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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2016‒02‒29
twenty papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Gharyeni, Abdellatif; Mohamed, Yasmine |
| Abstract: | Recent developments in labor relations in Quebec inclined several controversies. The public sector has undergone major changes and has had to adapt and reposition. Like the private sector, subcontracting is normalized with the progress of the neoliberal discourse in public space. This article compares the existing literature between public-private partnerships and outsourcing, trying to prove potential links. A theoretical design is appropriate to support the thesis of reconfiguration of labor markets. The article shows that outsourcing in the public sector is simply a pledge of confusion and inconsistency. Far from achieving its objectives, it has served a factor of tension and conflict between the Quebec government and the unions. |
| Keywords: | public-private partnerships, outsourcing, labor relations, unions |
| JEL: | D23 H50 J52 J53 M55 |
| Date: | 2016–01–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68944&r=hme |
| By: | Y. Bousalham (Université de Rouen); Bénédicte Vidaillet (IRG - Institut de Recherche en Gestion - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12) |
| Abstract: | Interest in alternative organizations and their emancipatory potential has grown significantly among critical scholars. Among current inquiries, it has been shown that these organizations may be “contaminated” (i.e.: implement anti-alternative practices and/or adopt capitalist values) when competing, on their markets, with traditional capitalist organizations. But what happens when alternative organizations compete with one another or operate in a market that consists exclusively of other alternative organizations? Does their alternative nature help them deal differently with the competition-related issues they face, to develop solutions and practices other than those they would implement if they were competing with privately-owned capitalist enterprises? In this research, we have explored a sector – that of student healthcare in France – that involves two alternative, mutualist organizations competing directly and exclusively with each other. Focusing on the relations of competition between these mutuals, we observed in the field that their practices and methods greatly contrasts with the mutualist values and principles those organizations claim to stand for, in particular with the principles of solidarity between members and of non-commercialization of health care. This case shows how the alternative nature of an organization becomes diluted in the issues of competition even though the market is shared by two alternative non-profit organizations. We suggest that the situation of direct competition by itself, and not only competition with traditional capitalist organizations, is a key determinant of alternative organizations’ ability to put into practice their distinguishing principles. |
| Keywords: | alternative organization, competition, mutual sector, mutual principle, critical management studies, duopoly |
| Date: | 2015–07–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01270192&r=hme |
| By: | BRESSER-PEREIRA, Luiz Carlos |
| Abstract: | This paper, first, situates the nation-state historically, as a product of the capitalist revolution. Second, it distinguishes the state (the law system and the organization that guarantees it) from the nation-state or country (the territorial political unit formed by a nation, a state and a territory). Third, it defines nation, civil society and class coalitions, understanding that they are forms of society politically organized, which role is to act as intermediary between society and the state. Fourth, it uses these concepts plus the ones of relative autonomy and of anteriority to understand the ever changing relation between the state and society, where in early moments the state or its elites assumed the lead, and later, as democratization takes place, the protagonist role changed gradually to the people. The paper emphasizes the class coalitions, and argues that behind the two basic forms or economic and political organization of capitalism – developmentalism and economic liberalism – there are the correspondent class coalitions |
| Date: | 2016–01–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fgv:eesptd:409&r=hme |
| By: | Gräbner, Claudius; Heinrich, Torsten; Kudic, Muhamed |
| Abstract: | Many questions addressing the emergence and dynamics of economic networks are still unresolved, especially regarding dynamics on and of networks. Previous research shows that processes at the micro-level affect socio-economic systems at aggregated levels. These insights facilitated the development of models taking the network structure explicitly into account. However, what is still missing is a systemic network theory that considers the full complexity of socio-economic systems. We argue that sociological, economic and institutional theories are complementary in many respects and have the potential to fill this gap by providing the theoretical ground for an eclectic network theory. In this paper, we address key concepts that are concerned with structuration processes in socio-economic networks, review and reassess the literature in this field and discuss approaches to explain pattern formation processes at higher aggregation levels. We propose to take advantage of the complementarities of the above outlined yet unconnected research programs. |
