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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
| By: | Oberlack, Christoph; Neumärker, Bernhard |
| Abstract: | Economics has a key role to play for understanding vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. However, economic approaches to climate adaptation are rarely articulated and discussed at a framework level. This article first reviews and critically assesses welfare economics approaches to climate adaptation and, secondly, develops a novel institutional economics approach to climate adaptation. Concepts and tools of welfare economics have contributed to assessments of benefits and costs of adaptation; outlined strategies for adaptation; identified responsibilities of the public sector and described policy instruments for adaptation. However, the neoclassical framing of collective action based on the concept of market failure seems too narrow to do analytical justice to the multitude of governance challenges associated with adaptation. Adaptation economics seems underequipped with analytical tools to study the role of institutions for climate adaptation. Therefore, an institutional economics approach to climate adaptation is developed and illustrated. This approach contributes to integrated economic analyses of climate adaptation in three major ways: First, by broadening the scope of climate adaptation economics; second, by delivering a diagnostic framework of climate adaptation that enables the analyst to explain adaptation processes in a systematic manner, synthesizes findings from a large number of research efforts, places particular research questions, governance problems and results in a broader context, and can guide the design of theoretical and empirical inquiries of climate adaptation; third, by offering research strategies and methods for developing generalisable and valid insights in the face of pronounced heterogeneity and diversity of climate adaptation. -- |
| Keywords: | Economics of Climate Adaptation,Institutional Economics,Governance of Climate Adaptation,Diagnostic Framework |
| JEL: | Q54 B52 D02 D78 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cenwps:012013&r=hme |
| By: | Kaldasch, Joachim |
| Abstract: | An evolutionary model of the bank size distribution is presented based on the exchange and expansion of deposit money. In agreement with empirical results the derived size distribution is lognormal with a power law tail. The key idea of the theory is to regard the creation of money as a slow process compared to exchange processes of deposit money. The exchange of deposits causes a preferential growth of banks with a fitness determined by the competitive advantage to attract permanent deposits. They generate the lognormal part of the size distribution. Sufficiently large banks, however, benefit from economies of scale leading to a Pareto tail. The model suggests that the liberalization of the banking system in the last decades is the origin of an increasing skewness of the bank size distribution. -- |
| Keywords: | evolutionary economics,bank size,money,competition,Gibrat's law |
| JEL: | G21 L11 E11 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201355&r=hme |
| By: | Nikolay Nenovsky; Dominique Torre |
| Abstract: | Mihail Manoilescu was one of the main intellectual personalities of the interwar period in Romania. He was known as a politician and a central banker, but also as an economist. From the very beginning of his theoretical and practical career, or at least from the late 1920s till the end of his life, Manoilescu’s ideas and theories were marked by a clear continuity and consistency based on the theory of protectionism. His defence of protectionism is generally presented as clumsy and founded on incorrect method. This paper contributes to a testament of Manoilescu’s conclusions, the validity of which we test in two different paradigms. Section 2 presents the theory of protectionism formulated by the author. Section 3 tries to interpret Manoilescu’s views in modern terms. It presents arguments assimilating his analysis to some post-Marxist presentations of the after-war period. It also develops a Ricardian model proving that Manoilescu’s intuitions can be verified in a Ricardian context. The last section concludes. |
| Keywords: | Mihail Manoilescu, theory of protectionism, gains from trade |
| JEL: | B22 B26 E42 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:icr:wpicer:09-2013&r=hme |
| By: | Durand , Rodolphe; Paolella , Lionel |
| Abstract: | We advocate for more tolerance in the manner we collectively address categories and categorization in our research. Drawing on the prototype view, organizational scholars have provided a ‘disciplining’ framework to explain how category membership shapes, impacts and limits organizational success. By stretching the existing straightjacket of scholarship on categories, we point to other useful conceptualizations of categories – i.e. the causal model and the goal-based approaches of categorization – and propose that depending on situational circumstances, and beyond a disciplining exercise, categories involve a cognitive test of congruence and a goal satisfying calculus. Unsettling the current consensus about categorical imperatives and market discipline, we suggest also that markets may tolerate more often than thought organizations that blend, span, and stretch categories. We derive implications for research about multi-category membership and mediation in markets, and suggest ways in which work on the theme of categories in the strategy, entrepreneurship, and managerial cognition literatures can be enriched. |
| Keywords: | categories; prototype; causal model; goal-based model |
| JEL: | M00 |
| Date: | 2013–11–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:0996&r=hme |
| By: | Arjaliès , Diane-Laure |
| Abstract: | In a recent comment made about my paper “A Social Movement Perspective on Finance: How Socially Responsible Invetsment Mattered” (J Bus Ethics 92:57–78, 2010), published in this journal, Déjean, Giamporcaro, Gond, Leca and Penalva-Icher (J Bus Ethics 112: 205-212, 2013) strongly criticize the social movement perspective adopted on French SRI. They both contest the empirical analysis of the movement and the possibility for insiders to trigger institutional change towards sustainability. This answer aims to address the different concerns raised throughout their comment and illuminate the differences between both approaches. It first explains why SRI in France can be considered as a social movement, despite not being protest-oriented. It then reflects on the dangers of systematically associating societal change with radical activism. It concludes by elaborating on the importance of acknowledging the potential contribution of reformist movements from within the economic institutions to the enhancement of the social good. |
| Keywords: | Institutional Change; Mainstreaming; Socially Responsible Investment; Social Movement; Responsible Investing |
| JEL: | M14 M21 N20 |
| Date: | 2013–07–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:0992&r=hme |
| By: | Ted Theodosopoulos |
| Abstract: | This essay discusses the advantages of a probabilistic agent-based approach to questions in theoretical economics, from the nature of economic agents, to the nature of the equilibria supported by their interactions. One idea we propose is that "agents" are meta-individual, hierarchically structured objects, that include as irreducible components groupings of different dimensions. We also explore the effects of non-ergodicity, by constructing a simple stochastic model for the contingent nature of economic interactions. |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1311.0414&r=hme |
