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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
| By: | Jakob Segerlind (Department of Economics, New School For Social Research, USA) |
| Abstract: | This paper revisits the role of the Great Depression as a driver of income leveling, using new evidence on Stockholm’s income distribution between 1926 and 1936. Drawing on previously unexploited Swedish Tax Assessment Calendars and official tabulated tax data, the study generates detailed estimates of income shares across the distribution. Contrary to conventional narratives portraying financial crises as powerful equalizers, the Gini coefficient in Stockholm remained stable throughout the Depression, despite a moderately severe domestic financial crisis. While the top 1 percent income share declined modestly, the lower half of the distribution saw no relative improvement. These findings challenge the interpretation of the Great Depression as a major “leveling event” in Sweden by downplaying its immediate distributive effects and instead pointing toward the importance of fundamental political and structural transformations that were not driven by the crisis itself. The results underscore the ambiguous relationship between financial crises and inequality, offering a historical perspective relevant to contemporary debates beyond Sweden. |
| Keywords: | Income inequality, financial crisis, Great Depression, Stockholm, income distribution, political economy |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:new:wpaper:2511 |
| By: | Avner Greif; Joel Mokyr; Guido Tabellini |
| Abstract: | Why did the industrial revolution occur in Europe and not in China, despite China being well ahead of Europe in terms of economic and technological achievements several centuries earlier? We revisit this long-standing question from a new perspective. We emphasize the importance of the different social organizations that diffused in these two parts of the world in the centuries that preceded the industrial revolution: kin-based organizations in China, vs corporations in Europe. We explain their cultural origins, and discuss how these different organizations shaped the evolution of legal systems, political institutions and human capital accumulation in these two parts of the world. Our main argument is that European corporations played a crucial role in the scientific and technological innovations that ultimately led to the industrial revolution. |
| Keywords: | industrial revolution, China, Europe, culture, institutions, organizations |
| JEL: | N00 P00 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12023 |
| By: | Karen Clay; Danae Hernandez-Cortes; Akshaya Jha; Joshua A. Lewis; Noah S. Miller; Edson R. Severnini |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relative contributions of siting decisions and post-siting demo-graphic shifts to current disparities in exposure to polluting fossil-fuel plants in the United States. Our analysis leverages newly digitized data on power plant siting and operations from 1900-2020, combined with spatially resolved demographics and population data from the U.S Census from 1870-2020. We find little evidence that fossil-fuel plants were disproportionately sited in counties with higher Black population shares on average. However, event study estimates indicate that Black population share grows in the decades after the first fossil-fuel plant is built in a county, with average increases in Black population share of 4 percentage points in the 50-70 years after first siting. These long-run demographic shifts are driven by counties that first hosted a fossil-fuel plant between 1900-1949. We close by exploring how these long-run demographic shifts were shaped by the Great Migration, differential sorting in response to pollution, and other factors. Our findings highlight that the equity implications of siting long-lived infrastructure can differ dramatically depending on the time span considered. |
| JEL: | D63 J18 N72 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34109 |
| By: | Julia Baarck; Moritz Bode; Andreas Peichl |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first to show that intergenerational income mobility in Germany has decreased over time. We provide estimates of intergenerational persistence for the birth cohorts 1968-1987 and document that the rank-rank slope rises sharply for cohorts born in the late 1970s and early 1980s, after which it stabilizes at a higher level. Depending on the specification, the slope increases by 59%-107%. As a step towards understanding the mechanisms behind this increase in income persistence, we show that parental income has become much more important for educational outcomes of children over the same time period. Moreover, we show that the increase in intergenerational income persistence coincided with an increase in cross-sectional income inequality, providing novel evidence for an "Intertemporal Great Gatsby Curve" in Germany. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, social mobility, education, inequality |
| JEL: | J62 I24 D63 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12058 |
| By: | Simone Daniotti; Matte Hartog; Frank Neffke |
