|
on Heterodox Microeconomics |
|
Issue of 2014‒08‒28
twenty-six papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Charles Yuji Horioka |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an introduction to the field of evolutionary economics with emphasis on the evolutionary theory of household behavior. It shows that the goal of evolutionary economics is to improve upon neoclassical economics by incorporating more realistic and empirically grounded behavioral assumptions and technological innovation and that the goal of the evolutionary theory of household behavior is to improve upon the neoclassical theory of household behavior by replacing the neoclassical assumption of selfish utility maximization with bounded rationality and satisficing and by incorporating the reaction of households to the introduction of new goods and services. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of loss aversion and self-interest vs. altruism. |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:0912&r=hme |
| By: | Akansel, İlkben (Hopa Economics and Administrative Faculty, Artvin Coruh University, Artvin, Turkey) |
| Abstract: | After Old Institutional economics lost its dominance after the 2nd World War, it entered a new revival period; the beginning of this period was marked with Oliver Williamson’s (1975) use of “New Institutional Economics” (NIE) as a new term in his studies. New Institutional Economics analyzes institutions that influence and determine human life deeply such as government, law, markets and family, by combining different disciplines such as legal science, economics, political sciences, sociology etc. But despite these inter-disciplinary attempts, New Institutional Economics has never been a mainstream that follows Old Institutional Economics in terms of epistemology or politics. On the other hand, the only common feature between New Institutional Economics and Old Institutional Economics is the complete opposition to the established economics which is also named neo-classical economics. Besides all of these, discussions on the market mechanism and role of state have been the topics of dispute in almost all of different economics schools of thought. This is the same in New Institutional Economics. In this study, based on the basic features that distinguish New Institutional Economics from Old Institutional Economics, we will firstly attempt to discuss ideological structure of New Institutional Economics; while doing this, we will analyze which ideological logic of basic assumptions, suggested by New Institutional Economics from the procedural individualism and limited rationalism assumptions to the process of market mechanism, distinguish it from Old Institutional Economics and we will analyze the assumptions that are claimed to be close to the assumptions of established economics. In this way, we will analyze New Institutional Economics on the basis of the question of “will it be able to present a different point of view to market mechanism-state relation?” by presenting market mechanism-state relation in New Institutional Economics, which exists similarly in all school of thought. So, we will attempt to analyze if New Institutional Economics, which reflects a different thought system, can present a new perspective to the market-state dilemma. As a result, by presenting the features of general economic structure of New Institutional Economics, which is sometimes claimed to come close to neo-classical economics, existence of solutions that can shed light on current basic economic problems will be analyzed. |
| Keywords: | Old Institutional Economics, New Institutional Economics, Veblen, market, government, Neo-liberalism, capitalism, state |
| JEL: | B15 B25 B52 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eyd:cp2013:19&r=hme |
| By: | Rakib, Muntaha; Matz, Julia Anna |
| Abstract: | Assets are an important means of coping with adverse events in developing countries but the role of gendered ownership is not yet fully understood. This paper investigates changes in assets owned by the household head, his spouse, or jointly by both of them in response to shocks in rural agricultural households in Bangladesh with the help of detailed household survey panel data. Land is owned mostly by men, who are wealthier than their spouses with respect to almost all types of assets, but relative ownership varies by type of asset. |
| Keywords: | Gender, Women, assets, Ownership, households, income, Economic development, Land ownership, Food production, shocks, coping strategies, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1356&r=hme |
| By: | Arem, Rim |
| Abstract: | This paper concerns assimilation between physiques and economics. Assuming fixed time value of goods each year along with a new concept of empty goods and its interpretation on good’s exchange. We redefined the economy and briefly described the macroeconomic, the microeconomic and Islamic economic and changed the game theory and presented a new utility of gambling. |
| Keywords: | Exchange goods, Relativity theory, Islamic economy, Game theory, and utility of gambling. |
| JEL: | A11 A12 D51 G1 Z12 |
| Date: | 2014–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57947&r=hme |
| By: | Suttner, Johannes R. |
