|
on Heterodox Microeconomics |
| By: | Caroline Fink (USTV - Université du Sud-Toulon-Var - UFR Sciences économiques et de gestion - Université du Sud - Toulon - Var) |
| Abstract: | Les hommes et les femmes sont inégaux face au développement, et d'autant plus dans les PED. En Afrique subsaharienne, le développement des femmes à travers l'éducation est indispensable afin de converger, voire de dépasser les OMD. |
| Keywords: | femmes, Afrique subsaharienne, éducation, développement, OMD, Objectifs du millénaire pour le développement, Pays en développement |
| Date: | 2011–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:dumas-00606084&r=hme |
| By: | Hana Alioui (USTV - Université du Sud-Toulon-Var - UFR Sciences économiques et de gestion - Université du Sud - Toulon - Var) |
| Abstract: | L'application des projets de mécanisme de développement propre crée des avantages et des inconvénients sur les pays en voie de développement. Dans ce cadre, les pays émergents vont bénéficier d'un impact positif de ces projets de MDP qui entraînent un transfert de technologies, hausse des revenus, création d'emplois, baisse de la pauvreté,... alors que les pays les plus pauvres (Afrique) vont bénéficier d'un impact négatif à cause d'une part faible des projets de MDP sur ce continent. |
| Keywords: | PMD, projets de mécanisme de développement, pays émergents, pays les plus pauvres, transfert de technologies, pauvreté, revenus, emploi, Afrique |
| Date: | 2011–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:dumas-00606078&r=hme |
| By: | Marc Marti (EA 3159 - CIRCPLES - Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis : EA) |
| Abstract: | Le travail qui suit est une étude sur l'émergence de l'économie politique en Espagne et de ses relations avec la rhétorique. Nous insistons en particulier sur le recours aux sentiments dans l'écriture d'une des œuvres de référence du premier libéralisme espagnole les Cartas sobre los obstáculos que la naturaleza, la opinión y las leyes oponen a la felicidad pública du comte de Cabarrús (1795). |
| Keywords: | Libéralisme; pensée économique; Cabarrús; Espagne; Lumières |
| Date: | 2010–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00606069&r=hme |
| By: | Sophie Boutillier (UMR 8019 CLERSE - Université du Littoral - UMR CLERSE); Abdourahmane Ndiaye (ADES - Aménagement, Développement, Environnement, Santé et Sociétés - CNRS : UMR5185 - Université Michel de Montaigne - Bordeaux III - Université Victor Segalen - Bordeaux II); Nathalie Ferreira (IGS - Institut de Gestion Sociale - Institut de Gestion Sociale) |
| Abstract: | Depuis la nuit des temps, le travail est synonyme de torture et de contrainte dans nombre de sociétés humaines. Chez les Grecs de l'antiquité il était réservé aux esclaves. Symbolisé par des activités généralement manuelles, le travail engendrait aussi une forme de dégradation physique, à l'image d'Héphaïstos, dieu des forgerons et des artisans dans le panthéon grec. Quelques siècles plus tard, Thomas More dénonce les déboires d'une société industrielle en gestation. Il imagine dans Utopia (1516) une société reposant sur l'abondance matérielle et l'égalité où en l'absence de discriminations sociales, tout le monde travaille. La participation de tous à la production des richesses favorise une nette diminution du temps de travail qui n'était plus que de six heures par jour et par personne. L'État s'y substitue au marché et assure par un système de planification et de redistribution des richesses d'après le mode du " à chacun selon ses besoins ". A partir du XIXe siècle, alors que la révolution industrielle contribue à démultiplier la force productive des individus, les utopistes - Jean Charles Léonard Simon de Sismondi, Karl Marx et Friedrich Engels, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Charles Fourier, Jean-Baptiste André Godin et Paul Lafargue - prédisent une société nouvelle reposant sur l'abondance de biens et où le travail (contraint) ne constituerait qu'une infime part de l'existence des individus. L'idée fondamentale qui unit ces différents penseurs réside dans les espoirs qu'ils placent dans le progrès technique. Un jour, les machines se substitueront aux hommes. Ce seront-elles qui peineront à leur place. Mais, pour que le temps libre soit synonyme de loisirs et non de chômage, il convient d'opter pour un autre modèle social et politique. L'économie sociale et solidaire (ESS) peut-elle alors être considérée comme un espace spécifique de reconfiguration du salariat ou tout du moins du rapport salarial dominant ? Dans quelle mesure ces représentations peuvent-elles insuffler un autre modèle de société, un nouveau contrat social ? L'objectif de cette contribution est de montrer à partir des travaux de quelques auteurs utopistes clés quels ont été les projets de transformations sociales, et quelle était pour eux la place que devait tenir le travail, en nombre d'heures, mais aussi de répartition des tâches entre les individus d'une manière générale. Les enseignements que l'on pourrait en tirer aujourd'hui dans un contexte de remise en cause de la loi sur les 35 heures. En revenant sur les analyses de ces auteurs pionniers, quelles idées utiles à la réflexion au regard de la situation contemporaine peut-on en prélever ? |
