examine the mortality effects of a 1947 school reform in Japan, which extended compulsory schooling from primary to secondary school by as much as 3 years. The abolition of secondary school fees also indicates that those affected by the reform likely came from disadvantaged families who could have benefited the most from schooling. Even in this relatively favorable setting, we fail to find that the reform improved later-life mortality up to the age of 87 years, although it significantly increased years of schooling. This finding suggests limited health returns to schooling at the lower level of educational attainment. |
| Keywords: | Education, Later-life mortality, Japan, Regression discontinuity design |
| Date: | 2023–07–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajt:wcinch:78763&r=his |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R. (George Washington University) |
| Abstract: | This paper is a review of the literature in economics up to the early 1980s on the issue of estimating the earnings return to schooling and labor market experience. It begins with a presentation of Adam Smith's (1776) analysis of wage determination, with the second of his five points on compensating wage differentials being "the easiness or cheapness, or the difficulty and expense" of acquiring skills. It then proceeds to the analysis by Walsh (1935) estimating the net present value of investments at various levels of educational attainment. Friedman and Kuznets (1945) also used the net present value method to study the earnings in five independent professional practices. Based on the net present value technique, Becker (1964) estimates internal rates of return from high school and college/university schooling, primarily for native-born white men, but also for other demographic groups. The first regression-based approach is the development of the schooling-earnings function by Becker and Chiswick (1966), which relates the logarithm of earnings, as a linear function of years invested in human capital, with the application to years of schooling. This was expanded by Mincer (1974) to the "human capital earnings function" (HCEF), which added years of post-school labor market experience. Attractive features of the HCEF are discussed. Extensions of the HCEF in the 1970s and early 1980s account for interrupted labor marker experience, geographic mobility, and self-employment and unpaid family workers. |
| Keywords: | human capital, schooling earnings function, human capital earnings function, schooling, labor market experience, women, immigrants, less developed countries, self-employed, unpaid workers |
| JEL: | I24 I26 J3 J46 J61 O15 B29 |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16668&r=his |
| By: | Graham, Marlea A. |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt2v51b8tf&r=his |
| By: | Wladimir Andreff; Jean-François Mignot (GEMASS - Groupe d'Etude des Méthodes de l'Analyse Sociologique de la Sorbonne - UP4 - Université Paris-Sorbonne - FMSH - Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | The Tour de France is one of the world's largest annual sport events. Although cycling races are usually not lucrative, the Tour de France organizer's balance sheet reveals that the Tour has been profitable since the 1980s. How can this economic success story be explained? Most sport economists are used to turn to tournament theory and a contest's competitive balance and outcome uncertainty as major reasons for success. However, fans of the Tour de France are seldom surprised by the name of the final winner of the race, usually not even by the riders sharing the podium. Thus, explaining the Tour's success by competitive balance must be checked carefully. Following the introduction, this chapter shows how the Tour de France has been a successful managerial and economic model: it is a well-designed and well-managed sport event, with a modern financing model which is founded on TV broadcasting rights, like other mega-sport events. Fundamentally, the quality of the show of the Tour seems well explained by tournament theory. However, if one focuses on competitive balance, it appears that the success of the Tour is likely not due to a high competitive balance, but instead holds in spite of static and dynamic competitive imbalance. The conclusion stresses that the increasing economic success of the Tour since the 1980s is likely not caused by more competitive racing, but instead by a better broadcasting of the event. |
| Keywords: | Tour de France |
| Date: | 2022–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03909038&r=his |
| By: | Wittmer, Sarah |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, University of California, Berkeley, 150 Years of Women, Physics |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt8z78f1fp&r=his |
| By: | Crowley, Magdalela |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, EECS, 150 Years of Women, University of California, Berkeley, Women in EECS |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt6qd2859m&r=his |
| By: | Gallagher, Catherine |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt8dt7f7gk&r=his |