| Abstract: | In this study, it was found that economists were sensitive to different commodities based on their attitudes in terms of fairness toward the price mechanism, whereas non-economists did not exhibit significant sensitivity. This sensitivity was so strong that no self-selection effect could be found in economists in the case of a survey of a basic commodity, whereas there was a clear self-selection effect with a luxury commodity. After one semester with intensive expo-sure to microeconomic theory, the market affinity of economists increased in both cases, but their sensitivity persisted. Surprisingly, it was the allocation mechanism of "first come, first served" and not the price mechanism that was affected more in terms of fairness. The latter reflects equal treatment in terms of general perceptions, thus this could be interpreted as an increased aversion to inequality among economists. -- |
| Keywords: | attitude change,economics teaching,fairness,selection |
| JEL: | A12 A13 A20 D63 R49 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ciwdps:32014&r=hme |
| By: | McCarthy, Michael A. |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the rise of defined-contribution (DC) pensions - such as 401(k) plans - in order to contribute to the debate about neoliberalism. It challenges the generalizability of two common accounts: the weak state intervention thesis, which argues that neoliberal policy change is driven by state retreat and deregulation, and the state-managed transition thesis, which argues that neoliberal policies are both enacted and managed through new regulations. In contrast, this paper argues that the development of the employer-based pension system between 1970 and 1995 is an instance of "neoliberalism without neoliberals." A battery of regulations was passed between 1974 and the late 1980s that were intended to make the traditional system of definedbenefit (DB) pensioning more secure. However, this legislation triggered a business shift to 401(k)s. The legislation worked in such a counterintuitive way because of three factors related to changes in "the balance of class forces" in American society: (1) new laws increased costs for firms, with small businesses being hit the heaviest, (2) employment in the manufacturing sector, labor's traditional stronghold, declined as a share of total employment, and (3) because unions were unable or unwilling to unionize emergent sectors of the economy, new businesses in them were not compelled to negotiate DB plans. In such a context, growing regulatory costs pushed many firms to adopt DC pensions for their employees. The outcome was a major policy shift, considered by many to be a defining feature of the neoliberal era. -- Als Beitrag zur Debatte um den Neoliberalismus befasst sich dieser Artikel mit dem Aufstieg der betrieblichen Altersversorgung auf Basis 'garantierter Beiträge' (defined contributions, DC) in den USA, wie etwa der 401(k)-Rentenpläne. Er stellt zwei weitverbreitete Auffassungen hinsichtlich ihrer Allgemeingültigkeit infrage: zum einen die These des schwachen, in seinen Interventionsfähigkeiten begrenzten Staates, die besagt, der Politikwechsel hin zum Neoliberalismus werde durch den Rückzug des Staates und die Deregulierung vorangetrieben, und zum anderen die des staatlich gelenkten Übergangs, die behauptet, neoliberale politische Maßnahmen würden durch neue Regelungen in Kraft gesetzt und gesteuert. Demgegenüber legt diese Studie dar, dass die Entwicklung der betrieblichen Altersvorsorge zwischen 1970 und 1995 als ein Fall von "Neoliberalismus ohne Neoliberale" bezeichnet werden kann. Von 1974 bis in die späten 1980er-Jahre wurde eine Vielzahl von Regelungen verabschiedet, um das traditionelle Altersversorgungssystem auf Basis "garantierter Leistungen" (defined benefits, DB) sicherer zu machen. Doch lösten diese Gesetze vielmehr eine Umorientierung der Unternehmen zu 401(k)-Rentenplänen aus. Drei Faktoren im Zusammenhang mit den Veränderungen des "Kräfteverhältnisses zwischen den Klassen" in der US-amerikanischen Gesellschaft führten dazu, dass sich die Gesetze völlig anders auswirkten als erwartet. Erstens verursachten neue Gesetze Kostensteigerungen in Unternehmen, wobei Kleinbetriebe am stärksten betroffen waren. Zweitens sank der Anteil der Beschäftigung im produzierenden Gewerbe, einer traditionellen Arbeiterhochburg, an der Gesamtbeschäftigung. Und drittens konnten oder wollten die Gewerkschaften junge Wirtschaftssektoren nicht gewerkschaftlich organisieren; neue Unternehmen in diesen Bereichen waren nicht zur Aushandlung von Altersversorgungsplänen auf Basis garantierter Leistungen verpflichtet. In einem solchen Kontext wurden viele Betriebe durch die steigenden regelungsbedingten Kosten dazu gedrängt, für ihre Mitarbeiter eine Altersversorgung auf Basis garantierter Beiträge einzuführen. Die Folge war ein Politikwechsel von großer Tragweite, den viele als ein prägendes Merkmal der neoliberalen Ära ansehen. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:mpifgd:1412&r=hme |
| By: | Altman, Morris |