| Keywords: | Travail ; Utopie ; Répartition des richesses ; Contrat social ; Économie sociale et solidaire |
| Date: | 2011–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00596757&r=hme |
| By: | Abdourahmane Ndiaye (ADES - Aménagement, Développement, Environnement, Santé et Sociétés - CNRS : UMR5185 - Université Michel de Montaigne - Bordeaux III - Université Victor Segalen - Bordeaux II); Sophie Boutillier (UMR 8019 CLERSE - Université du Littoral - UMR CLERSE) |
| Abstract: | De l'économie sociale à l'économie populaire solidaire via l'économie solidaire. Quelles leçons tirer du social business ? Telle est la question retenue par Abdourahmane Ndiaye et Sophie Boutillier pour entrer dans la controverse conceptuelle et théorique de l'ESS. Ils tiennent à distinguer " économie sociale " née en Europe à la fin du XIXe siècle pour répondre aux maux sociaux et économiques de la révolution industrielle et " nouvelle économie sociale ", communément appelée " économie solidaire ", qui est apparue au début des années 1980, plus adaptée aux nouveaux besoins sociaux. La synthèse de l'économie sociale du XIXe et de l'économie solidaire du début des années 1980 donne naissance à l'économie sociale et solidaire (ESS) dans les pays industrialisés et l'économie populaire solidaire dans les pays en développement. L'approche de l'ESS s'est appuyée sur un corpus théorique pour entrainer la création de nouvelles formes d'entreprises, comme les mutuelles ou les coopératives, dans lesquelles travail et capital coopèrent sur un pied d'égalité. Les " trente glorieuses " ont entrainé une mise en sommeil de ce postulat, faisant penser que le développement des grandes entreprises et du salariat de masse conduisait à l'avènement d'une société où régnerait l'abondance matérielle reposant sur des principes égalitaires de répartition de la richesse. Mais la crise des années 1970 remet en cause ce postulat. Dans les pays industrialisés et en développement, la pauvreté et les inégalités sociales s'accroissent. L'économie informelle se développe au point de devenir la principale source de revenu dans les pays en développement. Pour capter cette dynamique informelle de l'entrepreneuriat, les institutions internationales (Banque mondiale et Fonds monétaire international) incitent les gouvernements de ces pays à créer un cadre institutionnel administratif et juridique de manière à protéger la propriété privée et à favoriser la création d'entreprises en général et sociales en particulier. L'objectif est ainsi d'engendrer un " climat propice aux affaires " que mesurent les indicateurs de Doing Business. Mais, la multiplication du nombre d'entreprises, fussent-elles sociales, telle qu'elle est envisagée est-elle synonyme de réduction de la pauvreté ? Une analyse comparative entre Doing Business et les indicateurs de bien-être (comme l'indicateur de développement humain) conduit Abdourahmane Ndiaye et Sophie Boutillier à en douter. |
| Keywords: | Economie sociale ; Economie solidaire ; Economie populaire solidaire |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00596753&r=hme |
| By: | Frédéric Canard (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR6227 - Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis) |
| Abstract: | W. Edwards Deming aims to contribute to the transformation of management systems which he considers responsible for losses caused the decline of our Societies. His latest book highlights the system of thought called "System of Profound Knowledge" which must lead to this transformation. The aim of our research is to explain the implicit assumptions of Deming's System of Profound Knowledge about ethics and sustainability and argues that they are related to the philosophy of pragmatism. We show how his recommendations on the role of individuals and the transformation of management systems can promote socially and sustainable responsible behaviour. Our guiding principle is the following. Finding connections between main pioneers of the classical American pragmatism movement to Deming, arguing pragmatism is an appropriate paradigm for some sustainable issues, and finally establishing a link between the System of Profound Knowledge and sustainability. |
| Keywords: | Deming;Quality; Management; Ethics; Pragmatism; Sustainability |
| Date: | 2011–03–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00607366&r=hme |
| By: | Abdourahmane Ndiaye (ADES - Aménagement, Développement, Environnement, Santé et Sociétés - CNRS : UMR5185 - Université Michel de Montaigne - Bordeaux III - Université Victor Segalen - Bordeaux II) |