| By: | Wells, Judy |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, University of California, Berkeley, 150 Years of Women, Feminism |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt6tv8m2s8&r=his |
| By: | Lakoff, Robin |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt3nf7m05q&r=his |
| By: | Apostolidis, Paul |
| Abstract: | This essay offers a new reading of Marx's chapter on ‘the working day’ in Capital Volume One by exploring the textual theme of night-time work. Even as Marx emphasises how the lengthening workday enables the super-exploitation of producers’ wage labour, his depictions of nocturnal experiences highlight more forcefully the destruction of workers’ reproductive resources, capacities and relationships. Night comes to represent the contracted time, condensed space, petrified relational bonds and thwarted desires for human reproduction in a free, fulsome sense that includes reinvigorating oneself, caring for others and enjoying experiences apart from work or care. Night's role as a privileged signifier and catalyst of these changes comes through in key passages about women, children and vampires, and in theoretically meaningful variances between Marx's German paraphrasing of English sources and those original texts, which replace Marx's phrases in English translations of Capital. Contemplating Marx's ambivalent reflections on legal-political action to limit workday hours, I argue for making struggles over social reproduction in a capacious sense central to working-class politics today. I demonstrate the power of this Marxian analytic by considering the compression of social-reproductive time among today's microworkers, who fuel the digital economy by performing platform-based ‘tasks’ at all hours for very low wages. |
| Keywords: | Capital; Karl Marx; microwork; night labour; social reproduction; working day; Sage deal |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2023–12–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:120843&r=his |
| By: | Anderson, D. Mark (Montana State University); Charles, Kerwin Kofi (Yale University); Karbownik, Krzysztof (Emory University); Rees, Daniel I. (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid); Steffens, Camila (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | The Poor People's Campaign (PPC) of 1968 was focused on highlighting, and ultimately reducing, poverty in the United States. As part of the campaign, protestors from across the country were transported to Washington, D.C. in 6 separate bus caravans, each of which made stops en route to rest, recruit, and hold non-violent protests. Using data from 1960-1970, we estimate the effects of these protests on congressional election outcomes. In the South, we find that PPC protests led to reductions in Democratic vote share and turnout, while in the West they may have benefited Democratic candidates at the expense of their Republican rivals. |
| Keywords: | Poor People's Campaign, election outcomes, voting behavior, protests, race |
| JEL: | D72 I30 J15 N32 |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16667&r=his |
| By: | OKANIWA Fusae; IBUKA Yoko; MARUYAMA Shiko |
| Abstract: | How did the 1947 reform of the compulsory education system in Japan change the school enrollment rate of 15-year-old children? This reform is important in the history of the postwar education system in Japan. However, it is unclear whether this reform increased the actual years of education received. We used the Annual Report of the Ministry of Education and Population Estimates to calculate the enrollment rates of 15-year-old children, matching school classifications and grades before and after the reform. The results showed that the enrollment rate for 15-year-old children increased to 95% after the reform, indicating that the 9-year compulsory education system had been established. It was also found that 90% of children had already received eight years of education before the reform. The increase in the years of education was modest, and its impact on human capital accumulation may not have been significant. |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:24001&r=his |
| By: | d'Wylde, Marge |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, Education, UC Berkeley, Chemistry, Education |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt7bd8v001&r=his |
| By: | Humphreys , Sheila M. |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt7v72577k&r=his |
| By: | Fass, Paula |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt4ss912fw&r=his |
| By: | Jean Luc De Meulemeester; David Kusman |
