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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2016‒10‒02
thirteen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Daniyal Khan (Department of Economics, Seeta Majeed School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Beaconhouse National University) |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that given certain self-definitions and key defining features of economic sociology, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money can be read and interpreted as a text in economic sociology. Around this core argument, a case is built for a more open interaction and mutual appreciation between economic sociology and heterodox approaches to economics. The paper suggests how broader interpretations of classics of social science (such as the General Theory) may help us better appreciate the shared intellectual lineages and legacies of economics and sociology. It concludes with reflections on the historical development of the relationship between economics and sociology, and some speculation about their future. |
| Keywords: | John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory, economic sociology, heterodox economics, capitalism |
| JEL: | B31 B50 P10 Z13 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:new:wpaper:1605&r=hme |
| By: | Alnoor Bhimani; Hanna Silvola; Prabhu Sivabalan |
| Abstract: | Neo-institutional logics for the early adoption of innovations are often argued as more authentic than for late adopters. To what extent might this be so in relation to corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR)? We specifically focus on neo-institutionalist perspectives with an emphasis on isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983) to illustrate alternative motivations, and verify our hypotheses using a mixed methods approach (survey data and field evidence from five organizations). We find that the rationale for early reporters entails a financial pragmatism that is absent in current debates surrounding corporate social responsibility (CSR). We also show that normative and coercive isomorphism interplay among early adopters to drive their adoption decision over time, and these facilitate the generation of different strategic postures to placate key external stakeholders. This contrasts with prior studies that have mainly argued for mimetic and normative isomorphism to dominate the decision to implement CSRR amongst adopters. Finally, we argue that late reporters choose not to engage earlier as (ironically) their strategic proximity to the phenomena being reported is intrinsically close, meaning most internal and external stakeholders assume the proper functioning of the phenomena being reported, and therefore do not demand it. This rationale for mimetic isomorphism is unique and its narrative more positive than that normally ascribed to it in the prior literature. Firms are subsequently less inclined to opportunistically validate or signal their sustainability ethos using formal reporting systems, and only do so superficially to engage in practices |
| JEL: | J50 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:65762&r=hme |
| By: | Clark, William C. (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper I sketch key episodes in the two thousand year history of interactions between society and environment that have shaped the City of London and its hinterlands. My purpose in writing it has been to provide an empirical puzzle for use in teaching and theorizing about the long term coevolution of social-environmental systems and the potential role of policy interventions in guiding that coevolution toward sustainability. I undertook it because while a lively body of theory has begun to emerge seeking to explain such coevolution, rich descriptive characterizations of how specific social-environmental systems have in fact changed over the long time periods (multi-decade to multi-century) relevant to sustainable development remain relatively rare. One result is that the field of sustainability science lacks a sufficient number of the rich empirical puzzles that any field of science needs to challenge its theorizing, modeling and predictions. This paper reflects the beginning of an effort to provide one such characterization on a topic central to sustainability: The long term development of cities and their hinterlands. |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:15-047&r=hme |
| By: | Reurink, Arjan |
| Abstract: | Despite the ubiquity of illegality in today's financial markets, systematic scrutiny of the phenomenon of financial crime is lacking in the fields of economic sociology and political economy. One field of research in which the illegal behaviors of business elites have long taken center stage is that of white-collar crime research. This paper makes available to economic sociologists and political economists an overview of the most important conceptual insights that have been produced in the white-collar crime literature. In doing so, its aim is to provide economic sociologists and political economists with a conceptual foundation for future research on financial crime. The paper first traces the evolution of the white-collar crime concept. Subsequently, it investigates how white-collar crime scholars have conceptualized the way in which the empirical profile of white-collar crimes has evolved over the past decades and especially how the locus of such crimes has shifted away from industrial corporations to the financial services industry. It is argued that a fruitful avenue for future research on financial crime in economic sociology and political economy consists in studying in more detail the interactions between the changing character of white-collar crime and the broader capitalist dynamics associated with processes of financialization. |
