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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
| By: | José María Durán Medraño |
| Abstract: | Este artículo trata de plantear una serie de cuestiones preliminares en torno al estudio del valor de las obras de arte desde una perspectiva marxista, es decir, desde una perspectiva que tenga en cuenta la teoría laboral del valor desarrollada por Marx. El artículo comienza con una serie de cuestiones preliminares que desde nuestro punta de vista son fundamentales a la hora de exponer el problema del valor/precio de las obras de arte. Continúa examinando críticamente planteamientos recientes sobre la teoría de formación precios en Adam Smith; y concluye volviendo a Marx y la teoría laboral del valor con el fin de proponer un posible camino para la investigación futura. |
| Date: | 2012–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000418:009804&r=hme |
| By: | William Orlando Prieto Bustos |
| Abstract: | Resumen La economía parece estar ad portas de una revolución científica que requiere de un cambio del actual paradigma que orienta la política económica. Lo anterior ha traído como consecuencia una tensión en el ejercicio profesional que intenta articular un interés privado que define sus resultados, con un interés público que define su credibilidad. Dichas tensiones han ocasionado fallas sistemáticas en la profesión que están modificando la relación entre el sujeto y el objeto de la ciencia económica, y entre el sujeto y los procedimientos a través de los cuales estudia el objeto en condiciones de incertidumbre. El presente documento discute la importancia de los principios pluralismo crítico, responsabilidad, Primun Non Nocere, y precaución en un esquema de reflexión ética de la economía como ciencia y como técnica. Para tal efecto se realiza un análisis institucional de políticas, normas, y directrices en una muestra de 10 países: 8 de Latinoamérica, junto con Estados Unidos, e Inglaterra. El principal resultado indica que el actual régimen institucional tanto legislativo como ético no soluciona la tensión que genera el interés privado y el interés público en el desempeño profesional de un economista en una economía de mercado. Es necesario incorporar una articulación flexible que facilite una interpretación sencilla y concreta que oriente al mejoramiento de la calidad del servicio privado y público que desempeña un economista. Abstract The 2008 financial crisis has caused a profound impact regarding public interest and the economics profession´s prestige and credibility. Prior to the financial collapse common knowledge about economic assumptions such as the hypothesis of efficient markets and rational expectations were widely supported for orthodox economists albeit their lack of empirical evidence. Upon such theoretical underpinnings dominant economic advice to deal with uncertainty was used to obtain financial yields well beyond efficiency and ethical limits. The financial crisis revealed the profession blindness towards opportunistic behavior whose impact may well be compared with blackmailing public interest forcing the government to step in to preserve the system´s solvency and credibility. According to the opinion of several economists replacing economic human behavior direct observation for a mathematic criterion has shadowed not only the real use of modern economic theory in solving economic recession - to the point that it has been substitute by common sense- , but also has contributed to justify an unethical behavior in the financial markets whose consequences have being paid by the society. The following paper discuses an institutional analysis of the economics profession using a comparative analysis methodology composed by 10 case studies of the profession legal frame. The research´s main finding concludes that the current institutional regime is unsuitable to reduce private-public interest tension in the corpus of the economic profession so that there is a rationale for institutional design oriented to increase high quality scientific behavior in the economic science useful to anticipate economic recessions. |
| Date: | 2012–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000444:009818&r=hme |
| By: | Alon Brav; Wei Jiang; Hyunseob Kim |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the long-term effect of hedge fund activism on the productivity of target firms using plant-level information from the U.S. Census Bureau. A typical target firm improves its production efficiency within two years after activism, and this improvement is concentrated in industries with a high degree of product market competition. By following plants that were sold post-intervention, we also find that efficient capital redeployment is an important channel via which activists create value. Furthermore, our analyses demonstrate that measuring performance using the Compustat data is likely to lead to a downward bias because target firms experiencing greater improvement post-intervention are also more likely to disappear from the Compustat database. Finally, consistent with recent work in asset-pricing linking firm investment decisions and expected returns, we show how changes to target firms’ productivity are associated with a decline in systemic risk, particularly in competitive industries. |