| Abstract: | We propose an in-depth analysis of a specific custom designed to ensure the recovery of debts in the late Medieval Low Countries, using personal sureties (conditional hostages) having to sojourn in an inn to guarantee the contract-enforcement, called the leisting. Its use was initially restricted to aristocratic circles as we show in our first case study concerning a (public) debt to finance territorial expansion of the count of Guelders at the end of the 13th century. We show that the leisting was not always sufficient as more possessory sureties (tolls revenues, incomes from fines and landed estates…) were added in a second loan contract. We stress also the role of Piedmontese moneylenders and how the loan was later sold to the count of Flanders who will make of political use of it. The use of social capital to access capital markets was nevertheless found in several contracts during the 14th and 15th centuries. In our second and third case studies we show how this technique developed within a more mercantile environment. We analyse the case of Kampen during the 14th century, a city that faced both a commercial and urban development. We identify an important use of the leisting technique during this phase of urban development hinting at a regulatory desire of city authorities to avoid speculation on houses and grounds. Lastly, we analyse the case of the city of Brussels during the first half of the 15th century. Here we rely on archival sources allowing us to pinpoint the social profile of those innkeepers so central in this mechanism. They were often brokers as well as hostellers and belonged to the high strata of the city. We discuss the efficiency (and the longue durée) of this practice from a neo institutional perspective. |
| Keywords: | Debt; Hostage; Institutions |
| JEL: | H63 N23 O17 |
| Date: | 2023–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/366474&r=his |
| By: | Hervé Dumez (i3-CRG - Centre de recherche en gestion i3 - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Dans une de ses chroniques, Bruno Latour (2006, p. 54) parle de cet ouvrage comme d'un « éblouissant petit livre » et sans doute y a-t -il trouvé une philosophie proche de la sienne, ainsi qu'une inspiration à relire Tarde. Jean Bastien en a donné un aperçu dans le Libellio (Bastien, 2008). Il n'est pas question ici de résumer la philosophie de Willam James, ni même ce livre qui lui est consacré, juste de donner quelques aperçus en revenant sur les incompréhensions souvent liées au pragmatisme. |
| Date: | 2023–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04348792&r=his |
| By: | Jackson, Emerson Abraham |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the Economic Theory of Inflation, meticulously progressing from fundamental concepts to intricate mathematical models. Investigating causes and consequences, the study draws on pertinent economic theories and empirical evidence. Key findings elucidate the multifaceted nature of inflation, considering Demand-Pull, Cost-Push, and Phillips Curve theories. Mathematical models, including the Fisher Equation and Adaptive Expectations Model, offer quantitative insights into inflation dynamics and expectations. The paper culminates by addressing the imperative of effective economic management, advocating a judicious mix of monetary and fiscal strategies for achieving price stability and sustainable economic growth. The synthesis of economic theory, empirical analysis, and policy considerations contributes to an informed and nuanced understanding of the Economic Theory of Inflation, crucial for policymakers navigating the complexities of contemporary economies. |
| Abstract: | Cet article explore la Théorie économique de l'inflation, progressant méticuleusement des concepts fondamentaux aux modèles mathématiques complexes. En enquêtant sur les causes et conséquences, l'étude s'appuie sur des théories économiques pertinentes et des preuves empiriques. Les principales conclusions éclairent la nature multifacette de l'inflation, en considérant les théories de la demande, des coûts et de la courbe de Phillips. Les modèles mathématiques, y compris l'Équation de Fisher et le Modèle des attentes adaptatives, offrent des aperçus quantitatifs sur la dynamique et les attentes de l'inflation. L'article se termine en abordant l'impératif d'une gestion économique efficace, préconisant un mélange judicieux de stratégies monétaires et fiscales pour atteindre la stabilité des prix et une croissance économique durable. La synthèse de la théorie économique, de l'analyse empirique et des considérations politiques contribue à une compréhension éclairée et nuancée de la Théorie économique de l'inflation, cruciale pour les décideurs naviguant dans les complexités des économies contemporaines. |
| Keywords: | Inflation, Economic Theory, Inflation Control |
| JEL: | E31 E52 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:280999&r=his |
| By: | Thomas Barbiero (Department of Economics, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada); Haiwen Zhou (Department of Economics, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, USA) |
| Abstract: | China and India are both late comers to industrialization. Both adopted similar economic development strategies after World War II, but the per capita GDP diverged significantly in the last 40 years. While economic growth and development have many components, we explain the difference in economic performance by emphasizing the difference in state capacity in the two economies. A country’s state capacity is affected by culture and history. China established a unified language and culture two thousand years ago that enabled it to develop strong state capacity. With a strong state capacity, China made crucial investments in infrastructure and in key heavy industries and developed technological capabilities to help start and sustain growth. India, on the other hand, is a country segmented by religion, caste, and language which has hindered the development of effective state capacity, and thus complementary state investments to spur economic growth. Moreover, India has up to now relied more heavily on expansion of its service sector compared to China, which has hindered its exports, a crucial element that helped China’s economy. India’s future industrialization crucially depends on national integration and concomitant strengthening of state capacity. |