| Keywords: | complex systems; innovation networks; structuration processes; network dynamics; evolutionary economics |
| JEL: | D85 L14 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2016–01–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:69095&r=hme |
| By: | Davide Torsello (Central European University (Budapest)); Bertrand Venard (Audencia Recherche - Audencia) |
| Abstract: | The social importance of corruption and its complex nature have led management scholars to study the phenomenon. However, they have largely ignored the research conducted by anthropologists on the matter. The aim of this article is to provide a critical review of the anthropological literature on corruption in relation to the management science research. Anthropology offers valuable insights into the understanding of the study of corruption. The field provides new perspectives particularly in relation to the definition of the concept, the morality of corruption, the processual approach, the methods of inquiry, and the holistic perspective. Management research can gain important insights from the results of ethnographic investigations that support the idea that the great diversity in the practices of corruption worldwide is imbued with the particular cultural and social implications of this phenomenon. |
| Keywords: | Corruption, Bribery, Deviant/counterproductive behavior, Business and government/political economy, Ethics, Emerging markets |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01238748&r=hme |
| By: | Fernando Collantes (Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain) |
| Abstract: | This article takes Spain’s dairy chain as a study case of the transformations in the political economy of the food system in the West since the Second World War. I find that there is much to support the prevailing narrative in food regime analysis: the organised capitalism of 1952-1986 was gradually weakened by a policy agenda of deregulation stemming from both internal and external pressures. I also find, however, a thread of continuity between the period 1952-1986and the post-1986 period – in both periods there were strategies of supply chain management by means of which the power of political or business elites joined the market as a mechanism for the coordination of decisions. I argue that there is a case for reassessing the degree up to which the term “neoliberalism” does a good job at describing the new historical era that started in the food system in the latter decades of the twentieth century. |
| Keywords: | neoliberalism, organised capitalism, food regimes, supply chain management, dairy chain |
| JEL: | N54 N64 N74 B52 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahe:dtaehe:1507&r=hme |
| By: | Akerlof, George A.; Snower, Dennis J. |
| Abstract: | Standard economics omits the role of narratives (the stories that people tell themselves and others) when they make all kinds of decisions. Narratives play a role in understanding the environment; focusing attention; predicting events; motivating action; assigning social roles and identities; defining power relations; and establishing and conveying social norms. This paper describes the role narratives play in decision making, as it also juxtaposes this description against the backdrop of the Bolshevik-spawned narrative that played a critical role in the history of Russia and the Soviet Union in the 20th Century. |
| Keywords: | narrative,motivation,attention,prediction,identity,social assignment |
| JEL: | A12 A13 A14 D03 D04 D20 D23 D30 D62 D71 D72 D74 E02 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2022&r=hme |
| By: | Nagengast, Arne J.; Stehrer, Robert |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the great collapse in value added trade using a structural decomposition analysis. We show that changes in vertical specialisation accounted for almost half of the great trade collapse, while the previous literature on gross trade has mainly focused on final expenditure, inventory adjustment and adverse credit supply conditions. The decline in international production sharing during the crisis may partially account for the observed decrease in global trade elasticities in recent years. Second, we find that the drop in the overall level of demand accounted for roughly a quarter of the decline in value added exports while just under one third was due to compositional changes in final demand. Finally, we demonstrate that the dichotomy between services and manufacturing sectors observed in gross exports during the great trade collapse is not apparent in value added trade data. |
| Keywords: | Great trade collapse,Vertical specialisation,Trade in value added,Input-output tables,Structural decomposition analysis |
| JEL: | F1 F2 C67 R15 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdps:472015&r=hme |
| By: | Alexander Stimpfle; David Stadelmann |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of female age at marriage on female education and educational gender inequality. We provide empirical evidence that early female marriage age significantly decreases female education with panel data from 1980 to 2010. Socio-cultural customs serve as an exogenous identification for female age at marriage. We also show that effects of spousal age gaps between men and women significantly affect female education relative to male education. Each additional year between husband and wife reduces the female secondary schooling completion rate by 14 percentage points, the time women spend at university by 6 weeks, and overall affects female education significantly more negatively than male education. We also document that marriage age and conventional measures of gender discrimination do not act as substitutes. |