| Abstract: | L'économie sociale et solidaire (ESS), peut être définie comme une contribution aux alternatives au libéralisme et à l'avènement d'une économie plurielle. En créant des espaces dans lesquels le marchand n'est pas la seule dialectique, elle est devenue une composante incontournable des dynamiques des territoires en France. Le développement croissant de cette économie est attesté par l'augmentation du nombre de salariés embauchés, de bénévoles et la masse salariale versée. L'Association des Régions de France considère que l'ESS représente une part importante des économies régionales : 10 à 15 % du nombre d'établissements régionaux et en moyenne 10 % des rémunérations versées aux salariés du privé. Plus que son poids, c'est l'espoir suscité qui retient l'attention. En effet, elle introduit des innovations sociales cherchant à répondre aux exigences des sociétés postindustrielles. Cet espoir fondé sur l'ESS se renforce au regard de son évolution dans des champs de plus en plus vastes et de plus en plus complexes qu'elle défriche seule ou aux côtés des entreprises privées, des collectivités locales et de l'État. Loin d'être une économie de " réparation ", l'ESS participe au renouvellement des pratiques économiques. Alors que nos sociétés postmodernes vivent des crises aiguës de façon impuissante, les acteurs de l'ESS se positionnent en passeurs d'alternatives qui cherchent à réenchanter le monde par la valorisation de plus-values sociales. Sans taire les ambiguïtés et les controverses qui traversent le mouvement pluriel de l'ESS, les auteurs rassemblés dans ce livre proposent des pistes de réflexion qui croisent les approches théoriques et empiriques. Privilégier la réciprocité, majorer les ressources territoriales par des appellations d'origine contrôlée, favoriser les dynamiques coopératives, créer des liens et réguler les inégalités par le tourisme social et associatif, encourager un social business qui organise des coopératives de production en bâtissant des solidarités concrètes sont autant de pistes permettant de dépasser les seuls rapports marchands. |
| Keywords: | Economie sociale et solidaire, Animation ; Territoire |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00596745&r=hme |
| By: | CIPOLLETTA, Germano; FIORANI, Gloria; MATEI, Lucica; MENEGUZZO, Marco; MITITELU, Cristina |
| Abstract: | Prevailing opinions by OECD advisers addresses the process of changes in PA and the efforts towards ‘harmonization' between the domestic patterns and the new transferred principles of modernization as NPM - an universal panacea for the problems of public administrations in transition countries, without paying substantial attention to the relevant implementation gaps for some levels as well as areas of reform. Aiming to verify the ‘convergence' of NPM principles in different national contexts, the ‘lessons learned' from different awarding initiatives supporting innovation exchange programs between the central governments and other joint initiatives between Italy and Romania as examples of cooperation programs for modernization of the public sector are analyzed. The study reviews, beyond certifying the quite different institutional backgrounds and administrative cultures in both countries:1) the markedly features of the public sector innovation programs, drivers and reform trends; 2) the ‘common steps' and ‘who learns what from whom?' in last two decades of rapid ‘public management innovation strategy', exchanged between the OECD- EU countries and the reformers in post-communist countries. Although, the importance of moving away from traditional structures towards a more efficient and accountable management system as well as the challenges arising from dichotomy between Western convergence and transition country-specific restructuring of the public sector are of primary importance. |
| Keywords: | Romania; Italy; modernization; learning transfer; Public Administration reforms |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nsu:apasro:289&r=hme |
| By: | GRIGORIOU, Panagiotis |
| Abstract: | The advent of the White Paper on European Governance in the EU legal policy environment has definitely added a brand new legitimate procedure to the complex process of European integration. This refers to the direct dialogue between the European institutions and the structures of civil society. According to the European Commission, civil society should play an important role in the development of the EU policies. Institutions and Member States should enhance their political will in order to improve consultation with the stakeholders on EU policies. To this end, the European Parliament plays a key part, given its role as representative actor of the society. The Lisbon Treaty strengthens the democratic equality among the participants in the European integration process by introducing as well the meaning of the European Citizens' Initiative. Article 11 on participatory democracy provides that, with the initiative of at least one million EU citizens, from a significant number of Member States, the Commission may be invited to submit appropriate proposals on matters were citizens considered that a legal act from the Union was necessary. Through this latest revision, the registered Union Treaty makes a new constitutional framework respectable, particularly through the establishment