| Keywords: | Economic development; state capacity; technological capabilities; political economy; economy of China |
| JEL: | O10 O53 O57 P52 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rye:wpaper:wp086&r=his |
| By: | Mark Setterfield (Department of Economics, New School For Social Research, USA) |
| Abstract: | Neoliberalism eviscerated the value-sharing ethos of the post-war Golden Age (1945- 73), seeking to maintain social cohesion in civil society by `managing the discontent of the losers'. This involved reconciling working households to the realities of the neoliberal labour market by means of coercion, distraction, and debt accumulation { the latter serving to limit the growth of consumption inequality in the face of burgeoning income inequality. The global financial crisis (GFC) and Great Recession undermined the process of household debt accumulation, creating a crisis of neoliberal accumulation. Key to the institutional renewal required to address this crisis will be managing the discontent of the losers inherited from the neoliberal era. One possibility is Authoritarian Neoliberalism, based on increasingly illiberal amplification of the `coerce and distract' elements inherited from the Neoliberal Boom (1990-2007). The only viable alternative is Social Capitalism. This involves a renewal of social democracy that manages the discontent of the losers at its source, by creating inclusive and sustainable growth that both reduces the need and desire for illiberalism in the sphere of civil society. |
| Keywords: | Social structure of accumulation, capital-citizen accord, household debt, inequality, populism |
| JEL: | E21 B51 B52 P16 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:new:wpaper:2401&r=his |
| By: | Jin, Jing |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, Engineers, Women, Berkeley |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt29g7w2dg&r=his |
| By: | Doran, Áine; Colvin, Christopher L.; McLaughlin, Eoin |
| Abstract: | What are the insights from historical pandemics for policymaking today? We carry out a systematic review of the literature on the impact of pandemics that occurred since the Industrial Revolution and prior to Covid-19. Our literature searches were conducted between June 2020 and September 2023, with the final review encompassing 169 research papers selected for their relevance to understanding either the demographic or economic impact of pandemics. We include literature from across disciplines to maximise our knowledge base, finding many relevant articles in journals which would not normally be on the radar of social scientists. Our review identifies two gaps in the literature: (1) the need to study pandemics and their effects more collectively rather than looking at them in isolation; and (2) the need for more study of pandemics besides 1918 Spanish Influenza, especially milder pandemic episodes. These gaps are a consequence of academics working in silos, failing to draw on the skills and knowledge offered by other disciplines. Synthesising existing knowledge on pandemics in one place provides a basis upon which to identify the lessons in preparing for future catastrophic disease events. |
| Keywords: | systematic review, historical pandemics, mortality, interdisciplinary research |
| JEL: | I15 I18 J11 N30 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:qucehw:280961&r=his |
| By: | Fix, Blair |
| Abstract: | FROM THE ARTICLE. *** In their book Manufacturing Consent, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky argue that the mainstream media functions largely as a propaganda arm for the state. When the war drum beats, the corporate media tows the government’s line, censoring facts that don’t fit the official narrative. *** Outside of war, media bias is typically less overt. But to the careful observer, it can still be discerned. In this case, our careful observer is Canadian oil critic Regan Boychuk. *** Boychuk lives in Calgary — a prairie city that is famous for two things. Calgary hosts the world’s largest rodeo. And it is the corporate heart of the Canadian oil business. Calgary … home to cowboys and crude-oil CEOs. *** As you might guess, our story of media censorship is not about cowboys. Calgary’s main newspaper, the Herald, is staunchly pro-oil. And that means its editorial pages are filled with oilpatch jingoism. However, the rest of the paper is an archetype of neutral reporting. Just kidding. *** Unsurprisingly, the Herald’s pro-oil stance shapes the content that appears in the paper. This post takes a quantitative look at the editorial ‘curation’. *** Most of the heavy lifting has been done by Boychuk, who had the brilliant idea to track