| By: | Cabral , Sandro; Quelin, Bertrand V.; Maia , Walmir |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the reasons that drive organizations to interrupt outsourcing, reverse their previous decision, and then reintegrate activities formerly delegated to providers. Contractual approaches, mainly derived from Transaction Costs Economics, offer some plausible explanations for reintegration originating from outsourcing failure. These explanations are mainly related to asset specificity, poor contractual design, and deficient monitoring. The study of a real case of outsourcing interruption in industrial maintenance illustrates these different factors. However, some other determinants might complement the contractual and strategic background, namely bandwagon behavior and institutional pressure exerted by external actors. Finally, we propose an integrative framework that combines micro- and macro-levels of organizational analysis. We argue that some existing complementarities between the different theories we use here can shed some light on real organizational problems. Besides the implications for theory, our work can help managers to understand the dynamics of organizational boundaries, thus allowing them to make better choices in both outsourcing and reintegration decisions. |
| Keywords: | outsourcing; contractual approach; transaction cost economics; reintegration; failure |
| JEL: | G00 |
| Date: | 2013–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:0991&r=hme |
| By: | Kévin André (ESSEC Business School - ESSEC Business School) |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to re-examine the notion of equality, going beyond the classic opposition in France between affirmative action and meritocratic equality. Hence, we propose shifting the French debate about equality of opportunities in education to the question of how to raise equality of capability. In this paper we propose an assessment based on the capability approach of a mentoring programme called 'Une grande école: pourquoi pas moi?' ('A top-level university: why not me?' (PQPM) launched in 2002 by a top French business school. The assessment of PQPM is based on the pairing of longitudinal data available for 324 PQPM students with national data. Results show that the 'adaptive preferences' of the PQPM students change through a process of empowerment. Students adopt new 'elitist' curricula but feel free to follow alternative paths. |
| Keywords: | Adaptive Preferences ; Agency ; Assessment ; Capability ; Education ; France |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00880246&r=hme |
| By: | Theresa Lohse (University of Mannheim); Nadine Riedel (University of Hohenheim, CESifo Munich & Oxford University CBT) |
| Abstract: | In recent years several countries have augmented their national tax laws by transfer pricing legislations which intend to limit the leeway of multinational firms to exploit international corporate tax rate diverences and relocate profit to low-tax affiliates by distorting intra-firm transfer prices. The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate whether these laws are instrumental in restricting shifting behaviour. To do so, we exploit unique information on the scope and evolution of national transfer pricing laws and link it with panel data on European multinationals. In line with previous studies, we find evidence for tax-motivated profit shifting. The analysis further suggests that transfer pricing rules significantly reduce shifting activities. The effect is economically relevant, suggesting that the legislations may be socially desirable despite the high administrative burden they impose on firms and tax authorities. |
| Keywords: | corporate taxation, international prot shifting, transfer pricing laws |
| JEL: | H25 F23 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:btx:wpaper:1307&r=hme |
| By: | Denis Travaillé (Centre de Recherche Magellan - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III : EA3713); Gérald Naro (ERFI – ISEM - Université Montpellier I) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to carry out a study on the limits of the concept of Corporate Social Performance (CSP) and its instrumentation in the form of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (SBSC), faced with the paradoxes of sustainable development induced by the existence of different expectations and from various stakeholders. Our purpose is to exceed the neo-institutional decoupling thesis by proposing an approach based on the recognition and management of paradoxes. With this in mind, we explore the opportunities offered by the concept of interactive control (Simons, 1995) and we propose an alternative to the Balanced Scorecard by substituting the concept of a "Paradoxical Scorecard." |
| Keywords: | Sustainability, Decoupling, Sustainability Balanced Scorecard, Paradoxical Scorecard |
| Date: | 2013–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00880452&r=hme |
| By: | Claudia Piras (IDB); Andrea Filippo Presbitero (International Monetary Fund, Universit… Politecnica delle Marche - MoFiR); Roberta Rabellotti (Universit… di Pavia, Department of Political and Social Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Standards measures of female ownership and management of firms included in the World Bank Enterprise Survey do not support the existence of a gender gap in access to finance in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Nonetheless, more precise measures show that women-led businesses are more likely to be financially constrained than other comparable firms. The evidence presented herein suggests that this gender gap may be driven by taste-based discrimination. This paper exploits a rich dataset that provides detailed information about female ownership and management in firms, allowing for further understanding of gender gaps in access to finance. |
| Keywords: | Access to credit, Discrimination;, Firm ownership, Gender; |
| JEL: | G21 J16 O54 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wmofir:90&r=hme |
| By: | Prashant Bharadwaj; Leah K. Lakdawala; Nicholas Li |
| Abstract: | While bans against child labor are a common policy tool, there is very little empirical evidence validating their effectiveness. In this paper, we examine the consequences of India’s landmark legislation against child labor, the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986. Using data from employment surveys conducted before and after the ban, and using age restrictions that determined who the ban applied to, we show that child wages decrease and child labor increases after the ban. These results are consistent with a theoretical model building on the seminal work of Basu and Van (1998) and Basu (2005), where families use child labor to reach subsistence constraints and where child wages decrease in response to bans, leading poor families to utilize more child labor. The increase in child labor comes at the expense of reduced school enrollment. We also examine the effects of the ban at the household level. Using linked consumption and expenditure data, we find that along various margins of household expenditure, consumption, calorie intake and asset holdings, households are worse off after the ban. |
| JEL: | J08 O1 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19602&r=hme |