of multileveled governance. This institutional development suggests, on the one hand, a more practical involvement in the decision making bodies, such as the Committee of the Regions that used to have a supporting role, and on the other hand, a more practical respect for the principles, such as subsidiary, which contribute substantially to the decentralization at a community level. Initially this multileveled governance reflects the necessity of running the partnership as a focal point of the community (intergovernmental) method and the starting process of European integration. In addition, however, it contributes to the cultivation of a common public sentiment in the community governance framework, which can be expressed either through European solidarity or European citizenship, since the direct link between these processes is social and economic development. The above considerations allow the case of European citizenship to be a central issue in the creation a common European future. Citizenship is considered, not randomly, as a crucial tool for the constitution of a common political consciousness and also of a European identity that is founded on the community of rights and values, between different perceptions and interpretations of the strategies and modalities that the political actors invoke. (Fritz Scharpf : 1999, 16επ. ). Consequently, the uptake of this option indicates the true scope of a joint intention towards a bi-national based community, which does not correspond in any way to the recognition of a community population, state or even nation. |
| Keywords: | European administration system; Civil society |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nsu:apasro:301&r=hme |
| By: | Astrid Gamba (Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany) |
| Abstract: | A common feature of the literature on the evolution of preferences is that evolution favors nonmaterialistic preferences only if preference types are observable at least to some degree. We argue that this result is due to the assumption that in each state of the evolutionary dynamics some Bayesian Nash equilibrium is played. We show that under unobservability of preference types, conditional on selecting some self-confirming equilibrium as a rule for mapping preference into behavior, non-selfish preferences may be evolutionarily successful. |
| Keywords: | evolution of preferences, altruism, learning, self-confirming equilibrium |
| JEL: | A13 C72 D64 D83 |
| Date: | 2011–07–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2011-032&r=hme |
| By: | Andres Fernandez; Lorenzo Escot |
| Abstract: | Este documento analiza nuevos conceptos y retos de la metodología de la ciencia económica y el problema de retomar cuestiones que continúan vigentes y que en ocasiones han sido obviadas a lo largo del tiempo. Dedica atención al tema de la dispersión del conocimiento científico, a la importancia del estudio del método, la utilización de modelos dinámicos en política económica y su relación con el problema de control óptimo. |
| JEL: | A1 B4 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eaa:ecodev:105&r=hme |
| By: | Alejandro Valle |
| Abstract: | Analiza el problema de la transformación de valores a precios de producción (PTVPP) En el primer apartado hay una referencia a los orígenes de la discusión y cómo se plantea el problema. En las dos secciones siguientes se analizan dos de las soluciones que satisfacen dos criterios postulados por Marx como condición necesaria de su solución. En el cuarto apartado se plantea una crítica a la teoría del valor basada en la cuestión del comercio internacional y que se relaciona también con el problema central de este artículo. El penúltimo apartado se dedica a los trabajos empíricos que directa o indirectamente tienen que ver con el PTVPP. Finalmente se formulan algunas conclusiones. |
| JEL: | A1 B4 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eaa:ecodev:109&r=hme |
| By: | Gabriel Mendoza |
| Abstract: | Analiza la disminución de la tasa de ganancia y su efecto negativo sobre la tasa de crecimiento económico, desde una perspectiva dinámica, con un modelo aplicado a datos de Estados Unidos y de algunos países de América Latina. |
| JEL: | A1 B4 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eaa:ecodev:108&r=hme |
| By: | Eduardo Scarano |
| Abstract: | Este artículo tiene como objetivo evaluar la escuela austríaca desde el punto de vista de la metodología actual. Circunscribimos el análisis, dentro del conjunto muy amplio de autores y formulaciones muy heterogéneas de esta escuela, a las aportaciones de Mises y Hayek. Por ser ambos tan prolíficos y tratar temas tan diversos solamente se examinan con detalle dos conceptos: los valores y el papel de matematización en Economía. |
| JEL: | A1 B4 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eaa:ecodev:110&r=hme |
| By: | Mario Casanueva |
| Abstract: | Este documento analiza la influencia de las ideas económicas de Adam Smith y otros autores sobre la teoría de la evolución, puesta de manifiesto por Stephen Jay Gould, historiador y arquitecto de teorías evolutivas. |