| Abstract: | Diversified economies are critical for cities to sustain their growth and development, but they are also costly because diversification often requires expanding a city’s capability base. We analyze how cities manage this trade-off by measuring the coherence of the economic activities they support, defined as the technological distance between randomly sampled productive units in a city. We use this framework to study how the US urban system developed over almost two centuries, from 1850 to today. To do so, we rely on historical census data, covering over 600M individual records to describe the economic activities of cities between 1850 and 1940, as well as 8 million patent records and detailed occupational and industrial profiles of cities for more recent decades. Despite massive shifts in the economic geography of the U.S. over this 170-year period, average coherence in its urban system remains unchanged. Moreover, across different time periods, datasets and relatedness measures, coherence falls with city size at the exact same rate, pointing to constraints to diversification that are governed by a city’s size in universal ways. |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2522 |
| By: | Matthew Curtis (University of Southern Denmark); David de la Croix (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)); Filippo Manfredini (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)); Mara Vitale (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | We present new annual time-series data on academic human capital across Europe from 1200 to 1793, constructed by aggregating individual-level measures at three geographic scales: cities, present-day countries (as of 2025), and historically informed macro-regions. Individual human capital is derived from a composite index of publication outcomes, based on data from the Repertorium Eruditorum Totius Europae (RETE) database. The macro-regional classifications are designed to reflect historically coherent entities, offering a more relevant perspective than modern national boundaries. This framework allows us to document key patterns, including the Little Divergence in academic human capital between Northern and Southern Europe, the effect of the Black Death and the Thirty Years' War on academic human capital, the respective contributions of academies and universities, regional inequality within the Holy Roman Empire, and the distinctiveness of the Scottish Enlightenment. |
| Keywords: | human capital, universities, academies, pre-industrial Europe, long-run growth, Little Divergence |
| JEL: | N33 O47 I23 |
| Date: | 2025–08–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2025012 |
| By: | Chiswick, Barry R. (George Washington University); Robinson, RaeAnn Halenda (George Washington University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the characteristics of the free population who were recorded as "owners" of enslaved people in the antebellum Southern states. We utilize the first nationally representative sample linking enslaved and free people - the 1/100 sample microdata files of the 1850 Census of Population from Schedule 1 on free people, and Schedule 2 on the enslaved population - to identify the slaveholders and their slaveholdings. The reduced form regression analyses consider both owning at least one enslaved person, and among slaveholders the number held. The findings indicate that 90 percent of the enslaved population were reportedly held by free males, that among men this was more likely for those who were married, but among women it was lower for the married, that for both genders slaveholding increased with age, being literate, and having been born in the US. Moreover, it varied by free men's occupation, in part because of the extent of self-employment and in part due to their wealth. While most slaveholders were self-employed farmers, many of the slaveholders were professionals, including clergy, doctors, and lawyers who used enslaved people in their household, in their professional practice, or in the farms/plantations that they also owned. |
| Keywords: | enslaved people, slaveholders, 1850 census of population, schedule 2 – slave inhabitants, occupations, gender, literacy, nativity |
| JEL: | N10 N9 N31 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18031 |
| By: | Bartscher, Alina K.; Kuhn, Moritz; Schularick, Moritz; Steins, Ulrike I. |
| Abstract: | Using new household-level data, we study the secular increase in U.S. household debt and its distribution since 1950. Most of the debt were mortgages, which initially grew because more households borrowed. Yet after 1980, debt mostly grew because households borrowed more. We uncover home equity extraction, concentrated in the white middle class, as the largest cause, strongly affecting intergenerational inequality and life-cycle debt profiles. Remarkably, the additional debt did not lower households' net worth because of rising house prices. We conclude that asset-price-based borrowing became an integral part of households' consumption-saving decisions, yet at the cost of higher financial fragility. |
| Keywords: | Household debt, Home equity extraction, Inequality, Household portfolios, Financial fragility |
| JEL: | G51 E21 E44 D14 D31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:323602 |
| By: | Benkhedda Kaoutar (UMD [Université Mohamed 1er] [Université Mohamed Premier] - Université Mohamed Ier [Oujda, Maroc] = Mohamed I University [Oujda, Morocco] = جامعة محمد الأول (ar)) |