| Keywords: | Marriage age; spousal age gap; female education; gender inequality |
| JEL: | J12 J16 I24 O47 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2016-02&r=hme |
| By: | Carolina Laureti; Ariane Szafarz |
| Abstract: | Using data from Bangladesh, this paper finds that the liquidity premium—the difference between the interest paid on illiquid and liquid savings accounts—is higher in commercial banks than in microfinance institutions. One possible interpretation lies in the higher prevalence of time-inconsistency among the poor. The observed difference in liquidity premia could be due to poor time-inconsistent agents willing to forgo interest on illiquid savings accounts in order to discipline their future selves. |
| Keywords: | liquidity premium; present-bias; banks; microfinance; Bangladesh |
| JEL: | G21 D14 O16 |
| Date: | 2016–02–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/226270&r=hme |
| By: | Kurrild-Klitgaard, Peter |
| Abstract: | The article is a contribution to the 50th jubilee anniversary "festschrift" of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen. It surveys the development of the field of political theory/comparative politics (incl. political economy) in the period 1965-2015. |
| Keywords: | history of thought; political science; comparative politics; political economy |
| JEL: | B0 B2 B3 B5 H1 H4 H5 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68813&r=hme |
| By: | Julián VILLAMIL S; Gustavo HERNANDEZ |
| Abstract: | Conocer de manera profunda las relaciones de interdependencia de la estructura económica es de gran importancia en el ejercicio de diseño de políticas económicas. Este trabajo usa el modelo insumo-producto para el análisis de impacto. Se aplican dos enfoques no usados tradicionalmente para la economía colombiana: análisis de descomposición espectral (Dietzenbacher, 1992) e identificación de clústeres (Garbellini & Wirkierman, 2014). El resultado es la construcción de indicadores de encadenamientos sin sesgo de sobrestimación o subestimación; y la identificación de clústeres de manera endógena. Adicionalmente se derivan los flujos de trabajo involucrado que se propagan a través de la red productiva. Cada uno de estos flujos se descompone en indicadores que permiten caracterizar los clústeres de acuerdo a: su cercanía con la demanda final, a su grado de cohesión con la red y a su importancia para el resto del sistema. |
| Keywords: | Clústeres, Insumo Producto, Encadenamientos, Descomposición Espectral. |
| JEL: | C38 C67 E01 Y B51 |
| Date: | 2015–03–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000118:012647&r=hme |
| By: | Michiaki Obata (Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this thesis is to specify the feature of the basic theory of Marxian economics and to show clearly the difference with the microeconomics and macroeconomics. Minimum agreements between Marxian are I. The market where money exist, II. the objective theory of value, III. the theory of surplus and IV. the labor market in which unemployed laborer exists. Item II and item III, which are basically common between Marxian and the classic school of economics represented by David Ricardo, distinguishes them from micro and macroeconomics. Both item I and item IV, which stem from the idea of commodity value, show the difference between Marxian and the classical school. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tky:jseres:2015cj273&r=hme |
| By: | Lawrence Broz |
| Abstract: | Passage of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, in conjunction with a Supreme Court ruling supporting a Freedom of Information Act request, required the Federal Reserve (Fed) to disclose bank-specific information about its emergency lending during the financial crisis. The disclosures revealed the extent to which the Fed had served as a global lender of last resort, providing dollar liquidity to foreign banks and foreign central banks. I exploit these unanticipated disclosures on two levels. First, I use the disclosed information to evaluate the motivations behind the Fed's global lending during the crisis. My findings indicate that the Fed supported foreign banks in countries in which U.S. money center banks had high loan exposures, which suggests that the Fed served the interests of major U.S. banks. Second, I explore the congressional response to the revelation of the Fed's massive global lending. I analyze an "Audit the Fed" vote in the House of Representatives that would end the Fed's confidentiality about the banks and countries it supports and reduce its monetary policy independence. I find the influence of U.S. money center banks also extends to Congress by way of campaign contributions: contributions from these banks significantly reduce the likelihood that a representative will vote in favor of the bill. In addition, I find that right-wing representatives were substantially more likely than their left-wing peers to support the bill, which suggests that new congressional coalitions are forming on the role of the Fed in the (global) economy. |
| Keywords: | Sovereign Default; Debt Crises; Political Survival; Networks; Voter Behavior. |
| JEL: | R21 |
| Date: | 2015–01–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:60951&r=hme |