the reporting of environmental journalist Mike De Souza. Between November 2010 and July 2013, De Souza wrote a series of articles documenting scandals related to the Canadian oilpatch, and its staunch defender, the Harper government. *** At the time, De Souza was working for Postmedia, a news conglomerate that operated a wire service for its many subsidiaries. So when De Souza’s pieces were published, they were delivered to local papers like the Ottawa Citizen, the Edmonton Journal, and the Calgary Herald. *** Here’s the catch. Although owned by the same conglomerate, these local papers had leeway to edit (or shelve) their wire-service articles. The result, Boychuk realized, was a controlled setting to analyze media censorship. Earlier this year, Boychuk published his findings in a piece called ‘Proximity to Power: The oilpatch & Alberta’s major dailies’. *** My contribution here is mostly visual. I’ve taken Boychuk’s investigation and translated it into charts. The results largely speak for themselves. As De Souza’s articles approached the center of Canadian oil-and-gas power in Calgary, they were increasingly gutted, and their message changed. It’s a fascinating case study of how business interests shape the news. |
| Keywords: | Alberta, Canada, censorship, energy, environment, journalism, newspapers, oil |
| JEL: | P P1 P14 P18 L82 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:280858&r=his |
| By: | Gallagher, Catherine |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt93v1265x&r=his |
| By: | Cranz, Galen |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt5zm793dq&r=his |
| By: | Huber, Andreas; König, Thomas (Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna (IHS)) |
| Abstract: | The IHS was established in Austria with funds from an American foundation. With the intention to introduce modern empirical social and economic sciences to Austria (and Central Europe). After initial resistance, the institute was embraced by national political elites: in addition to providing postgraduate education for emerging scholars, it also functioned as a scientific think tank conducting applied, policy-relevant empirical research. This text provides a narrative account of the Institute's development and transformation, relying on specific metrics systematically evaluated from accessible sources, particularly annual budgets and staff composition. It portrays an organization consistently challenged by diverse expectations and grappling with the organizational and strategic limitations of deriving concrete objectives from this. |
| Date: | 2023–12–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:zhgj3&r=his |
| By: | Almelhem, Ali (World Bank); Iyigun, Murat (University of Colorado, Boulder); Kennedy, Austin (University of Colorado, Boulder); Rubin, Jared (Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | Using textual analysis of 173, 031 works printed in England between 1500 and 1900, we test whether British culture evolved to manifest a heightened belief in progress associated with science and industry. Our analysis yields three main findings. First, there was a separation in the language of science and religion beginning in the 17th century. Second, scientific volumes became more progress-oriented during the Enlightenment. Third, industrial works—especially those at the science-political economy nexus—were more progress-oriented beginning in the 17th century. It was therefore the more pragmatic, industrial works which reflected the cultural values cited as important for Britain's takeoff. |
| Keywords: | language, religion, science, political economy, progressiveness, Enlightenment, industrial revolution |
| JEL: | C81 C88 N33 N63 O14 Z11 |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16674&r=his |
| By: | Dutoit, Sandrine |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, Education, UC Berkeley, 150 years, Women in Statistics, Statistics |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt3s10588w&r=his |
| By: | Doyle, Fiona |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt91z5h1tp&r=his |
| By: | Olney, Martha |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, University of California, Berkeley, 150 Years of Women, Economics |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt3728q22t&r=his |
| By: | Jean-Laurent Cadorel (EBS Paris - European Business School Paris, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - 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, EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - 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: | What caused the 1929 crash of the New York Stock Exchange? This paper provides a quantitative study of liquidity in the 1929 crash of the NYSE. I evidence the crash was indeed a liquidity crisis due to the liquidation of brokers' margin loans. Applying recent estimators of effective spreads and liquidity conditions from contemporary finance literature suggests a fourfold increase in spreads during the crash at the aggregate level. At the individual stock level, quoted bid-ask spreads suggest liquidity explains one-fifth of the variance in daily stock returns in the crash. |