| Abstract: | Cet article retrace de manière chronologique et analytique l'évolution du concept de logistique, depuis ses origines militaires jusqu'à son intégration dans les modèles de gestion contemporaine, marqués par la digitalisation et la globalisation. D'abord fonction tactique destinée à soutenir les armées, la logistique s'est progressivement étendue au domaine économique, devenant un pilier organisationnel des entreprises durant l'ère industrielle. À partir des années 1970, sous l'effet des mutations de la demande, des chocs pétroliers et de la mondialisation, elle se transforme en un système intégré : la chaîne logistique (Supply Chain), puis en gouvernance stratégique via le Supply Chain Management. L'étude met en lumière trois grandes phases d'évolution logistique (séparée, intégrée, coopérée) et souligne l'impact majeur des révolutions industrielles - notamment la 4.0 et 5.0 - sur la refonte des processus logistiques. Enfin, l'analyse présente les catalyseurs technologiques (IA, IoT, Big Data, Blockchain, Cloud, exosquelettes) qui redéfinissent aujourd'hui les paradigmes de performance, de résilience et de durabilité logistique. This article chronologically and analytically traces the evolution of the concept of logistics, from its military origins to its integration into contemporary management models, marked by digitalization and globalization. Initially, a tactical function intended to support armies, logistics gradually expanded into the economic sphere, becoming an organizational pillar of companies during the industrial era. Beginning in the 1970s, driven by shifts in demand, oil shocks, and globalization, it transformed into an integrated system: the supply chain, and then into strategic governance via Supply Chain Management. The study highlights three major phases of logistics evolution (separate, integrated, cooperative) and highlights the major impact of industrial revolutions, particularly 4.0 and 5.0, on the redesign of logistics processes. Finally, the analysis presents the technological catalysts (AI, IoT, Big Data, Blockchain, Cloud, exoskeletons) that are today redefining the paradigms of performance, resilience, and logistics sustainability. |
| Abstract: | Cet article retrace de manière chronologique et analytique l'évolution du concept de logistique, depuis ses origines militaires jusqu'à son intégration dans les modèles de gestion contemporaine, marqués par la digitalisation et la globalisation. D'abord fonction tactique destinée à soutenir les armées, la logistique s'est progressivement étendue au domaine économique, devenant un pilier organisationnel des entreprises durant l'ère industrielle. À partir des années 1970, sous l'effet des mutations de la demande, des chocs pétroliers et de la mondialisation, elle se transforme en un système intégré : la chaîne logistique (Supply Chain), puis en gouvernance stratégique via le Supply Chain Management. L'étude met en lumière trois grandes phases d'évolution logistique (séparée, intégrée, coopérée) et souligne l'impact majeur des révolutions industrielles - notamment la 4.0 et 5.0 - sur la refonte des processus logistiques. Enfin, l'analyse présente les catalyseurs technologiques (IA, IoT, Big Data, Blockchain, Cloud, exosquelettes) qui redéfinissent aujourd'hui les paradigmes de performance, de résilience et de durabilité logistique. This article chronologically and analytically traces the evolution of the concept of logistics, from its military origins to its integration into contemporary management models, marked by digitalization and globalization. Initially, a tactical function intended to support armies, logistics gradually expanded into the economic sphere, becoming an organizational pillar of companies during the industrial era. Beginning in the 1970s, driven by shifts in demand, oil shocks, and globalization, it transformed into an integrated system: the supply chain, and then into strategic governance via Supply Chain Management. The study highlights three major phases of logistics evolution (separate, integrated, cooperative) and highlights the major impact of industrial revolutions, particularly 4.0 and 5.0, on the redesign of logistics processes. Finally, the analysis presents the technological catalysts (AI, IoT, Big Data, Blockchain, Cloud, exoskeletons) that are today redefining the paradigms of performance, resilience, and logistics sustainability. |
| Keywords: | Logistique Supply Chain technologies numériques industrie 4.0 management stratégique Logistics Supply Chain digital transformation industry 4.0 strategic management, Logistique, Supply Chain, technologies numériques, industrie 4.0, management stratégique Logistics, digital transformation, industry 4.0, strategic management |
| Date: | 2025–06–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05163486 |
| By: | Clay, Karen (Carnegie Mellon University); Jha, Akshaya (Carnegie Mellon University); Lewis, Joshua (University of Montreal); Severnini, Edson (Boston College) |
| Abstract: | This paper documents the evolution of US carbon emissions and discusses the main factors that contributed to the historical carbon emissions rollercoaster. We divide the discussion into four periods – up to 1920, 1920-1960, 1960-2005 and after 2005. For each period, we discuss the main drivers of national carbon emissions. We then discuss trends in carbon emissions in the electricity sector. Electricity sector emissions were initially very small, but would become the largest source of US carbon emissions over the period 1980-2015, and the largest contributor to decarbonization since 2007. In the final section, we distill lessons from the U.S. experience that may inform decarbonization strategies in developing economies. |
| Keywords: | environmental regulation, electricity sector, energy transition, decarbonization, carbon emissions, clean air act, climate policy |
| JEL: | N72 Q31 Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18008 |
| By: | Rickard, Stephanie |
| Abstract: | In 2025, the United States raised tariffs to rates not seen for more than a century. These tariffs were not part of a carefully designed industrial strategy. Instead, the second Trump administration distanced itself from existing industrial policy initiatives and indicated a desire to roll back government-funded subsidies for businesses. This article examines the rationale behind the United States’ pivot from subsidies to tariffs and explores implications for trade partners and multilateral institutions. |
