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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2015‒07‒04
twelve papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Hélène Couprie; Elisabeth Cudeville; Catherine Sofer (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA) |
| Abstract: | Most household models assume that decisions taken inside the family are Pareto optimal. However, empirical studies cast doubts upon the efficiency assumption. The sharing of time among men and women between market work and household work is highly differentiated by gender. In this paper we examine whether couples deviate from efficiency in household production decisions, using an experimental design in which subjects are real couples. The aim of the experiment is to mimic the sharing of highly-gendered household tasks. We compare the sharing of gendered tasks to that of more neutral tasks. By measuring individual productivity in each task, we can see if couples tend to deviate from efficiency, and by how much in each case. As we show that they deviate more when sharing gendered tasks, we also explore why, looking at different possible explanations, and we find evidence of the impact of stereotypes on inefficiencies. |
| Keywords: | Stereotypes, social norms, household production, time allocation, experiment, production function, household behavior, intra-household decision-making. |
| JEL: | D13 J16 C92 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2015-06&r=hme |
| By: | Dasgupta, Sukti; Matsumoto, Makiko; Xia, Cuntao |
| Abstract: | Although the rate is relatively high in China, it has declined in recent years, as has the employment to population ratio. Furthermore, there is a significant wage gap between women in and men, much of which remains “unexplained” when we carry out a decomposition analysis. To improve gender equality in the labour market, the paper points to four areas that require further attention from a policy perspective: (1) measures to promote equal access to employment for women and men; (2) creation of an enabling environment for workers with family responsibilities; (3) improved coverage of social security measures, especially for rural women; and (4) design of an appropriate retirement policy. |
| Keywords: | gender equality, sex discrimination, women workers, labour market, employment, income, care work, social security, retirement, China, égalité des genres, discrimination fondée sur le sexe, travailleuses, marché du travail, emploi, revenu, prestations de soins, sécurité sociale, retraite, Chine, igualdad de géneros, discriminación por razones de sexo, trabajadoras, mercado de trabajo, empleo, ingreso, prestación de cuidados, seguridad social, jubilación, China |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:487966&r=hme |
| By: | Feridoon Koohi-Kamali; R. Liu; Y. Liu |
| Abstract: | The applications of the Rothbarth model of inferring child gender discrimination from the variations in parental living standard have consistently failed to uncover evidence for bias from surveys in countries with some of the world's worst welfare outcomes for girls. This paper demonstrates the importance of the remedies required for an effective implementation of that model with an application to a survey from urban China. The paper obtains econometric evidence for the presence of child gender bias for the survey by non-parametric and semiparametric methods in addition to the standard parametric estimates. The results reported for three categories of adult goods all suggest bias against girls, in contrast to those reported in earlier applications of the model to China. The additional probit estimates of the probability of having a second child conditional on the gender of the first child provide further support for our findings. The test results cast doubts on the previous findings that claim the Rothbarth model of gender discrimination to be ineffective in identifying evidence of bias from consumption patterns. |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emo:wp2003:1507&r=hme |
| By: | Köhler, Karsten (Berlin School of Economics and Law); Guschanski, Alexander (University of Greenwich); Stockhammer, Engelbert (Kingston University London) |
| Abstract: | While it is frequently asserted that financialisation has contributed to the decline in the wage share there are only few econometric studies, which usually focus on a single aspect of financialisation. This paper provides a theoretical clarification and a systematic empirical investigation. We identify four arguments why financialisation would affect the wage share: (1) a political economy approach focusing on the exit options of firms, (2) a neo-Kaleckian approach stressing the role of financial overhead costs for firms, (3) increased competition on capital markets stressed by neo-Marxian approaches and the critical shareholder value literature, and (4) the role of household debt in increasing workers’ financial vulnerability and undermining their class consciousness. The paper compiles a comprehensive set of empirical measures of financialisation and uses it to test the theoretical hypotheses by a panel regression of 14 OECD countries over the 1989-2011 period. We find strong evidence for negative effects of household debt and evidence for negative effects of financial deregulation. |
| Keywords: | financialisation; functional income distribution; panel regression |
| JEL: | E25 G34 G35 |
| Date: | 2015–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:kngedp:2015_005&r=hme |