| Abstract: | Quelles sont les causes immédiates du krach boursier de 1929 à la Bourse de New York ? Cet article présente une étude quantitative de la liquidité dans le krach de 1929 et prouve que le krach était bien une crise de liquidité dûe à des appels de marge sur des prêts des courtiers. En utilisant des estimateurs issus de la littérature financière moderne, cet article met en évidence la sévère détérioration des conditions de marché. Au niveau agrégé, les spreads ont été multipliés par 4. Au niveau des actions individuelles, les écarts entre la meilleure offre et la meilleure vente suggèrent que la liquidité explique un cinquième de la variance des rendements quotidiens des actions au cours de la crise. Grâce à des données intra journalières sur les 80 plus grandes actions, cet article montre que les chutes ont eu lieu aux horaires fixes d'appels de marge. |
| Keywords: | 1929 crash, Stock market, NYSE, Financial crisis, Liquidity crisis, Krach 1929, Marchés financiers, Crise financière, Crise de liquidité |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04347097&r=his |
| By: | Michelle Hansch (HU Berlin); Jan Nimczik (ESMT, RFBerlin, IAB, IZA); Alexandra Spitz-Oener (HU Berlin, RFBerlin, IAB, IZA) |
| Abstract: | In a context where improved employment outcomes entail relocating to a new destination, how does information from former coworkers alter workers’ labor migration decisions? We explore this question using the unique backdrop of German reunification in the early 1990s. For former workers of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), improving employment outcomes typically meant relocating to West Germany, which most were reluctant to do. We show that information from former GDR coworkers in West Germany significantly increased the employment probability of East Germans in West Germany. To identify these network effects, we document and exploit that GDR workers were as-good-as randomly assigned to networks by the GDR system from the perspective of the West German market economy. We then establish that the networks only trigger migration responses among East Germans whose contacts had positive work experiences in the West and were similar in their earnings potential in the market-based economy of reunified Germany. These contacts, in essence, serve as role models for the workers’ prospects in the West, leading workers to trust the advice and assessments provided and ultimately altering the expected benefits from labor migration for the specific worker. |
| Date: | 2024–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:490&r=his |
| By: | Michele Battisti; Antonio Francesco Gravina; Andrea Mario Lavezzi; Giuseppe Maggio; Giorgio Tortorici |
| Abstract: | What is the role of a society's wealth in influencing educational choices? Although the theoretical literature provides several possible answers, from an empirical viewpoint answering question is not straightforward. Indeed, nowadays such an issue cannot be typically inspected before starting the college, due to the compulsory public education laws in force at lower education levels in nearly all countries. We investigate this problem by employing a unique dataset covering Sicilian wealth shares and primary school enrollment in the year 1858 at municipal level. This represents an ideal setting to study our research question as, at that time, schools at the lowest grade levels were available in almost each Sicilian municipality, but their attendance was not compulsory. Our identification strategy relies on the historical heritage of seismic events in shaping mid-19th century land and property distribution, which allowed for the emergence of a class of "wealthy" households. Results of the analysis show that, even in an almost entirely agrarian society, household wealth played a decisive role in educational choices: an increase of 10 |
| Keywords: | Wealth; Education; Long-run Development; Institutions; Human Capital |
| JEL: | I24 O15 N93 |
| Date: | 2024–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pie:dsedps:2024/302&r=his |
| By: | Blum, Alice |
| Abstract: | This article uses the example of the far-right blog Sezession to examine the particular significance of German history for the authors and the way in which it is used for right-wing political argumentation. With the help of a content analysis approach, 111 articles were examined and it was worked out how the authors use National Socialism and the GDR dictatorship as arguments for themselves. It is shown that all argumentation patterns are aimed at questioning the existing democracy and positioning themselves as better democrats. With regard to National Socialism, these are dismissive or relativizing narratives, while the history of the GDR is drawn upon to substantiate one's own resistance and the correctness of one's own position. |
| Keywords: | Far-right, democracy, narratives, victimization, GDR, National Socialism, Sezession |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iubhso:280925&r=his |
| By: | Gracyk, Janet |
| Keywords: | Arts and Humanities, University of California, Berkeley, 150 Years of Women, Environmental Design |
| Date: | 2023–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:cshedu:qt5g68d186&r=his |