| Keywords: | Hedge funds, Governance, Productivity |
| JEL: | G12 G23 G34 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:12-14&r=hme |
| By: | Hiroyuki Shibusawa; Takafumi Sugawara |
| Abstract: | In this paper, the economic impacts of technological innovation, such as electric and hybrid vehicles, in the automobile industry in Japan are examined. The automobile industry has to develop environmentally friendly vehicles in the face of the global warming issue and the exhaustion problem of petroleum. The conventional automobiles with gasoline and diesel oil don’t meet the demands of present age. The new generation automobiles will become popular for coming several decades. The industrial structure will be affected by the appearance of new generation automobile. Especially, since the Japanese economy strongly depends on the automobile industry, the appearance of technological innovation in the automobile industry has an influence on the other industries and the industrial regions where the automobile firms are concentrated. In this study, we explore the economic impacts of shifting the production system in the automobile industry from the conventional automobile technology to an electric and hybrid vehicle technology using the national and multiregional input-output models. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p519&r=hme |
| By: | Carlota Perez |
| Abstract: | This article argues that the conditions for innovation by and for the poor have changed considerably in the last four decades in ways that can be related to the paradigm shift in technology and to the resulting changes in behaviour of the major corporations. It suggests that innovation studies and evolutionary economics should consciously and constantly pursue an understanding of such changes by fully incorporating history in the interdisciplinary mix. In essence it holds that evolutionary thinking needs to strike an appropriate balance between universal and changing truths, especially when studying innovation with a view to making policy recommendations. |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tth:wpaper:42&r=hme |
| By: | Shutao Cao; Wei Dong; Ben Tomlin |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the sensitivity of Canadian producer prices to the Canada-U.S. exchange rate. Using a unique product-level price data set, we estimate and analyze the impact of movements in the exchange rate on both domestic and export producer prices. First, we find that both domestic and export prices are sensitive to movements in the exchange rate. A one percent depreciation in Canadian dollar is associated with a 0.18 (0.25 conditional on price changes in the currency of pricing) percent increase in domestic prices, and a 0.39 (0.60 conditional on price changes in the currency of pricing) percent increase in export prices (once prices are converted into a single currency). Next, we find that there is an important difference in export price sensitivity to the exchange rate depending on the currency of pricing. Those Canadian producers that invoice their exported products in Canadian dollars do not adjust prices to movements in the exchange rate. Meanwhile, those invoicing in U.S. dollars increase their Canadian dollar prices when the Canadian dollar depreciates. Finally, for the same good sold in both the domestic and U.S. markets, the currency of pricing appears to play an important role in determining mark-up adjustment and the degree of pricing to market. These findings shed light on understanding the sources of incomplete exchange rate pass-through into import prices, as well as the indirect effect of the exchange rates on domestic prices through import competition and the use of imported inputs. |
| Keywords: | Exchange rates; Inflation and prices; Market structure and pricing |
| JEL: | F31 F41 E30 L11 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocawp:12-20&r=hme |
| By: | Sherzod Tashpulatov; Lubomir Lizal |
| Abstract: | Promoting competition among electricity producers is primarily targeted at ensuring low electricity prices for consumers. Producers could, however, withhold part of production facilities (i.e., apply a capacity cutting strategy) and thereby push more expensive production facilities to satisfy demand for electricity. This behavior could eventually lead to a higher price determined through a uniform price auction. In this paper, using the case of the England and Wales wholesale electricity market, we empirically examine whether producers can indeed apply a capacity cutting strategy. We analyze the bidding behavior of producers during high- and low-demand trading periods across trading days and find direct and indirect evidence for producers' successful manipulation of capacity bids targeted at increasing a wholesale electricity price. We also examine whether the regulatory reforms to improve competition were successful at mitigating the extent of strategic capacity manipulation. |
| Keywords: | capacity bids; electricity prices; uniform price auction; regulation |
| JEL: | D22 D44 L50 L94 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp465&r=hme |