| By: | M. Alejandro Cardenete (Universidad Loyola Andalucia); M. Carmen Delgado (Universidad Loyola Andalucia); Patricia D. Fuentes (Universidad Pablo de Olivade); M. Carmen Lima (Universidad Pablo de Olivade); Alfredo J. Mainar (Universidad de Sevilla); Jose M. Rueda-Cantuche (Universidad Pablo de Olivade); Sébastien Mary (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Fabien Santini (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Sergio Gomez y Paloma (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | This report complements previous work and builds NUTS3 SAMs for twelve regions, following a careful approach, that we call the expert approach. This report investigates the results of this approach by running some simple policy simulations and providing the structural descriptions of these regions. Further, this report aims at producing testing a more automatic approach to the construction of NUTS3 SAMs, to a view of reducing the necessary time and data requirements. Using several examples, this report examines whether such automatic approach can provide reliable SAMs at NUTS3 level. It finally draws conclusions as to the usefulness of both approaches in providing tools for further policy analysis in the field of rural development policy analysis. |
| Keywords: | rural development, social accounting matrix, common agricultural policy, input-output, economic modelling |
| JEL: | D57 Q18 R15 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc94394&r=hme |
| By: | Flavio Gaitán; Renato Boschi |
| Abstract: | Este trabalho visa analisar o papel das coalizões de governo na formulação de um projeto de desenvolvimento socioeconômico. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa que enfoca em que medida a formação de coalizões de apoio a uma plataforma desenvolvimentista é eficiente em formular e implementar políticas públicas sustentáveis no médio e longo prazo de modo a conformar uma agenda nacional de desenvolvimento. A hipótese central é que o processo de desenvolvimento tem uma relação direta com a dimensão institucional, em particular o papel do Estado, das coalizões de governo, das diversas instituições públicas (sobretudo aquelas que tendem a uma coordenação de interesses entre os setores público e privado) e o perfil dos atores estratégicos na formulação e implementação das políticas. Da articulação que se estabelece entre Estado, instituições e atores estratégicos, configuram-se diferentes modalidades ou padrões de desenvolvimento. Definimos coalizão desenvolvimentista como a ação convergente de diferentes atores em torno de uma dinâmica de crescimento (Tanaka, 2012). Incluímos na categoria de ator predominante os empresários, os trabalhadores organizados e a burocracia pública. Todavia, focamos a análise nos dois primeiros: empresários (em particular, dos setores agrário, industrial e financeiro) e trabalhadores. O espaço de articulação de uma coalizão para o desenvolvimento é o campo político, o qual plasma os interesses dos diferentes grupos. A metodologia utilizada consiste na avaliação, com base em fatos estilizados, dos pontos de inflexão dos modelos econômicos e na análise dos posicionamentos (declarações, ações, omissões) das elites estratégicas. This paper aims to analyze the role of government coalitions in the formulation and implementation of a socioeconomic development model. It is a qualitative research that focuses on the extent to which the formation of coalitions to support a developmental platform is efficient in formulating and implementing sustainable public policies in the medium and long term in order to shape a national development agenda. The central hypothesis is that the development process has a direct relationship with the institutional dimension, in particular the role of the State, of government coalitions, of various public institutions (especially those that tend to coordinate interests’ between the public and private sectors) and strategic actors profiles in the formulation and implementation of policies. From the interactions established between State, institutions and strategic players different styles or patterns of development are configured. “Developmental coalitions” is defined as the convergent action of different actors involved in any dynamic of growth and development (Tanaka, 2012). The “strategic actor” category includes business, organized labor and public bureaucracy. However, we focus on business and labor vis-à-vis the political field, which represents the space of articulation of interests of the different strategic actors. The methodological approach consists in the evaluation, based on stylized facts, of the turning points of the economic models (neoliberal and post-neoliberal) and the analysis of positions (statements, actions, exclusions) of strategic elites. |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:2098&r=hme |
| By: | Matteo Richiardi (Institute for New Economic Thinking and Nuffield College, Oxford, UK; Collegio Carlo Alberto, Moncalieri, Italy Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I elaborate on the role of agent-based (AB) modelling for macroeconomic research. My main tenet is that the full potential of the AB approach has not been realised yet. This potential lies in the modular nature of the models, which is bought by abandoning the straitjacket of rational expectations and embracing an evolutionary perspective. I envisage the foundation of a Modular Macroeconomic Science, where new models with heterogeneous interacting agents, endowed with partial information and limited computational ability, can be created by recombining and extending existing models in a unified computational framework. This crucially requires the development of appropriate application programming interfaces (APIs), a set of routines, protocols, and tools which define functionalities internally used by the simulated agents (e.g. learning algorithms) or used by the agents to interact with other agents (exchange of information, goods and services) that are independent of their respective implementations. Acknowledgements. |