| By: | Alexandre Rambaud (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - Université Paris IX - Paris Dauphine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | In this presentation, we firstly give a critical analysis of Natural Capital (NC), in order to clarify the differences between its economic and ecological approaches. Secondly, we connect this debate with the concept of capital in accounting. We argue that accounting theory provides a relevant framework to structure the debate on NC and to implement its ecological conceptualisation. Thus, in the first part, we question the notion of “capital” itself and assert that “capital” is not prima facie money or a mean of production but is a type of power (Nitzan & Bichler, 2009). Indeed, this concept is consubstantial of Modernity, characterized by the Subject/Object dichotomy (Latour, 2004), and of capitalism – a particular modality of the Modern cosmology –, defined as a societal institution based on the unlimited expansion of the rational mastery of Subjects over Objects (Castoriadis, 1998): Capital is the operationalization of this rational mastery. Therefore, by definition, NC is not another type of capital: NC is the natural part of Capital, i.e. the recognition that the Capital partially stems from environmental Objects and so that, these Objects, in the same time, are means under the control of Subjects and contribute to the growth of the power and welfare of these last ones. Now, in economics, Capital has two fundamental forms that we will detail: the fundist one and the materialist one (Hicks, 1974). Their application to NC can clarify the concepts of weak and strong sustainability: in particular, strong sustainability is a specific materialist conceptualisation of NC and so remains based on a capitalist approach. In these conditions, the utilization of the notion of NC by ecologists gives raise to confusion, because it does not rely on capitalism. Ecological NC (ENC) is not “welfare-based” but “stuff-based” (Norton, 2005), i.e. ENC is really another type of capital, whose role is to focus on the preservation of environmental entities. So we will explain what a capital is in this context. In the second part, we firstly claim that double-entry bookkeeping accounting is relevant to reformulate the different viewpoints about NC. Indeed, for capitalism, firms are automated tools which manage some assets in order to develop the Capital of shareholders, the “real” Subjects. Thus, at the corporate level, the economic notion of Capital is not a liability, whose specific conservation implies accountability issues, but is an asset. Therefore the capitalist NC is also an asset, a mere mean. Now, for traditional accounting, capital is a liability. The standard accounting capital is money: its maintenance is the cornerstone of accounting and led to the creation of powerful instruments, like the planned depreciation. So we argue that ENC must also be seen as a liability: therefore, at the corporate level, the difference between a capitalist and an ecological NC relies on the difference between assets and liabilities. In these conditions, we finally suggest that the development of an ecological conceptualisation of NC naturally rests on the extension of the traditional accounting maintenance instruments to this new capital (cf. (Rambaud & Richard, 2013). References Castoriadis, C. (1998). The Imaginary Institution of Society. (K. Blamey, Trans.) (p. 426). MIT Press. Hicks, J. R. (1974). Capital Controversies: Ancient and Modern. American Economic Review, 64(2), 307–316. Latour, B. (2004). Politics of Nature: How to Bring the Sciences into Democracy (p. 307). Harvard University Press. Nitzan, J., & Bichler, S. (2009). Capital as Power. A Study of Order and Creorder (p. 463). Routledge. Norton, B. G. (2005). Sustainability (p. 607). The University of Chicago Press. Rambaud, A., & Richard, J. (2013). The Triple Depreciation Line ( TDL ) against the Triple Bottom Line ( TBL ): Towards a genuine integrated reporting (p. 40). |
| Keywords: | Balance sheet,Capitalism,Environmental accounting,Natural capital,Asset,Capital,Strong sustainability,Weak sustainability |
| Date: | 2015–07–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01260060&r=hme |
| By: | Jaelani, Aan |
| Abstract: | The role of women had marginalized in the political space, economic, and social. Women to be helpless due to religious authority and repressive social structures. Women tend to accept the injustice in his position as part of the community. The integration of feminist theory and the theory of social work theory form a radical feminism that is used as a political analysis of gender inequalities in the global economy. The tendency of women to the option-radical fundamentalist ideology can be caused by poverty and lack of financial factors. |
| Keywords: | feminism, radical fundamentalism, social work theory, global economic policy |
| JEL: | J16 J7 J71 J82 J83 K33 K36 |
| Date: | 2011–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:69527&r=hme |
| By: | Simon Cornée (Université de Rennes 1, CREM CNRS, and CERMi, France); Panu Kalmi (University of Vaasa); Ariane Szafarz (Université Libre de Bruxelles, SBS-EM, CEB, and CERMi) |
| Abstract: | How do social banks signal their social commitment to motivated funders? This paper hypothesizes that two main channels are used, namely selectivity and transparency. We test these predictions using a rich dataset comprising balance-sheet information on 5,000 European banks over the 1998-2013 period. The results suggest that social screening leads social banks to higher project selectivity compared with mainstream banks. Social banks also tend to be more transparent than other banks. However, combining selectivity and transparency can result in excess liquidity. Overall, the empirical findings not only confirm our theoretical hypotheses, but also raise challenging issues on the management of social banks. |