| Keywords: | tariffs; industrial policy; trade; subsidies |
| JEL: | J1 R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2025–08–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:128326 |
| By: | Carl E. Walsh; Carl Walsh |
| Abstract: | The current 5-year review of the FOMC’s Statement on Longer-Run Goals and Monetary Policy Strategy provides an opportunity to assess the revisions made in 2020. I review the rationale behind the 2020 revisions and then discuss the new operational objectives: asymmetric average inflation targeting and shortfalls from maximum employment. Macroeconomic developments since 2020 led to an environment that was very different than the one anticipated when the 2020 policy framework was adopted. In this new environment, the 2020 changes created a risk that the US would suffer a repeat of the 1970s, a risk compounded by the FOMC’s slow reaction as inflation rose during 2021-2022. I illustrate the consequences of such a delay in addressing high inflation. The experience of the past five years offers some new lessons for the current review of the policy framework, as well as reinforcing the importance of some old lessons. |
| Keywords: | monetary policy, Federal Reserve, inflation, unemployment |
| JEL: | E31 E52 E58 E61 J64 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12056 |
| By: | Gerchunoff, Pablo; Rapetti, Martin |
| Abstract: | This article examines Argentina’s macroeconomic instability from two complementary perspectives. On the one hand, it revisits Daniel Heymann’s approach to expectation formation in unstable contexts and decision-making based on perceptions that may misperceive medium-term macroeconomic trends. On the other, it introduces our approach centered on “structural distributive conflict, ” which emphasizes the tension between a social equilibrium —associated with the welfare aspirations of workers— and the macroeconomic equilibrium. The paper seeks to connect both approaches in interpreting Argentina’s economic volatility and its recurrent crises since the mid-20th century. |
| Keywords: | distributive conflict, economic growth, Argentina, expectations, macroeconomic instability |
| JEL: | E12 N16 O11 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:125730 |
| By: | Palma, J. G |
| Abstract: | The 1980s neo-liberal reforms led the West - both developed and Latin America - to capitulate to rentiers at the worst possible time, given the challenges of rapid technological change and evolving world order. Instead of productive flexibilities (Ã la emerging Asia), they delivered a 'neo-liberal trap' with its Ricardian growth-retarding rentier trilogy: a 'market inequality-augmenting, investment-weakening, and productivity growth-retarding' scenario. What these reforms actually did was to turn loose the 'uncreative-destructiveness' of a rentier-based accumulation by indiscriminately strengthening rentiers' property-rights, which allowed them to build an economy and a political settlement - even an ideology - in their own image. In such distorted markets, technological change and international trade could create market opportunities, but not the necessary 'compulsions' to be taken up. Following Geoff Harcourt's lead, I analyse this returning to 'classical economics'; in my case, to a broad Ricardian perspective on rents and rentiers. Emerging Asia, meanwhile, was able to take these opportunities by redirecting rentiers' income towards socially desirable investment strategies - aimed at 'demand adapt' and 'supply upgrade' their productive strategies. Bretton Woods was a guide. But in the West, as rentiers gained the upper hand, the resulting process of 'rentierisation' - of which financialisation is just one, although leading, aspect - is now proving as toxic for inequality, investment and productivity-growth as it is for our democracy. |
| Keywords: | David Ricardo, Inequality, Investment, Productivity, Rents, Rentiers |
| JEL: | B00 E02 N10 O47 Q02 |
| Date: | 2025–08–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2553 |
| By: | Charlotte Bartels; Johannes König; Carsten Schröder |
| Abstract: | How does economic growth affect individual wealth accumulation and, thereby, wealth inequality? Combining individual wealth from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and local GDP growth across 401 German counties, this paper documents a sizable Hometown-Growth-Wealth Nexus. We find that past variation in hometown growth across cohorts and regions contributes to high wealth inequality today. Individuals exposed to high growth during childhood save more and are more likely to be invested in housing. While this savings channel operates for heirs and non-heirs alike, heirs from the same hometown are richer. We validate the Hometown-Growth-Wealth Nexus and the savings channel for the UK. |
| Keywords: | wealth distribution, regional inequality, intergenerational transmission |
| JEL: | D31 D64 O47 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12024 |
| By: | Euphrasie Djougba (CRDP - Centre de Recherches en Droit Public (UPN) - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre) |
| Abstract: | The article traces the 79-year history of the Franc Zone, a monetary framework linking France to several African countries through the CFA franc. It examines the zone's colonial origins, the criticisms regarding monetary sovereignty, and recent reform efforts, particularly the 2019 agreement aimed at replacing the CFA franc with the Eco in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Four scenarios for the future of this new currency are presented, ranging from a simple extension of the CFA franc to a non-single common currency for the ECOWAS region. Finally, the article emphasizes that the success of this transition will depend on strong political will and enhanced regional economic integration. |