| Date: | 2015–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nuf:econwp:1506&r=hme |
| By: | Jan Palczewsk; Klaus Reiner Schenk-Hoppé; Tongya Wang |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:man:sespap:1507&r=hme |
| By: | Beckmann, Klaus (Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg); Gattke, Susan (Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg); Reimer, Lennart (Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | We review, and extend, one of the classic dynamic models of conflict in economics by Richardson (1919) and Boulding (1962). It turns out that the stability properties of the model change if one takes a more realistic “incrementalist” view, and that chance / friction can easily be incorporated into the standard model by defining a probability of (de-)escalation. This analysis is not just a study in the history of economic thought, but also relevant for the development of simulation models for the analysis of conflict dynamics. |
| Keywords: | conflict dynamics; psychology of aggression; escalation; stability; patterns of conflict |
| JEL: | B25 D74 |
| Date: | 2015–06–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:vhsuwp:2015_159&r=hme |
| By: | Nordman, Christophe Jalil (IRD, DIAL, Paris-Dauphine); Sarr, Leopold (World Bank); Sharma, Smriti (UNU-WIDER) |
| Abstract: | We use a first-hand linked employer-employee dataset representing the formal sector of Bangladesh to explain gender wage gaps by the inclusion of measures of cognitive skills and personality traits. Our results show that while cognitive skills are important in determining mean wages, personality traits have little explanatory power. However, quantile regressions indicate that personality traits do matter in certain parts of the conditional wage distribution, especially for wages of females. Cognitive skills as measured by reading and numeracy also confer different benefits across the wage distribution to females and males respectively. Quantile decompositions indicate that these skills and traits reduce the unexplained gender gap, mainly in the upper parts of the wage distribution. Finally, results suggest that employers place greater consideration on observables such as academic background and prior work experience, and may also make assumptions about the existence of sex-specific skills of their workers, which could then widen the within-firm gender wage gap. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, cognitive skills, personality traits, matched worker-firm data, quantile decompositions, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J31 J71 C21 O12 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9132&r=hme |
| By: | Soon, Ryoo (Department of Finance and Economics, Adelphi University); |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the determinants of income and wealth inequality in a Kaldorian model where the profit share adjusts to clear the goods market and the long-run output-capital ratio is constant. The approach is radically different from both the mainstream approach that stresses properties of production function and the Kaleckian approach that emphasizes the long-run adjustment of utilization. The Kaldorian model is used to identify several developments that may have caused increasing inequality in income and wealth since the early 1980s, including the shift of the power relation in corporate firms in favor of top managerial pay, the decline in the retention rate, increasing share buybacks, rising indebtedness of lower-income households, and the stock market boom in the 1990s. In contrast to Piketty's explanation, the decline in the natural rate of growth reduces inequality of income and wealth in this Kaldorian framework. |
| Keywords: | income and wealth distribution, managerial pay, financialization, stock- flow consistency |
| JEL: | E12 E21 E25 E44 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ums:papers:2015-09&r=hme |
| By: | Catherine ARAUJO BONJEAN (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International(CERDI)); Moussa KEITA; Martine AUDIBERT (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International(CERDI)) |
| Abstract: | Initié au Mali dans les années 1990 avec le soutien du PNUD, le programme plateformes multifonctionnelles (PTFM) vise à lutter contre la pauvreté en développant l’offre énergétique en milieu rural. L’énergie fournie par un moteur diesel sert essentiellement à transformer les produits agricoles, activité traditionnellement réservée aux femmes. L’objectif de ce travail est d’évaluer l’impact des PTFM sur l’activité économique des femmes et l’éducation des enfants à l’aide de méthodes quasi-expérimentales. L’analyse est conduite sur un panel de 201 villages et 2412 ménages obtenu à partir d’une enquête à deux passages effectués en 2009 et en 2011. Deux méthodes sont mises en œuvre pour estimer l’impact des PTFM : la méthode des entrées échelonnées et la méthode de la double différence avec ou sans appariement. Deux types d’effets sont identifiés : l’effet de la présence du programme et l’effet lié à la participation au programme. Les estimations ne rejettent pas l’hypothèse d’un impact positif des PTFM sur l’activité économique des femmes et sur la scolarisation des enfants au Mali. |
| Keywords: | plateforme, activités génératrices de revenu, analyse d'impact, mali |
| JEL: | J22 I25 O22 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1688&r=hme |