| JEL: | A1 B4 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eaa:ecodev:116&r=hme |
| By: | Uskali Maki |
| Abstract: | Este documento analiza las siguientes cuestiones: 1) La metodología de la economía y su actual institucionalización. 2) La definición de Economía. 3) Las perspectivas de los economistas acerca de la Economía, sus métodos y justificación. 4) Comprobación y progreso: Popper y Lakatos.5) Los modelos y sus supuestos. 6) Persuasión retórica y verdad. 7) La Economía como un recurso para la Filosofía de la Ciencia. 8) Expansionismo explicativo y relaciones interdisciplinares. |
| JEL: | A1 B4 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eaa:ecodev:104&r=hme |
| By: | Silvia Fedeli; Francesco Forte |
| Abstract: | We study the determinants of governments and legislatures’ survival in Italy from the unification to the end of the I Republic (1861-1994) - excluding the fascist period and the subsequent transitory institutional period, "Constituente" (1946-1948). We test whether institutional features such as electoral systems, form of State and extent of suffrage had any effect on the survival of legislatures and governments. We control for voting power of the parliamentary groups, number of parties represented in the parliament and size of the representative bodies. Unlike the political economy wisdom, we show that, over the whole period, governments and legislatures’ survivals are inversely related to the plurality electoral system. The restricted suffrage and a high voting power of the leading parties reduce the risk of anticipated end of governments. The survival of the legislatures is related to the form of state (republic) and to the voting power of the leading party. |
| Keywords: | Elites; Survival analysis; Electoral systems; Voting power, Political institutions. |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:141&r=hme |
| By: | Andrea Fumagalli (Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of Pavia); Stefano Lucarelli (Department of Economics “Hyman P. Minsky”, University of Bergamo) |
| Abstract: | The structural changes that occurred in the last 30 years have substantially modified the capitalistic organization of society, both at national and international level. A new regime of accumulation devoid of a stable mode of regulation and centred on financial valorisation of new socio-economic growth perspectives has been consolidating. Conditions imposed by financial markets in order to create the shareholder's value consisted of promoting downsizing, reengineering, outsourcing and M&A processes. The flexibilization of labour force and precarization of existence has thus been the result of the established valorization norm. But why should the corporate restructuring sustain the enterprise value by creating income stock ? The definition of a new regime of accumulation involves a research on the criteria of valorisation and the prevailing technological paradigm. The main changes of new capitalism concern mainly two spheres: the role played by knowledge in the new technological paradigm and valorisation process and the importance of finance. The dominant technological paradigm and the role played by knowledge within it are not enough to explain the evolution of the accumulation regime. It is needed to introduce further elements necessary to explain the expectations that sustain the investment choices made by capitalists; these are the conventions or collective beliefs. Then, after describing the main features of the accumulation paradigm that many scholars have not hesitated to name as Cognitive Capitalism , we shall attempt to provide a theoretical framework of it intended as a financial economy of production. We shall therefore proceed to the reformulation of the schemes of monetary circuit (Graziani 2003). |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pav:wpaper:250&r=hme |
| By: | Carolina Castagnetti (Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of Pavia); Luisa Rosti (Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of Pavia) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the gender pay gap among Italian university graduates on entry to the labour market and stresses the importance of gender stereotypes on subjective assessment of individual productivity. Our data show that in contexts where the stereotype is most likely to occur, the unexplained component of the gender pay gap is higher. Moreover, we find evidence that being excellent at school does not ensures that a woman will be rewarded as an equivalently performing man, but serves to counteract the gender bias in on-the-job evaluations. |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pav:wpaper:245&r=hme |