| Abstract: | L'article retrace les 79 ans d'existence de la Zone Franc, un cadre monétaire liant la France à plusieurs pays africains via le franc CFA. Cet article en examine l'origine coloniale, les critiques liées à la souveraineté monétaire, et les réformes récentes, notamment l'accord de 2019 visant à remplacer le franc CFA par l'Eco dans la zone de l'Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest africaine. Quatre scénarios pour l'avenir de cette nouvelle monnaie sont présentés, allant d'une simple évolution du franc CFA à une monnaie commune non unique pour la CEDEAO. Enfin , il souligne que le succès de cette transition dépendra d'une volonté politique ferme et d'une intégration économique régionale renforcée. |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05144331 |
| By: | Burr, Wolfgang |
| Abstract: | Ludwig von Mises ist allgemein anerkannt unter seinen Schülern und Anhängern als Ökonom, der sich mit den grundlegenden Fragen seiner Zeit, z. B. der Wahl eines Wirtschaftssystems (Sozialismus oder Liberalismus), Grenzen des staatlichen Interventionismus, Geldtheorie und monetären Erklärungen des Konjunkturzyklus befasste. Mises hat auch methodologische und erkenntnistheoretische Arbeiten verfasst und versucht, einen eigenständigen methodologischen Ansatz, den er "Praxeologie" nannte, zu entwickeln. Seine inhaltlichen und methodologischen Positionen wurden und werden bis heute in der Volkswirtschaftslehre kontrovers diskutiert. Weitgehend unbekannt ist, dass von Mises auch eine inhaltliche Nähe zur Betriebswirtschaftslehre aufwies, die für einen Vertreter der Österreichischen Schule der Nationalökonomie bemerkenswert war. Der vorliegende Beitrag legt dar, worin diese Berührungspunkte von Mises mit der Unternehmenspraxis und der Betriebswirtschaftslehre bestanden. |
| Abstract: | Ludwig von Mises is well known among his scholars and admirers as an economist dealing with fundamental questions and central problems of his time, e. g. choice of an efficient economic system for the economy as a whole (socialism, liberalism), problems and pitfalls of state regulation of private enterprise, monetary theory and monetary policy and business cycles caused by credit expansion and resulting interest reduction. Mises also published methodological and epistemological papers. He created a methodological system which he called "praxeology". Mises' research results concerning socialism, liberalism and state interventionism and his methodological positions are controversely discussed and often rejected in economics until today. Widely unknown is that von Mises had research topics and methodological ideas which are of great relevance to business administration. Mises' closeness to business administration is remarkable for a member of the Austrian School of Economics. This paper shows which points of common interest the work of Ludwig von Mises has with business administration. |
| Keywords: | Ludwig von Mises, Eugen Schmalenbach, Praxeologie, Produktion, Innovation, Rechnungswesen, Österreichische Schule, Betriebswirtschaftslehre |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:stuist:323953 |
| By: | Alberto Batinti; Joan Costa-Font; Vasuprada Shandar; Joan Costa-i-Font |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of royalty status - historically rooted legal privilege enjoyed by hereditary monarchs - on human longevity, a proxy of individuals’ health capital. We disentangle royalty status that encompassed serving as heads of state, and hence subject to status-related stress, from other family members alongside their contemporary countrymen. We exploit a dataset containing relevant demographic data and specifically the lifespan (age at death) of European Royals and their families spanning the past three centuries (1669 to 2022) from the sixteen European countries, including information for 845 high-status nobility and relative monarchs which is compared to otherwise similar countrymen by adjusting for relevant confounders. We document robust evidence of a statistically significant gap in life expectancy between monarchs and other members of the royal family, as well as between monarchs and the general population of an average of 5.2 to 7.1 years longer than their contemporaneous countrymen. |
| Keywords: | royal family, monarchy, life expectancy, health inequality, social determinants of health, healthy lifestyles, universal health insurance, age at death |
| JEL: | I18 N13 P00 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12047 |
| By: | Aicha Ahnach (FSJES Agadir, Université Ibn Zohr = Ibn Zohr University [Agadir]); Lahoussine Rachidi (FSJES Agadir, Université Ibn Zohr = Ibn Zohr University [Agadir]) |