| Abstract: | I discuss some key issues raised by behavioral economics for better understanding the working of the labor market. Amongst the key points in this paper are: (i) a revised modeling of the labor supply curve, with a specific focus on the target income approach (ii) elaborating on the importance of effort variability for understanding labor supply, including a narrative on efficiency wage and x-efficiency theory (includes the importance of fairness) (iii) building upon x-efficiency and efficiency wage theory to better understand the demand side of the labor market (iv) discussing some of the cognitive/informational/institutional factors affecting decision-making, including modeling the role of errors or biases in labor market decisions for both the supply and demand side of the labor market (v) insights of experimental economics for labor market behavior (vi) the importance behavioral economics for better understanding the stylizing facts of labor markets. This paper also compares conventional to behavioral theoretical approaches labor markets, their different underlying assumptions, and analytical predictions, with implications for public policy and institutional design. Also compared are the errors and biases and the bounded rationality approaches labor market analysis. They produce different analytical predictions as well as having different implications for public policy and institutional design. |
| Keywords: | Behavioral economics, Bounded rationality, Efficiency wages, Effort discretion, Errors and biases, Fairness, Information asymmetries, Target income approach, Involuntary employment, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vuw:vuwecf:3466&r=hme |
| By: | Hoang, Cung Truong; Hüschelrath, Kai; Laitenberger, Ulrich; Smuda, Florian |
| Abstract: | We empirically investigate the determinants of self-reporting under the European corporate leniency program. Applying a data set consisting of 442 firm groups that participated in 76 cartels decided by the European Commission between 2000 and 2011, we find that the probability of a firm becoming the chief witness increases with its character as repeat offender, the size of the expected basic fine, the number of countries active in one group as well as the size of the firm's share in the cartelized market. Our results have important implications for an effective prosecution of anti-cartel law infringers. -- |
| Keywords: | Competition policy,cartels,leniency,European Union |
| JEL: | L41 K21 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:14043&r=hme |
| By: | David L. Anderson (Queen's University); John Tressler (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we compare the rate of citation-capture across the social sciences and sciences, with particular attention paid to economics and its border disciplines generally located in Schools of Business. We also explore citation time-flow differences between a number of leading journals in economics and a representative science category, and between higher and lower ranked economics journals. Our findings suggest that short-term citation counting, either directly or indirectly, for purposes of generating impact factors and the like, introduces a bias in favour of the sciences over the social sciences. This is in addition to the well-known differences in the absolute number of cites between these discipline categories over the short and long term. Our findings call into question the usefulness of citation analysis in national research assessment exercises that concentrate on recent research contributions. Furthermore, within economics, we found short-term impact factors to be systematically biased in favour of lower ranked journals. |
| Keywords: | research measurement; research assessment exercises; time pattern of citations |
| JEL: | A14 C81 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:14/10&r=hme |
| By: | Kanbur, Ravi; Wagstaff, Adam |
| Abstract: | The academic literature on equality of opportunity has burgeoned. The concepts and measures have begun to be used by policy institutions, including in specific sectors such as health and education. It is argued that one advantage of focusing on equality of opportunity is that policy makers are more responsive to that discourse than to equality of outcomes per se. This paper presents a critique of equality of opportunity in the policy context. Although the empirical analysis to which the literature has given rise is useful and is to be welcomed, current methods for quantifying and implementing the concept with a view to informing the policy discourse face a series of fundamental questions that remain unanswered. Without a full appreciation of these difficulties, the methods may prove to be misleading in the policy context. |
| Keywords: | Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Gender and Law,Human Rights,Equity and Development,Poverty Impact Evaluation |
| Date: | 2014–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6980&r=hme |
| By: | Hirsch, Barry (Georgia State University); Manzella, Julia (Georgia State University) |
| Abstract: | Economists and sociologists have proposed arguments for why there can exist wage penalties for work involving helping and caring for others, penalties borne disproportionately by women. Evidence on wage penalties is neither abundant nor compelling. We examine wage differentials associated with caring jobs using multiple years of Current Population Survey (CPS) earnings files matched to O*NET job descriptors that provide continuous measures of 'assisting and caring' and 'concern' for others across all occupations. This approach differs from prior studies that assume occupations either do or do not require a high level of caring. Cross-section and longitudinal analyses are used to examine wage differences associated with the level of caring, conditioned on worker, location, and job attributes. Wage level estimates suggest substantive caring penalties, particularly among men. Longitudinal estimates based on wage changes among job switchers indicate smaller wage penalties, our preferred estimate being a 2 percent wage penalty resulting from a one standard deviation increase in our caring index. We find little difference in caring wage gaps across the earnings distribution. Measuring mean levels of caring across the U.S. labor market over nearly thirty years, we find a steady upward trend, but overall changes are small and there is no evidence of convergence between women and men. |