| Keywords: | Social banks, Social enterprises, Social mission, European banks |
| JEL: | G21 L33 M14 L31 D63 D82 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cremwp:2016-03&r=hme |
| By: | Candido Roman-Cervantes (University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to show an overview of the Spanish agricultural cooperatives. It responds to the reasons why the agricultural associations were not consolidated enough in the early stages of development, and especially what contributed to their weakness. State action, determined for over half a century the rules of corporate governance. This was a heavy burden for its modernization and adaptation to the rules of international markets. Spanish historiography seems to be in agreement with the three cycles. The appearance of the first associative experiences during the last third of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries marks the first phase of the process. Although they were influenced by the strained political environment, being considered as a sort of radical labor niche, they proliferated strongly in the Mediterranean and North regions where small and middle-sized farms were relatively important. This lead to the consolidation of cooperatives and in some ways, to the transformation of the agricultural sector. The second phase started after the Civil War. Cooperatives entered a period of decline and inactivity in spite of government support through tax reductions and other actions aimed at monitoring the agricultural cooperatives. Finally, it was during the last third of the twentieth century until now, that the cooperative model became rather more active in the modernization of agriculture with cooperatives. As well as that, the globalization of enterprises was also accomplished. For that, there started a tendency of mergers towards second tier cooperatives that were larger and had an international dimension. |
| Keywords: | agricultural cooperatives, regulation, modernization, evolution. |
| JEL: | N5 N4 Q1 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahe:dtaehe:1509&r=hme |
| By: | Foroogh Nazari Chamaki (Department of Banking and Finance, Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus); Glenn P. Jenkins (Queen’s University, Canada and Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus) |
| Abstract: | Traditional approaches to public policy increasingly fail to resolve social challenges, particularly in the field of criminal justice. High rates of juvenile recidivism, for example, are often linked to inequality in education and persistent, long-term unemployment—factors which, while complex, are nonetheless conducive to preventative strategies. Social impact bonds (SIBs) are ‘pay-for-success’ programs that attract private-sector, upfront funding for social interventions. If the program achieves agreed targets, taxpayer funds repay the investor. If the program fails to meet agreed targets, investors take the loss. This innovative form social finance through public-private partnership (PPP) has helped spur efficiencies and improvements in the provision and outcomes of criminal justice services. However, the success of a SIB depends on careful implementation, evaluation and monitoring. |
| Keywords: | Pay-for-success, social service, social impact bond (SIB), public-private partnership (PPP), social finance, service provider. |
| JEL: | H53 A13 L33 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:dpaper:286&r=hme |
| By: | Marin, Ancuta; Turek Rahoveanu, Petruta |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the evolution of the modern agrarian associations and cooperatives in Romania. Right now, our country is far behind the west-european countries regarding the development of the associative sector in the agricultural domain, from the diversity point of view and also from the presence on the market. One of the biggest problems of the small farmers from Romania represents selling the production, the traditional markets are being suffocated many times by agents. The agrarian sector is confrunting with problems marked mainly by the poor organization of the farmers regarding the production marketing and a slow structuring of their commercial behavior. The biggest problem of the agrarian cooperatives in Romania is the access to funding. This is due to the business related problems and their specific legal form. In Romania a law for crediting cooperatives doesn’t exist, they are not found in the bank nomenclature and they are treated like any LLC. Also, there is an accute need for founding a high level training program intended for the agrarian cooperatives and associations leaders. The purpose is to present a current state synthesis in order to have a real image of their situation. The main object of this study is to make an assessment of the agrarian cooperatives’s situation in Romania with the purpose of offering solutions and recommendations, by setting the development directions in order to become compatible with the European systems of agrarian cooperatives. |
| Keywords: | Association forms, agrarian cooperatives,agrarian associations, producer groups. |
| JEL: | Q13 |
| Date: | 2015–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:69476&r=hme |