| By: | Alberto José Figueras; Hernán Alejandro Morero |
| Abstract: | Los últimos años han sido propicios para discutir la polémica sobre la “cuestión de la tierra”, en Argentina y en el mundo, por los precios de los productos agrícolas, las burbujas inmobiliarias y el valor de los campos. En esta temática, un nombre obligado en el pensamiento es Henry George. En marzo de 1879, publica a su costa su obra principal: “Progress and Poverty”, que en 2009 llegó a su aniversario número 130 de su publicación. Entendemos, que la presente es una gran oportunidad para recordar su figura, su obra; y, en especial, su famosa propuesta de “impuesto único”. El método que seguiremos será una lectura analítica y guiada de su más famosa obra. |
| Date: | 2012–06–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000418:009805&r=hme |
| By: | L√∫cia Urban; Teresa Noronha Vaz |
| Abstract: | The present article aims to discuss some the organizational and institutional aspects that have became the basis for the development of coffee as a non-commodity product in Brazil. It is expected that due to new patterns of coffee consumption, a new strategy permits the competitive reinsertion of Brazilian coffee into the international markets. This paper discusses some of the major aspects of contemporary industrial organization requirements imposing process innovation along the supply chain of many agro-food products around the world. It is argued that they are connected to a new industrial order, related to differentiation and/or segmentation processes. The suggested methods, interviews to the driving stakeholders and accompanied observation of their networking systems, are applied in the different stages of the supply chain in order to demonstrate that the production conditions are imposing strategic interrelationships between the roasting and the grinding industry and among the several intervenient agents. It is further observed that most of such processes take place within a new context of competition where innovation, segmentation and product differentiation are more important factors for the international market than cost and price reductions, thus thereby demanding a serious redefinition the companies’ strategies. The results detect the application of the concept of flexible specialization as a fundamental input. They corroborate some of the analytical elements which are essential to explain export revitalization actions acquired from specific attributes such as, for example, highly qualified managers, able to adapt to continuous innovation. It was also observed that, for the whole productive segment, the qualified management reflects a strategy that is inserted into a wider policy issue. In this successful case, companies and government have closely interacted in order to provide the ideal conditions to overcome the global competition by means of benchmarking and differentiated consumption standards. Finally, another major conclusion is that there exists an historical capability of public and private interests to interact. Such has been decisive to ease difficulties arousing from market fluctuations and facilitate the required technical and institutional innovations. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p883&r=hme |
| By: | M¬™ Jesus Santa Maria Beneyto; JosÈ Miguel Giner PÈrez |
| Abstract: | In the last decades numerous studies on industrial districts have proved how concentrations of small firms located in the same area and specialized in the production of the same products contribute to the competitiveness and the economic development of this type of areas. In the recent years several works have emphasized the innovative capacity generated in these areas, in which the proximity of related industries has sustained processes of generation and diffusion of knowledge. Specifically, the marshallian concept of industrial atmosphere, the continuous linkages among firms and the processes of cooperation and competition between firms and local agents are elements that can generate competitive advantages for the firms located inside an industrial district. In addition, these elements also promote the generation of specific knowledge and localized knowledge spillovers and innovative processes. In the plastics industry, the high level of competitiveness, the high level of diversification and the flexibility to attend the demand of different industrial sectors are factors that can explain the great innovation effort and the sector dynamism to search for new business opportunities. The aim of this work is to analyze the characteristics of the innovative plastics firms in Spain and to explore if the belonging to an industrial district promote the innovative processes and increase firms’ innovation performance. To achieve this objective, the results from a survey made it to a sample of plastics firms in Spain will be analyzed. In addition, this work investigates if there are differences in the characteristics of the innovative firms depending on their location inside or outside an industrial district. This empirical analysis contributes to enhance the knowledge about the innovative processes carried out in the industrial districts and provides evidence about the impact of the spatial agglomeration of specialized firms on the innovative capacity. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p588&r=hme |