| Abstract: | Trotz der Allgegenwart illegaler Handlungen auf den heutigen Finanzmärkten fehlt es der Wirtschaftssoziologie und der Politischen Ökonomie an Ansätzen, das Phänomen Finanzkriminalität systematisch zu untersuchen. Ein Bereich, in dem illegale Verhaltensweisen von Wirtschaftseliten schon lange im Mittelpunkt stehen, ist die Forschung zur Wirtschaftskriminalität. Das Papier bietet einen Überblick über die maßgeblichen Erkenntnisse in der wirtschaftskriminologischen Literatur und will eine konzeptuelle Basis für die künftige Erforschung von Finanzkriminalität in der Wirtschaftssoziologie und Politischen Ökonomie zur Verfügung stellen. Nach einer Darlegung des Konzepts der White-Collar-Kriminalität wird analysiert, wie der empirisch beobachtbare Wandel der vergangenen Jahrzehnte in der wirtschaftskriminologischen Forschung konzeptualisiert worden ist. Dabei wird insbesondere darauf eingegangen, dass sich die Tatorte der White-Collar-Kriminalität inzwischen von Industriekonzernen auf Unternehmen aus der Finanzdienstleistungsbranche verlagert haben. Ein Erfolg versprechender Weg für die künftige Forschung zur Finanzkriminalität liegt daher in einer detaillierteren Betrachtung des Wechselspiels, das sich zwischen den sich ändernden Charakteristika der White-Collar-Kriminalität und den weitreichenderen kapitalistischen Dynamiken vollzieht, die mit den Prozessen der Finanzialisierung verbunden sind. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:mpifgd:1610&r=hme |
| By: | Agbahey, Johanes U. I.; Siddig, Khalid; Grethe, Harald |
| Abstract: | A detailed Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for the West Bank is developed for the year 2011. The data used to build the SAM are obtained from various official sources in Palestine, mainly the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Major data sets include the Palestinian national accounts, the supply and use table, the balance of payments, the labour force survey data, the expenditure and consumption survey data, the economic survey report, the living standards report and the demographics report. The SAM provides data on 49 activities, 83 commodities, 110 households, 59 production factors and 58 tax accounts. Driven by the specificity of the West Bank economy, this SAM has several features including the classification of the households and labour accounts according to the workplace (West Bank, Israel and rest of the world), which in turn considers associating each household and each labour category with their eligibility to work in Israel. In addition to dividing the labour force into eligible and not eligible to work in Israel, the SAM also considers various eligibility levels. Other features of the SAM include the separation of transactions with Israel from those with the rest of the world as well as the separation of taxes collected domestically from those collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian National Authority. Furthermore, this SAM takes proper account of the compensation of labour for the self-employed and of household income from unincorporated capital. It also includes an account for non-profit organisations serving households and a Zakat account, which is introduced for the first time in SAM literature. |
| Keywords: | Social Accounting Matrix, agriculture, labour, trade, Palestine, Demand and Price Analysis, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Labor and Human Capital, Production Economics, E16, |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:huiawp:245157&r=hme |
| By: | Bruno Carballa Smichowski (CEPN - Centre d'Economie de l'Université Paris Nord - Université Paris 13 - USPC - Université Sorbonne Paris Cité - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Cédric Durand (CEPN - Centre d'Economie de l'Université Paris Nord - Université Paris 13 - USPC - Université Sorbonne Paris Cité - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Steven Knauss (CEPN - Centre d'Economie de l'Université Paris Nord - Université Paris 13 - USPC - Université Sorbonne Paris Cité - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This paper has three interconnected aims: proposing a novel and rigorous definition of a global value chain (GVC) that more easily permits the delineation of its frontiers; creating new indicators of GVC participation and value capture that can overcome the limitations of the existing ones; and offering empirical evidence demonstrating that participation in global value chains is part of an uneven development process that produces a variety of distinct integration patterns that differ with respect to economic and social outcomes. The paper is structured as follows. Section 1 offers a definition of GVCs that conceives the latter as a specific form of the division of labor and therefore facilitates the delineation of the frontiers of a GVC. Building on this definition, Section 2 proposes new indicators to measure GVC participation and value capture. Section 3 provides empirical evidence to argue that, contrary to what mainstream economics and international organizations state, larger participation in GVCs does not necessarily lead to higher levels of value capture. Section 4 offers some theoretical justifications to interpret these findings and adds other measures such as the level of productive investment and dimensions of social outcomes in order to better understand differentiated development patterns in GVCs. Sections 5, 6 and 7 empirically show the heterogeneity of development patterns in GVCs for 51 countries between 1995 and 2008. Using country-level data on GVC participation, value capture, investment rates and social indicators (Gini coefficient, labor’s share of income, median income and employment rate), we perform a principal component analysis and a cluster analysis. We find three distinct development patterns in GVCs: reproduction of the core, immiserizing growth, and a social upgrading mirage. We conclude by underlying the apparent complementarity between these development patterns and by identifying some limitations of the paper that open the way to further research. |