| Abstract: | This article explores the theoretical framework of cooperative entrepreneurship by identifying its key conceptual dimensions. Through a narrative literature review, it traces the historical roots of the cooperative movement, highlighting the ideas of pioneers such as Saint-Simon and Fourier, along with the early implementations of consumer, credit, and production cooperatives. The paper emphasizes the fundamental values of cooperatives, including equality, solidarity, and democracy, which distinguish them from traditional capitalist enterprises. These core values underpin the unique structure and purpose of cooperatives, focusing on collective well-being rather than individual profit maximization. The article also analyzes various theoretical approaches to cooperative entrepreneurship, acknowledging the significant contributions of different scholars. It situates cooperative entrepreneurship within the broader framework of social entrepreneurship, stressing its capacity to meet collective needs while enhancing individual autonomy. Cooperative entrepreneurship is presented as a viable and resilient alternative to conventional capitalist models, offering innovative solutions to social and economic challenges. In conclusion, the study explores the main dimensions of cooperative entrepreneurship, focusing on the creation of both economic and social value, participatory governance, and cooperative identity. These dimensions highlight the distinct nature of cooperative enterprises, which not only generate financial sustainability but also promote social inclusion and community development through democratic decision-making and shared ownership. The cooperative identity, rooted in cooperative principles, is central to maintaining a clear sense of purpose and aligning with ethical and social values. Overall, the article provides a comprehensive examination of cooperative entrepreneurship, demonstrating its potential to address contemporary economic and social issues through a sustainable and inclusive approach |
| Abstract: | Cet article explore le cadre théorique de l'entrepreneuriat coopératif en identifiant ses dimensions conceptuelles clés. En se basant sur une revue de littérature narrative, il retrace les origines du mouvement coopératif, en mettant en avant les idées de pionniers tels que Saint-Simon et Fourier, ainsi que les premières coopératives de consommation, de crédit et de production. L'article souligne les valeurs fondamentales des coopératives, notamment l'égalité, la solidarité et la démocratie, qui les distinguent des entreprises capitalistes traditionnelles. Il analyse ensuite les différentes approches théoriques, en reconnaissant les contributions de divers penseurs. L'étude situe l'entrepreneuriat coopératif dans le contexte plus large de l'entrepreneuriat social en soulignant son potentiel à répondre aux besoins collectifs tout en promouvant l'autonomie des membres. Enfin, l'article se conclut par l'exploration des principales dimensions du construit de l'entrepreneuriat coopératif, incluant la création de valeur économique et sociale, la gouvernance participative et l'identité coopérative. |
| Keywords: | social entrepreneurship, cooperative identity., participatory governance, social value, economic value, literature review, cooperative entrepreneurship, social and solidarity economy, identité coopérative., gouvernance participative, valeur sociale, valeur économique, revue de littérature, entrepreneuriat social, entrepreneuriat coopératif, économie sociale et solidaire |
| Date: | 2025–07–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05196336 |
| By: | Hein, Eckhard |
| Abstract: | This contribution reviews key developments in Kaleckian economics after Kalecki, with a focus on its application to mature capitalist economies. Rather than revisiting interpretations of Kalecki's original work, the contribution highlights subsequent theoretical and empirical extensions. It begins with Josef Steindl's foundational role in shaping Kaleckian economics, and then explores two major areas: distribution and growth models, and conflict inflation models, which have evolved considerably since the 1970s. The survey demonstrates that Kaleckian economics, as major strand of post-Keynesian economics, provides a coherent and consistent alternative to mainstream approaches, grounded in the principles of effective demand and distributional conflict, with a wide range of applications. While comprehensive within its chosen scope, the paper does not address Kaleckian contributions in areas such as pricing beyond Steindl, development economics, or post-capitalist economics, which would merit separate treatments. |
| Keywords: | Kaleckian economics, post-Keynesian economics, Josef Steindl, distribution and growth, conflict inflation |
| JEL: | B22 B59 E12 E31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ipewps:323943 |
| By: | Tobias Korn (Leibniz Universität Hannover & Heidelberg University); Jean Lacroix (RITM, Université Paris-Saclay & CESifo Münich) |
| Abstract: | Abstract This paper documents a new consequence of market integration: local reallocation, i.e., the exit of some workers from production even though employment increases in the same area and industry. Thanks to new data on over 150, 000 personal bankruptcies com- bined with detailed microcensus data from 19th-century Britain, we estimate the causal impact of railway access on employment growth and personal bankruptcies. Market integration increased both employment and bankruptcy probability solely in the man- ufacturing sector. Studying the mechanisms of local reallocation, we show that market integration increased the number and size of manufacturing firms that employed cheap, task-differentiated labour. Our results extend existing research focused primarily on reallocation either across sectors or across locations. |
| Keywords: | Bankruptcies, Market Integration, Reallocation, Structural Transformation |
| JEL: | N63 L16 O33 R40 K35 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ost:wpaper:408 |
| By: | Egil Diau |