| Keywords: | caring wage penalties, occupational job attributes, gender wage gaps |
| JEL: | J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8388&r=hme |
| By: | Hussain, Mushahid (Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India) |
| Abstract: | The study of labour migration and remittances is voluminous both in terms of content as well as contesting results. Characteristic of the economics profession, the literature can be put on a scale ranging from ecstatic optimism to morbid disillusionment as far as the effect of migration and remittances on economic development is concerned, which is partly an outcome of the complexity of the subject matter, but also a result of an approach analogous to the proverbial ‘blind men and the elephant’ parable. Micro studies on the impact of remittances have been both numerous and insightful, but have lacked the essential link in understanding the macro effects in any meaningful way, which is unsurprising given the dominance of neoclassical theory over the last few decades. In instances where macroeconomic implications were arrived at, they were strongly informed by a neoliberal agenda as institutionalized under the Washington consensus by the Bretton Woods organizations. This agenda can be summarized as a receding role for the State and an increasing role for the market in mediating economic relationships in a society, where both these institutions operate in a dichotomous fashion, the former yielding results that are inherently less desirable, and hence ‘inefficient’ to the outcomes generated by the latter (Saad-Filho,2003). Given the general disenchantment with neoliberalism’s insensitivity and inefficacy vis-à-vis poverty eradication, macroeconomic instability and widening income disparity, and the increasing perception of remittances as being an important source of relief on account of these problems in some of the poorest countries, the paper re-examines some of the important issues regarding remittances from a macro-theoretic perspective. As the title suggests, the scope is limited to the examining of implications regarding changes in State functioning with the advent of neoliberalism, and the part remittances play in it. |
| Keywords: | international migration, remittance, neoliberal state, developing countries |
| JEL: | B5 F2 F5 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eyd:cp2013:227&r=hme |
| By: | Blunch, Niels-Hugo (Washington and Lee University); Das, Maitreyi Bordia (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines norms about gender equality of the education of children and adults in Bangladesh using a recent household survey for two cohorts of married women. Education norms are found to differ substantially across cohorts, with women from the younger cohort being far more positive about female vs. male education of both children and adults. The effect of education in determining norms spans own and spousal education, as well as that of older educated females in the household, thus indicating sharing of education norms both within marriage and across generations. Detailed decompositions reveal that more than anything else it is the improvement in education across cohorts that has been driving the narrowing of the generational education norms gap in Bangladesh in recent years. |
| Keywords: | gender education inequality norms, human capital, decomposition analysis, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | D19 I29 J12 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8365&r=hme |
| By: | Francis, Bill B. (Lally School of Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); Hasan, Iftekhar (Fordham University and Bank of Finland); Wu, Qiang (Lally School of Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); Yan, Meng (Fordham University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of CFO gender on corporate tax aggressiveness. Focusing on firms that experience a male-to-female CFO transition, the paper compares those firms’ degree of tax aggressiveness during the pre- and post-transition periods. Using the probability of tax sheltering, the predicted unrecognized tax benefits, and the discretionary permanent book-tax differences to measure tax aggressiveness, we find that female CFOs are associated with less tax aggressiveness as compared to their male counterparts. The main findings are supported by additional tests based on propensity score matching, difference-in-difference tests, and tests with a female-to-male CFO transition sample. Overall, our study establishes CFO gender as an important determinant of tax aggressiveness. |
| Keywords: | tax aggressiveness; tax avoidance; gender; CFO; risk-aversion |
| JEL: | H26 J16 M41 |
| Date: | 2014–07–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofrdp:2014_016&r=hme |
| By: | Becker, Julia-Maria |