| By: | Suvi Konsti-Laakso; Timo Pihkala; Saara Linna |
| Abstract: | Small and middle sized companies (SME) are important for local economies. Networking of SME is often considered to be a vital activity as well in production operations but also in innovation activities (Vesalainen 2006, Bessant and Tidd 2007.) From the perspective of small businesses the value networks (Vanhaverberke & Cloodt 2006) provide an interesting opportunity. Instead of mere value chain co-operation, the value networks open up new approaches to horizontal co-operation and opportunity to use the small businesses’ own core competencies in a wider context. While the access to traditional value chain networks has been dominantly difficult for the smallest businesses, in value networks the access is largely dependent on the entrepreneur’s personal contacts and social relationships. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the formation process of a SME value network focusing on the development of a small suburb. Through this analysis we seek to illustrate how regional Living Lab activities can promote SME networking. The theory section provides an insight about value network, user involvement in innovation and network evolution. The case example is from Lahti Living Lab, where a group of companies from living environment (products or services such as living area services, parks, street maintenance, planning, communication and outdoor products) participate in suburb development. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p773&r=hme |
| By: | Jonatan Svanlund |
| Abstract: | Both national and regional studies of economic change are often depending on aggregated variables such as GDP levels, wages or population development. In this paper I will discuss how data concerning individual firms can be used in studying regional economic change. This material can also be used to shed light in differences regarding male and female entrepreneurship in a regional and historical perspective. The paper will focus on how different types of data and databases can be used and linked together in order to shed more light on the regional economic development. Therefore this paper will have a more explorative character rather then trying to answer any hypothesis. The point of departure will be how the Census of Enterprises can be used in studying regional economic change and how his material can be linked to other databases such as the Housing and population census. The Census of Enterprises was conducted in Sweden on three occasions in 1931, 1951 and 1972. From these studies one can analyse questions regarding firm size, capital intensity, differences regarding male and entrepreneurship and how this develops over time in different regions. Finally, a discussion will be in the paper on how the structure and changing composition of enterprises on a regional level can be linked to other variables such as regional population- and employment development and regional GDP development. By studying the micro-level, (firm level) and looking at questions concerning entrepreneurship, adaptation to technology and globalisation hopefully more can be said about the mechanism behind different development in different regions. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p1644&r=hme |
| By: | Erik Stam |
| Abstract: | This paper is an inquiry into the role of entrepreneurship in evolutionary economic geography. The focus is on how and why entrepreneurship is a distinctly spatially uneven process. We will start with a discussion on the role of entrepreneurship in the theory of economic evolution. Next, we will review the empirical literature on the geography of entrepreneurship. The paper concludes with a discussion of a future agenda for the study of entrepreneurship within evolutionary economic geography. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p1267&r=hme |
| By: | Yvonne Schindele; Michael Fritsch; Florian Noseleit |
| Abstract: | Several empirical studies showed that it is not the level of entrepreneurial activity itself, but the (long-term) survival and growth of new firms that determine the direct and indirect contribution of new businesses to regional employment. To this end, the aim of this paper is to analyze the determinants of the survival of German manufacturing establishments devoting special interest to the multi-dimension approach, thus investigating business-, industry-, and region-specific survival determinants. By using a micro-panel data set of all German manufacturing establishments for the period 1992 to 2005, we employ both non-parametric and semi-parametric procedures that are specifically designed to analyze duration phenomena in order to ascertain survival determinants by explaining the time period between a firm’s start-up and its cessation of economic activity. The results enable us to give advice on how to improve the survival conditions of businesses in certain regions and industries and, thus, to enhance the number of establishments with the potential to contribute to regional