| By: | Mai Dao; Ruo Chen |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of real exchange rate fluctuations on sectoral and regional employment in China from 1980 to 2008. In contrast to theoretical predictions, employment in both the tradable and non-tradable sectors contracts following a real appreciation. Our results are robust across different sub-samples, levels of sectoral disaggregation, and are more pronounced for regions with higher export exposure. We attribute our findings to the importance of services as intermediate input in exportable production. We test this channel of exchange rate transmission using regional input-output tables linked with employment data at the region-sector level. The results of this paper have important implications for China’s labor market adjustment should the Chinese RMB strengthen in the future. To mitigate the costs of short-run labor market adjustment, appropriate demand management and structural reforms in the non-traded sectors should play an important role. |
| Keywords: | China , Economic models , Employment , Labor markets , Real effective exchange rates , |
| Date: | 2011–06–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:11/148&r=hme |
| By: | K. Vela Velupillai |
| Abstract: | The genesis and the path towards what has come to be called the DSGE model is traced, from its origins in the Arrow-Debreu General Equilibrium model (ADGE), via Scarf's Computable General Equilibrium model (CGE) and its applied version as Applied Computable General Equilibrium model (ACGE), to its ostensible dynamization as a Recursive Competitive Equilibrium (RCE). An outline of a similar nature, albeit very briefly, of the development and structure of Agent-Based Economics (ABE) is also included. It is shown that these transformations of the ADGE model are computably and constructively untenable. Suggestions for going 'beyond DSGE and ABE' are, then, outlined on the basis of a framework that is underpinned -from the outset- by computability and constructivity consideration |
| Keywords: | Computable General Equilibrium, Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium, Computability, Constructivity, Classical Behavioural Economics |
| JEL: | C02 C62 C68 D58 E61 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpas:1122&r=hme |
| By: | Tongkui Yu; Shu-Heng Chen |
| Abstract: | We propose a simple agent-based model of the political election prediction market which reflects the intrinsic feature of the prediction market as an information aggregation mechanism. Each agent has a vote, and all agents’ votes determine the election result. Some of the agents participate in the prediction market. Agents form their beliefs by observing their neighbors’ voting disposition, and trade with these beliefs by following some forms of the zero-intelligence strategy. In this model, the mean price of the market is used as a forecast of the election result. We study the effect of the radius of agents’ neighborhood and the geographical distribution of information on the prediction accuracy. In addition, we also identify one of the mechanisms which can replicate the favorite-longshot bias, a stylized fact in the prediction market. This model can then provide a framework for further analysis on the prediction market when market participants have more sophisticated trading behavior. |
| Keywords: | Prediction market, Agent-based simulation, Information aggregation mechanism, Prediction accuracy, Zero-intelligence agents, Favorite-longshot bias |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpas:1119&r=hme |
| By: | Ron Martin; Peter Sunley |
| Abstract: | Although the literature on the evolution of industrial clusters is not vast, a preferred approach has already become evident, based around the idea of a cluster 'life-cycle'. This approach has several limitations. In this paper we explore a different conception of cluster evolution drawing on the 'adaptive cycle' model that has been developed in evolutionary ecology. Using this model, cluster evolution is viewed as an adaptive process with different possible outcomes based on episodic interactions of nested systems. Though not without limitations, this approach offers greater scope as a framework for shaping the research agenda into the evolution of clusters. |
| Keywords: | Clusters, Evolution, Life-cycle model, Complex systems, Adaptive cycle model |
| JEL: | R00 R1 R3 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1112&r=hme |
| By: | Pfeffer, Claus-Peter |
| Abstract: | In the introductory chapter a novel economic policy is proposed which consists of a) 'virtualizing' debt (putting it on the Central Bank balance sheet) and b) reduce the money-multiplier by an implementation of a strong minimum reserving policy. The main part shows exposes a flaw in the concept of capital in neoclassical thinking, with special reference to Tobin's q-theory. This has the implication that neoclassical thinking - Keynesian and 'classical' - overstates investment activity and the tendency to full employment. The last two chapters - on China and the Nazi-Recovery - are empirical illustrations. |
| Keywords: | Keynesianism; deficit spending; public debt; capital theory; monetary theory and policy; |
| JEL: | E12 B22 E44 D53 E00 E40 D43 E11 E41 |
| Date: | 2011–04–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:32221&r=hme |