| Abstract: | In a world that gets more and more connected every day, and where countries interact on global markets with a frequency like never before, an economic crisis has an effect with a reach much wider than some years ago. Little is known for the Mexican case about the impact of the crisis of 2008 on labor income and worked hours for the whole economically active population, individuals working in different sectors, and commonly considered highly vulnerable groups like women or single mothers. I use a difference-in-differences estimator to measure the impact of the crisis on the labor income and worked hours of Mexican women and men working in different sectors.The following investigation has three main strings: 1. I will provide evidence that the crisis of 2008 had an impact on labor income and worked hours; 2. I will show that different regions and sectors in Mexico were affected differently; 3. I distinguish the impact between women and men, and focus on single mothers. |
| Keywords: | Mexican labor market, impact crisis 2008, gender income difference, wage of women in Mexico, vulnerable groups, manufacturing sector |
| JEL: | E32 J31 J71 O54 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57964&r=hme |
| By: | Garance Gautrey (LEST - Laboratoire d'économie et de sociologie du travail - CNRS : UMR7317 - Aix Marseille Université, CEMCA UMIFRE16 - Centre d'études mexicaines et centroaméricaines - CNRS : USR3337 - Ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes) |
| Abstract: | Les études les plus récentes qui s'intéressent au commerce équitable montrent que ce système commercial connaît un processus de standardisation, dans lequel les producteurs du Sud sont de plus en plus contraints à respecter les exigences en termes de gouvernance et de responsabilité sociale et environnementale définies par les organisations de commerce équitable au Nord. Dans ce contexte, l'enjeu pour les producteurs du Sud est de mettre en place de façon durable les pratiques organisationnelles qui découlent de ces exigences, et donc de se les approprier. L'objectif de notre travail est d'observer, dans le cadre de la théorie néo institutionnaliste, l'influence de trois niveaux de contexte sur ce processus d'appropriation : le contexte social, dans lequel évoluent les producteurs, le contexte relationnel, qui lie producteurs et acheteurs, et le contexte organisationnel, qui relève du fonctionnement interne de l'organisation de producteurs. Nos résultats sont issus de deux observations empiriques. La première a eu lieu au Nord du Pérou, où nos observations ont porté sur des ateliers d'artisans joaillers et un groupement de producteurs de bananes insérés dans le système du commerce équitable. La seconde s'est déroulée au sein de deux coopératives de femmes productrices d'huile d'argan au Maroc, aussi engagées dans le commerce équitable, et a été complétée par des entretiens semi-directifs menés auprès de ses membres. Nos résultats montrent en premier lieu une forte influence du contexte social sur l'appropriation des pratiques : elle peut être positive, lorsque les valeurs sous-jacentes à la pratique entrent en cohérence avec le contexte social, ou négative, si ces valeurs s'y heurtent. Aussi, l'appropriation des pratiques par les producteurs est conditionnée par le contexte relationnel : si celui-ci laisse suffisamment d'autonomie aux producteurs dans la mise en place des pratiques, alors le processus d'appropriation sera favorisé ; à l'inverse, une relation de dépendance des producteurs vis-à-vis des acheteurs, ou l'existence d'un régime de représentations dans cette relation, entrave fortement cette appropriation. Enfin, l'appropriation sera positivement influencée par un degré élevé d'ouverture à l'apprentissage, au changement et à l'innovation du groupement de producteurs. L'existence d'une coalition interne à ce groupement, en charge de la mise en place de ces pratiques et de la transmission des connaissances à l'ensemble des membres aura aussi tendance à favoriser l'appropriation des pratiques. |
| Keywords: | commerce équitable, appropriation, institutionnalisation, internalisation, contexte |
| Date: | 2014–05–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01054661&r=hme |
| By: | Ina Peters (GIGA) |
| Abstract: | The paper discusses how current methodological debates on the potential of comparative area studies intersect with current trends in transitional justice research. As the field of transitional justice studies is approaching saturation, academic efforts in this field are in-creasingly focused on empirical as well as theoretical generalization. The challenge of comparative transitional justice research is less to weigh the national impacts of policies than to incorporate a more historicized conception of causality that includes complex long-term processes and global interdependencies. From the perspective of comparative area studies, the case of transitional justice studies testifies to the need to combine the local, national, transnational, translocal, and global levels of analysis. |
| Keywords: | qualitative research methods, grounded theory methodology (GTM), field research, semistructured interviews, foreign languages |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gig:wpaper:247&r=hme |
| By: | Folke, Olle (Columbia University); Rickne, Johanna (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | There is a scarcity of women and minorities at the apex of political power. This paper formalizes the concept of the glass ceiling for political organizations and builds on previous research to suggest four testable criteria. A glass ceiling exists if women and/or racial minorities (1) are discriminated against in the organization’s promotion process and (2) the discrimination increases in severity for the top levels of power and over an individual’s career trajectory. We suggest a series of empirical tests for this phenomenon and apply them to longitudinal data on Swedish politicians. Results show that women face a glass ceiling, while minorities’ career disadvantages are more severe at the earlier career steps (a "sticky floor"). |