employment. The main findings indicate that the probability of exit is higher for very young and rather old businesses and also for relatively small businesses. Besides the overall finding of a higher exit risk in agglomerated areas, an above-average level of highly qualified employees working in the establishments decreases the probability of exit. Accordingly, businesses in R&D intensive or high-tech industries enjoy better survival prospects than businesses in other industries. Moreover, we find evidence that that regional industry specialization is not beneficial for the survival of newcomers in a respective industry. This result adds some interesting points to the findings of Dumais, Ellison and Glaeser (2002) who discovered that closure is less likely in those regions that belong to the current geographic centers of an industry and tends to increase geographic concentration. Our results suggest that in German manufacturing industries not only a business’ entry but also its survival chances (in opposition to closure in general) are forces that reduce geographic concentration. Possible benefits from geographically bounded, within-industry spillovers seem to be of less importance than the counterforce of intensified local competition for survival. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p549&r=hme |
| By: | Lorenzo Caliendo (School of Management, Yale University); Ferdinando Monte (Johns Hopkins University); Esteban Rossi-Hansberg (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | We use a comprehensive dataset of French manufacturing firms to study their internal organization. We first divide the employees of each firm into 'layers' using occupational categories. Layers are hierarchical in that the typical worker in a higher layer earns more, and the typical firm occupies less of them. In addition, the probability of adding (dropping) a layer is very positively (negatively) correlated with value added. We then explore the changes in the wages and number of employees that accompany expansions in layers, output, or markets (by becoming exporters). The empirical results indicate that reorganization, through changes in layers, is key to understand how firms expand and contract. For example, we find that firms that expand substantially add layers and pay lower average wages in all pre-existing layers. In contrast, firms that expand little and do not reorganize pay higher average wages in all pre-existing layers. |
| JEL: | D22 F16 J24 J31 L23 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:1867&r=hme |
| By: | Marin, Dalia |
| Abstract: | What insights can be gained from bringing the theory of the firm to the global economy? I discuss several new features of the world economy that can be explained by incorporating the theory of the firm into the theory of international trade. Among the new features I discuss are the move to flatter corporate hierarchies and the decentralization of authority in firms, the “war for talentâ€, the rise of CEO pay in rich countries, organizational convergence across countries, and firm heterogeneity. |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trf:wpaper:370&r=hme |
| By: | Matthew Gentzkow; Jesse M. Shapiro; Michael Sinkinson |
| Abstract: | We use data on US newspapers from the early 20th century to study the economic incentives that shape ideological diversity in the media. We show that households prefer newspapers whose political content agrees with their own ideology, that newspapers with the same political content are closer substitutes than newspapers with different political content, and that newspapers seek both to cater to household tastes and to differentiate from their competitors. We estimate a model of newspaper demand, entry and affiliation choice that captures these forces. We show that competitive incentives greatly enhance the extent of ideological diversity in local news markets, and we evaluate the impact of policies designed to increase such diversity. |
| JEL: | L11 L52 L82 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18234&r=hme |
| By: | Gelderblom, O.; Jong, A. de; Jonker, J. |
| Abstract: | With their legal personhood, permanent capital with transferable shares, separation of ownership and management, and limited liability for both shareholders and managers, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and subsequently the English East India Company (EIC) are generally considered a major institutional breakthrough. Our analysis of the business operations and notably the financial policy of the VOC during the company’s first two decades in existence shows that its corporate form owed less to foresight than to constant piecemeal engineering to remedy original design flaws brought to light by prolonged exposure to the strains of the Asian trade. Moreover, the crucial feature of limited liability for managers was not, as previously thought, part and parcel of that design, but emerged only after a long period of experimenting with various, sometimes very ingenious, solutions to the company’s financial bottlenecks. |
| Keywords: | VOC;Dutch East India Company |
| Date: | 2012–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:eureri:1765032952&r=hme |