| By: | Costa, Cinthia Cabral da; Cunha, Marcelo Pereira da; Guilhoto, Joaquim José Martins |
| Abstract: | Sustainable energy strategies require decision-makers in government, industry, academia and civil society alike to make choices among tradeoffs. Within the transport sector alone, ethanol has been shown to be the dominant solution among viable, low carbon options to date, yet questions remain over the economic and ecological impacts of this industry. In Brazil - the largest producer of sugarcane-based ethanol and a country with over three decades of ethanol development – we find a strong basis for evaluating the ethanol industry’s role in a national economy. In the mid 1970’s, Brazilian ethanol production received an important boost with the launch of the “Proálcool” program. The ethanol industry has subsequently evidenced flux until its consolidation in the period following 2000. Over the course of three decades, economic, institutional, technological and environmental determinants have factored in the success of Brazilian ethanol diffusion. In economic terms, price tradeoffs for ethanol vs. sugar and ethanol vs. gasoline played a role in scale-up of the biofuel together with balance of payment considerations. From an institutional standpoint, support for the Proálcool program, deregulation of the sugar-cane sector in the 1990’s and fuel pump adaptations also factored. With respect to technology, the development of flex fuel cars, greater use of mechanized harvesting, and launch of domestic, co-generated, electrical power were key drivers. Finally, in environmental terms, challenges associated with pollution and public health in major cities as well as questions related to climate change gained visibility. In this paper, we analyze a set of input-output tables for the Brazilian economy from 1975 to 2006, taking the above factors into consideration. Deriving a series of indicators, such as multipliers and linkages, we study the evolution of the ethanol sector’s role in the Brazilian economy and its relation to the productive structure of the country |
| Keywords: | Brazil; Ethanol; Input-Output; Productive Structure |
| JEL: | R15 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:32224&r=hme |
| By: | Martinho, Vítor João Pereira Domingues |
| Abstract: | This work aims to test the Verdoorn Law, with the alternative specifications of (1)Kaldor (1966), for five regions (NUTS II) Portuguese from 1986 to 1994 and for the 28 NUTS III Portuguese in the period 1995 to 1999. Will, therefore, to analyze the existence of increasing returns to scale that characterize the phenomena of polarization with circular and cumulative causes and can explain the processes of regional divergence. It is intended to test, even in this work, the alternative interpretation of (2)Rowthorn (1975) Verdoorn's Law for the same regions and periods. The results of this work will be complemented with estimates of these relationships to other sectors of the economy than the industry (primary and services sector), for each of the manufacturing industries operating in the Portuguese regions and for the total economy of each region. |
| Keywords: | increasing returns; Verdoorn law; Portuguese regions. |
| JEL: | C23 O40 R11 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:32186&r=hme |
| By: | Battaglia, Lauren; Larouche, Pierre; Negrinotti, Matteo |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first of a larger project aimed at exploring, among other things, whether Europe has a consistent innovation policy in the context of EU economic law (competition policy, intellectual property law, sector regulation). As such, its primary aim is to present our approach for answering this question and outline the anticipated contributions of the project. Part I of the paper sets forth the theoretical foundations of the project--namely an integrated approach to economic law that moves beyond apparent conflicts and assumes innovation as the starting point. Taking this as the foundation, the two primary components of the project are described. First, a theoretical component involving the development of an analytical grid to be used to identify ways in which economic law impacts innovation, and second an applied component that explores observable instances where choices, both implicit and explicit, are made regarding innovation in economic law. Part II of the paper builds on this and offers a preliminary illustration of the proposed analysis in the context of pharmaceuticals, specifically drug reformulation regulatory gaming. |
| Keywords: | antitrust; economic law; innovation; pharmaceuticals |
| JEL: | K21 L41 O31 O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8481&r=hme |
| By: | Alberto Quadrio Curzio; Fausta Pellizzari; Roberto Zoboli |