| Keywords: | Glass ceiling; Political careers; Subnational politics; Women and politics; Supply of politicians; Gender inequality; Racial inequality |
| JEL: | H10 J16 J21 J45 |
| Date: | 2014–08–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1034&r=hme |
| By: | Elizabeth Kaletski (Ithaca College); Lanse Minkler (University of Connecticut); Nishith Prakash (University of Connecticut); Susan Randolph (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores whether constitutional provisions promote fulfillment of economic and social rights. This is accomplished by combining unique data on both enforceable law and directive principles with the Social and Economic Rights Fulfillment Index (SERF Index), which measures government fulfillment of such rights. The results indicate that there is a positive and significant correlation between enforceable law provisions and the right to health and education components of the SERF Index. The strongest relationship appears to be for the right to health component where the inclusion of an enforceable law provision on economic and social rights in the constitution is correlated with an increase in the health component by 9.55, or 13.0%, on average. These results support the idea that constitutional provisions may be one way to improve economic and social rights outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Economic and social rights, Constitutional provisions |
| JEL: | A13 B59 P46 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:ecriwp:23&r=hme |
| By: | Aranzazu Crespo; Marcel Jansen |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the role that global value chains (GVC) have played during the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, and the key policy challenges that Spain faces. First, we provide a comparative analysis of the export performance and FDI activities of Spanish firms, using the firm-level information of the EFIGE dataset. Then, we use input-output tables from the WIOD database to identify the industries whose participation in GVCs should be promoted since they retain a larger share of domestic value added. Finally, we analyze the capacity of GVCs to amplify or act as built-in stabilizers following economic downturns. To do so, we compute the first round impact on Spanish gross exports and domestic value added of a 10% increase in final demand in selected areas of the world. Spain's gross exports would be worth 2.28% of GDP while the domestic value added from export would grow by 2.34%, which suggests that GVCs act as stabilizers since the promote more the domestic value added components. |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2014-09&r=hme |
| By: | Njuki, Jemimah; Waithanji, Elizabeth; Sakwa, Beatrice; Kariuki, Juliet; Mukewa, Elizabeth; Ngige, John |
| Abstract: | This paper reports findings from a qualitative study undertaken in Tanzania and Kenya to examine women’s access to and ownership of KickStart pumps and the implications for their ability to make major decisions on crop choices and use of income from irrigated crops. Results from sales-monitoring data show that women purchase less than 10 percent of the pumps and men continue to make most of the major decisions on crop choices and income use. These findings vary by type of crop, with men making major decisions on high-income crops such as tomatoes and women having relatively more autonomy on crops such as leafy vegetables. |
| Keywords: | Gender, Women, Irrigation, technology, households, decisionmaking, Smallholders, income, assets, Markets, farm inputs, income management, market approaches, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1357&r=hme |
| By: | Anthony T. Flegg (University of the West of England, Bristol); Leonardo J. Mastronardi (Universidad Argentina de la Empresa, Buenos Aires, Argentina); Carlos A. Romero (Universidad Argentina de la Empresa, Buenos Aires, Argentina) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses survey-based data for the Argentinian province of C¨®rdoba to carry out an empirical test of the performance of the FLQ formula for regionalizing national inputoutput tables. Particular attention is paid to the problem of choosing a value for the unknown parameter ¦Ä in this formula. Two alternative approaches suggested in the literature are evaluated. A statistical test is also performed of differences between regional and national technology, and Round¡¯s ¡®fabrication¡¯ formula is applied in an effort to make suitable adjustments for such differences. However, the FLQ formula, without any fabrication adjustments, is found to give the best overall results of the non-survey methods considered in the paper. |
| Keywords: | Regional inputoutput tables; Argentina; Location quotients; FLQ; Fabrication effects |
| Date: | 2014–01–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:20141406&r=hme |