| Abstract: | The origins of economic behavior remain unresolved-not only in the social sciences but also in AI, where dominant theories often rely on predefined incentives or institutional assumptions. Contrary to the longstanding myth of barter as the foundation of exchange, converging evidence from early human societies suggests that reciprocity-not barter-was the foundational economic logic, enabling communities to sustain exchange and social cohesion long before formal markets emerged. Yet despite its centrality, reciprocity lacks a simulateable and cognitively grounded account. Here, we introduce a minimal behavioral framework based on three empirically supported cognitive primitives-individual recognition, reciprocal credence, and cost--return sensitivity-that enable agents to participate in and sustain reciprocal exchange, laying the foundation for scalable economic behavior. These mechanisms scaffold the emergence of cooperation, proto-economic exchange, and institutional structure from the bottom up. By bridging insights from primatology, developmental psychology, and economic anthropology, this framework offers a unified substrate for modeling trust, coordination, and economic behavior in both human and artificial systems. For an interactive visualization of the framework, see: https://egil158.github.io/cogfoundations -econ/ |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2505.02945 |
| By: | Van Even, Priscilla (KU Leuven); Vanhaelewijn, Kevin |
| Abstract: | Our contemporary world is confusing because we no longer know where we stand. Are we on the height of progress and human potential, driven by scientific innovation and technological advancement? Or have we descended into unprecedented, self-inflicted ecological crises threatening our survival? While technological progress is undeniable, it is also the main cause of environmental degradation, creating a paradox that challenges modern thought. This cognitive dissonance is sustained by logocentrism, a way of knowing that considers descriptive language, logic, and measurable knowledge as superior, which disconnects us from direct experience of the Living World, nature, through conceptual constructions. As an antidote to this logocentric trap, we turn to Daoist philosophy, offering a perspective that challenges the dominance of logocentric language and thought. Drawing on Masanobu Fukuoka’s natural Way of farming as a living metaphor, we reflect on this paradox and the logocentric ‘box’ while exploring ecological transformation through wu wei. Using metaphorical language and visual ‘windows’ as epistemic openings, we invite readers to move beyond the logocentric boundaries of these pages and reconnect directly with the Living World. |
| Date: | 2025–07–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:z852u_v1 |
| By: | Viral V. Acharya; Raghuram Rajan; Zhi Quan (Bill) Shu |
| Abstract: | Theory suggests that in the face of fire sale externalities, banks have incentives to overinvest in order to issue excessive money-like deposit liabilities. The existence of a private market for insurance such as contingent capital can eliminate the overinvestment incentives, leading to efficient outcomes. However, it does not eliminate fire sales. A central bank that can infuse liquidity cheaply may be motivated to intervene in the face of fire sales. If so, it can crowd out the private market and, if liquidity intervention is not priced at higher-than-breakeven rates, induce overinvestment. We examine various forms of public intervention to identify the least distortionary ones. Our analysis helps understand the historical prevalence of private insurance in the era preceding central banks and deposit insurance, their subsequent disappearance, as well as the continuing incidence of banking crises and speculative excesses. |
| JEL: | E40 E41 E50 E58 G01 G2 G21 G23 G28 N20 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34099 |
| By: | Dominic Rohner |
| Abstract: | This handbook chapter provides a synthesis of the literature on armed conflicts, with a special focus on development economics, while covering also other disciplines. The piece starts off with a discussion of the main consequences of conflict before investigating its root causes. First, a series of theoretical approaches and results will be reviewed, before presenting major datasets and methods. As a next step, a structured analysis of key empirical findings follows. The last part of the handbook chapter is devoted to a synthesis of crucial policy lessons. |
| Keywords: | conflict, civil war, peace, development, poverty |
| JEL: | D74 F51 H56 H77 N40 O10 Q34 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12035 |
| By: | Louis Olié (UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, Cirad-ES - Département Environnements et Sociétés - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, BSE - Bordeaux sciences économiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Léo Delpy (CLERSÉ - Centre Lillois d’Études et de Recherches Sociologiques et Économiques - UMR 8019 - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Jérôme Ballet (Passages - UB - Université de Bordeaux - ENSAP Bordeaux - École nationale supérieure d'architecture et du paysage de Bordeaux - UBM - Université Bordeaux Montaigne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This article examines social protection pathways in the former French colonies in sub-Saharan Africa. We identify five steps to understanding the patterns and dynamics of social protection in these countries that provide evidence of its exogenous construction. First, we characterize the main developments in social protection systems and policies from their inception, covering the colonial era to the present, underlining the role of colonial legacy and the global social policy framework. Second, we document the similarity of national social protection trajectories and lack of national ownership of the policy problem markedly that characterizes social protection pathways. |