| Abstract: | This Working Paper joint two previous articles by the authors: The economic theory of exhaustible natural resources, in “Enciclopedia degli Idrocarburi”, vol. IV, Istituto della Enciclopedia Treccani, Roma, 2008, pp. 3-10;Technological innovation, relative scarcity, investments, in “Enciclopedia degli Idrocarburi”, vol. IV, Istituto della Enciclopedia Treccani, 2008, pp. 11-22. In the first one (cap. 1-4), we consider the contribution of economic theory (partly through a reevaluation of history) in order both to interpret and predict events, and to identify economic policies; this happens especially when the world economy feels the significant constraints imposed by some natural resources and raw materials, partly due to the rapid growth of a number of developing countries, and when there is an urgent need to increase resources rapidly to ensure continuing availability. Even if the problem of scarce resources (of which natural resources are the most obvious category) has been central to analysis for centuries, natural resource economics is contradictory. The main reason for this is that economic theory is out of step with prevailing economic conditions, as a consequence of the varying concern for a crucial phenomenon in the dynamics of economic systems: the opposition-coexistence of the scarcity of natural resources and the producibility of commodities. Natural resource economics can be summarized by dividing it into three main lines of thought: the theory of producibility and scarcity developed by classical economists; the theory of general and natural scarcities developed by marginalists and neoclassicals; the theory of dynamics with and without natural scarcities developed by macroeconomists, structuralists and empirical stylizers. Using this three-way subdivision, which is not clearly codified in economic theory, the basic features of each approach will be examined with special attention to its early exponents. The historical starting point is the second half of the Eighteenth century, although we will ignore contributions such as those made by the Physiocrats who, during the same period, developed a theory of production based on the surplus generated by agriculture. In the second one (cap. 5-6), we consider that the role of technological innovation for resources use and conservation is often measured by empirical indicators of intensity or efficiency which express the evolution of resource use in relation to variables such as population and GDP. The historical evolution of these indicators tends to indicate a process of decoupling – in other words, a decrease in the energy/emissions intensity of economic activity or an increase in the efficiency/productivity of resource use. These empirical regularities have led to the proposition of stylized facts representing the relationships between resource-use efficiency and economic growth known as environmental Kuznets curves. However, the economic interpretations of the innovation mechanisms underlying the progress suggested by efficiency indicators, nonetheless, remain open and complex at the very time when there is increasing demand for further substantial advances in resource-use efficiency. We will survey the empirical evidence on the medium- and long-term dynamics of these indicators and will discuss their significance. This will be followed by an analysis of the possible role played by economic factors (especially resource prices and markets) and institutional factors (especially climate policy) in triggering and supporting progress in the use efficiency of energy resources. |
| Keywords: | natural resources; technological innovation; relative scarcity; investments |
| JEL: | N50 O30 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crn:wpaper:crn1101&r=hme |
| By: | Eleni Karagiannaki |
| Abstract: | In this paper we document the evolution of the annual flow of inheritances in the UK during the period 1984-2005 and provide estimates for the overall magnitude and the distribution of inherited wealth. Our results indicate that the period under examination the annual flow of inheritance increased markedly, from £22 billion in 1984 to £56 billion in 2005. The main drivers behind this increase were the rise in house prices and to a lesser extent the increase in the proportion of inheritances which included housing assets. Our results, based on analysis of survey data, show that the distribution of inheritances is characterized by a very high degree of inequality (comparable by and large to that observed in personal wealth) and that this has increased over time. However, the inequality increasing effect from the greater inequality in the distribution of inheritance was counterbalanced by the increase in the percentage of the population who received an inheritance. Our results also show that inheritance is positively associated with socio-economic status and that the disparities between groups became slightly more pronounced over time (mainly across educational groups). However, our evidence also shows that inheritance for the majority of recipients is fairly small and that large inheritances are limited to a very small minority of the population. |
| Keywords: | inheritance, wealth, intergenerational transfers, inequality |
| JEL: | D10 D31 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sticas:/146&r=hme |