| By: | Leyden, Dennis (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Link, Albert (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper models the entrepreneurial process as both creation and discovery composed of an iterative two-step process where entrepreneurs create social networks based on subjective expectations about the future effectiveness of those networks, and then choose the innovation to pursue and map a search process to discover how to bring the innovation to fruition. Critical to this process is the mix of strong ties and weak ties that make up social networks and the ability to carry forward the social capital embodied in such networks. The tendency of long-existing entrepreneurs to be less innovative can be explained using this model. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; social networks; innovation; technology |
| JEL: | L26 M13 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–08–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2014_004&r=hme |
| By: | Ronelle Burger (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Megan Louw (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Brigitte Barbara Isabel de Oliveira Pegado (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Servaas van der Berg (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | Existing empirical research on consumption patterns of the South African black middle class leans either on the theory of conspicuous consumption or culture-specific utility functions. This paper departs from treatment of the black middle class as a homogenous group. By differentiating between a securely established group, with characteristics and consumption patterns similar to the white middle class, and an emerging group, often with weaker productive characteristics, it formally introduces economic vulnerability as a driver of consumption patterns. Households new to the middle class or uncertain of continued class membership are viewed as vulnerable. Consumption patterns of the emerging black middle class are observed to diverge substantially from the other groups, in terms of greater signalling of social status via visible consumption and preoccupation with reducing an historical asset deficit. We expect many of its members to join the established classes over time, converging to a new ‘middle class mean’. |
| Keywords: | middle class, South Africa, conspicuous consumption |
| JEL: | D31 D12 D11 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers219&r=hme |
| By: | Ohlsson, Henry (Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies); Roine, Jesper (SITE, Stockholm School of Economics); Waldenström, Daniel (Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | Inherited wealth has attracted much attention recently, much due to the research by Thomas Piketty (Piketty, 2011; 2014). The discussion has mainly revolved around a long-run contrast between Europe and the U.S., even though data on explicit historical inheritance flows are only really available for France and to some extent for the U.K. We study the long-run evolution of inherited wealth in Sweden over the past two hundred years. The trends in Sweden are similar to those in France and the U.K: beginning at a high level in the nineteenth century, falling sharply in the interwar era and staying low thereafter, but tending to increase in recent years. The levels, however, differ greatly. The Swedish flows were only half of those in France and the U.K. before 1900 and also much lower after 1980. The main reason for the low levels in the nineteenth century is that the capital-income ratio is much lower than in “Old Europe”. In fact, the Swedish capital-income ratio was similar to that in the U.S., but the savings and growth rates were much lower in Sweden than in the U.S. Rapid income growth following industrialization and increasing savings rates were also important fac-tors behind the development of the capital-income ratio and the inheritance flow during the twenti-eth century. The recent differences in inheritance flows have several potential explanations related to the Swedish welfare state and pension system. Sweden was “un-European” during the nineteenth century because the country was so poor, Sweden is “un-European” today because so much wealth formation has taken place within the welfare state and the occupational pension systems. JEL: D30, |
| Keywords: | inheritance; capital accumulation; inverse mortality multiplier * |
| JEL: | D30 J10 N10 |
| Date: | 2014–06–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:uufswp:2014_007&r=hme |
| By: | Davide Forcella; Marek Hudon |
| Abstract: | Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are alternative financial providers offering financial services to people typically excluded from the standard banking sector. While most MFIs are active in developing countries, there is also a young and developing microfinance sector in Europe; however, very little literature exists on this MFI segment. In this paper, we analyze the environmental performance of 58 European MFIs. Our results suggest that the size of the MFI, investor concern for environmental performance and, to a lesser extent, donor interest, are closely related to the institution’s environmental performance. Moreover, providing loans larger than microcredits is linked to better environmental performance. This could suggest that the additional revenues generated from these loans, also called cross-subsidies, could help MFIs to strengthen their environmental bottom line. Finally, no evidence suggests that profit status explains environmental performance. |
| Keywords: | Corporate Social Responsibility; Europe; Environment; Microcredit; Microfinance |
| Date: | 2014–08–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/174739&r=hme |