| Keywords: | Social protection, Sub-saharan africa, Colonialism, Global social policy, International aid, Afrique au sud du Sahara, Bénin, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Tchad, République centrafricaine, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinée, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritanie, Niger, Sénégal, Comores, Togo, protection sociale, politique de développement, changement social, aide au développement, gouvernance, pauvreté, politique de l'environnement, politique sanitaire, colonialisme, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04633467 |
| By: | Tarik Saikouk (CERIIM - Centre de Recherche en Intelligence et Innovation Managériales - Excelia Group | La Rochelle Business School); Florian Magnani (MAGELLAN - Laboratoire de Recherche Magellan - UJML - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3 - Université de Lyon - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Lyon) |
| Abstract: | While technical deployments of lean have often failed to deliver lasting results, the integration of social, behavioral, and organizational dimensions now appears essential to turn lean into a strategic lever suited to today's challenges. This article adopts a retrospective and narrative approach to retrace the evolution of lean in three stages: from a tool-centered technical paradigmto a sociotechnical perspective incorporating human resource management, and finally toward a forward-looking vision of Lean5.0, primarily rooted in its human dimension. The article calls for moving beyond an instrumental view of lean to consider it as an adaptive sociotechnical system. Two research directions are proposed: vertical alignment between strategy, structures, and behaviors; and horizontal development of communities of practice that foster trust, cooperation, and resilience. |
| Abstract: | Alors que les déploiements techniques du lean ont souvent échoué à produire des résultats pérennes, l'intégration des dimensions sociales, comportementales et organisationnelles apparaît aujourd'hui comme essentielle pour faire du lean un levier stratégique adapté aux enjeux contemporains. Cet article retrace la trajectoire du lean en adoptant une approche rétrospective et narrative, articulée en trois temps : d'un paradigme technique centré sur les outils, à une lecture sociotechnique intégrant la gestion des ressources humaines, jusqu'à une vision prospective d'un Lean 5.0, principalement ancré dans sa dimension humaine. L'article invite à dépasser une vision instrumentale du lean pour en faire un système socio-technique adaptatif. Deux axes de recherche sont proposés : l'alignement vertical entre stratégie, structures et comportements ; et le développement horizontal de communautés de pratiques favorisant la confiance, la coopération et la résilience. |
| Keywords: | Lean, Industry 5.0, Sociotechnical system, Organizational transformation, Système sociotechnique, Transformation organisationnelle, Industrie 5.0 |
| Date: | 2025–07–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05194349 |
| By: | Lucas W. Davis; Paul Gertler |
| Abstract: | A common theme in the vast literature on climate change is the estimation of models using historical data to make predictions many decades into the future. Although there is a large and growing number of these types of studies, researchers rarely return later to check the accuracy of their predictions. In this paper, we perform such an exercise. In Davis and Gertler (2015), we used household-level microdata from Mexico to predict future air conditioning adoption as a function of income and temperature. Revisiting these predictions with 12 years of additional data, we find that air conditioning in Mexico has accelerated, significantly exceeding our predictions. Neither errors in predicting income growth or rising temperatures, nor migration patterns, nor an overly restrictive model can explain the large prediction gap. Instead, our results point to the failure to account for falling electricity prices and technological changes in air conditioner efficiency as key drivers of the prediction gap. |
| JEL: | D12 H23 Q40 Q41 Q47 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34101 |
| By: | Arief Anshory Yusuf; Martin D. Siyaranamual; Andy Sumner |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the impact of education expansion on structural transformation and income inequality in Indonesia, contextualized within the Kuznetsian framework of economic development. Using a natural policy experiment from the 1978-1979 extension of the school year, we apply a regression discontinuity design (RDD) to establish the causal relationship between increased education and labour shifts from agriculture to non-agricultural sectors. |
| Keywords: | Kuznets, Structural transformation, Inequality, Indonesia |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2025-50 |
| By: | Pencavel, John H. (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | Using annual observations on U.S. non-farm workers from the late 1940s to 2019, descriptions of the movements of nominal wages, real consumption wages, and real product wages are reported. The prices faced by consumer workers and the prices faced by owner-managers move differently. Variables associated with movements in these wages are presented and the roles of these wages in accounting for changes in employment, hours of work, and in Labor’s share are noted. Changes in real product wages have had a larger (negative) impact on the use of labor than changes in real consumption wages. |
| Keywords: | nominal wages, real product wages, real consumption wages, labor productivity |
| JEL: | J31 N31 N32 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18033 |