| Abstract: | Cet article a trois objectif interconnectés : proposer une définition originale et rigoureuse d’une chaîne globale de valeur (CGV) qui permette de délimiter ses frontières plus facilement ; créer de nouveaux indicateurs de participation aux CGV et de capture de valeur qui puissent surmonter les limites de ceux qui existent actuellement ; et offrir des preuves empiriques qui montrent que la participation aux chaînes globales de valeur est un processus qui produit une variété de formes d’intégration qui différent en termes de résultats économiques et sociaux. L’article est organisé comme suit. La Section I offre une définition des CGV qui les conçoit comme une forme spécifique de la division du travail et facilite ainsi la démarcation des frontières d’une CGV. En s’appuyant sur cette définition, la Section II propose de nouveaux indicateurs pour mesurer la participation aux CGV et la capture de valeur. La Section 3 apporte des preuves empiriques pour argumenter que, contrairement à ce que l’économie orthodoxe et les organisations internationales soutiennent, une plus grande participation aux CGV ne conduit pas nécessairement à des niveaux de capture de valeur plus élevés. La Section 4 offre quelques justifications théoriques pour interpréter ces résultats et ajoute d’autres mesures telles que le niveau d’investissement productif et des indicateurs sociaux dans l’objectif de mieux comprendre les modèles de développement différentiés dans les CGV. Les Sections 5, 6 et 7 montrent empiriquement l’hétérogénéité des modèles de développement dans les CGV pour 51 pays entre 1995 et 2008. En utilisant des données de niveau national sur la participation aux CGV, la capture de valeur, le taux d’investissement et des indicateurs sociaux (coefficient de Gini, part des salaires dans le revenu, revenu médian et taux d’activité) nous réalisons une analyse en composantes principales et une analyse de cluster. Nous trouvons trois modèles de développement différentiés dans les CGV : reproduction du noyau, croissance appauvrissante et mirage de progrès social. Nous concluons en soulignant l’apparente complémentarité entre ces modèles de développement et en identifiant quelques limites de l’article qui ouvrent la voie à de la recherche future. |
| Keywords: | Global value chains,Value capture,Development Economics |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cepnwp:hal-01368948&r=hme |
| By: | Ceren Gündoğdu (Republic of Turkey Ministry of Economy 06530 Ankara, Turkey); Dürdane Şirin Saracoğlu (Department of Economics, METU) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the trends in Turkey’s participation in Global Value Chains (GVCs), particularly through backward integration (i.e. vertical specialization-VS or the foreign content of value added in exports) between 1995 and 2011 utilizing the World Input Output Database (WIOD), and this is the first attempt to adopt WIOD for analyzing VS in Turkish exports at sectoral and trade partner dimensions. The findings show that Turkey’s VS has increased between 1995 and 2011. Considering the sectoral trends in manufacturing with respect to technological classification, especially in the 2000’s, Turkey’s VS share in mid-high and high-tech sectors has increased faster than that in mid-low as well as low tech sectors. At individual partner level, Germany, China, Italy and France play important roles in VS of Turkish exports. Although Germany sustained the largest contribution to Turkey’s VS up to 2010, in 2010 China became the top contributing country; however this contribution is chiefly in a low-tech industry such as textiles, thus is not necessarily conducive to Turkey’s upgrading her position in GVCs. In that respect, integration into the GVCs through technology-intensive sectors via the technology imported from developed countries might better help improve Turkey’s position in the world markets. |
| Keywords: | Global Value Chains; Backward participation; Vertical Specialization; WIOD; Turkey |
| JEL: | F10 F13 F60 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:met:wpaper:1610&r=hme |
| By: | Nicolas Aubert (CERGAM - Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix-Marseille - Université Paul Cézanne - Aix-Marseille 3 - AMU - Aix-Marseille Université) |
| Abstract: | Pour l " économisteFrançois Perroux, la contrainte, l " échange et le don sont les trois motifs des actes économiques.Son originalité est d " analyser la participationà la lumière du dernier motif. Il conçoit la participation comme un don à l " oeuvre commune et adopte une vision de la participation ne se limitant pas au seul partage des bénéfices. Sa critique de l " échange libéral et de la contrainte marxiste traduit les angoisses de son temps mais les formes contemporaines de l " échange et de la contrainte rendent actuelles ses analyses. Rapprocher don et participation trouve sa cohérence dans des travaux qui se focalisent sur la participation financière des salariés. Les travaux empiriques les plus récents montrent en effet la pertinence des théories du don et de la réciprocité pour comprendre la participation des salariés. |
| Keywords: | Participation des salariés, participation financière des salariés, participation des salariés à la gestion, don, échange, contrainte |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01299098&r=hme |
| By: | Carlo Vercellone (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | E' possibile usare il capitale contro il capitale stesso? Per tentare di rispondere a questa domanda, il mio intervento si articolerà in due parti. La prima riguarderà unarapida rassegna di alcune proposte che sono state sviluppate al fine di opporsi al potere della finanza capitalistica e/o di cercare di domesticarla per metterla, in un certo senso, al servizio di una logica alternativa. La seconda parte insisterà sulla necessità di articolare questa riflessione alla questione centrale della tematica di una moneta del comune, e questo secondo un approccio di cui uno dei corollari fondamentali è l’instaurazione di un reddito sociale garantito (social basic income) indipendente dl lavoro salariato. |
| Keywords: | Moneta,finanza,Tobin Taxe,Fondi d'investimento alternativi |
| Date: | 2015–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01304158&r=hme |
| By: | Virgile Chassagnon (CREG - Centre de recherche en économie de Grenoble - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2) |
| Abstract: | Cet essai vise à comprendre comment l’entreprise en tant qu’entité économique, sociale et politique peut contribuer à l’émergence d’un nouveau capitalisme, d’un capitalisme plus juste et plus respectueux de nos contraintes humaines. Pour honorer cette ambition, l’argumentation se développe en quatre temps. Tout d’abord, une analyse des maux actuels de notre société est proposée à l’aune des grands enjeux contemporains. Est ensuite questionnée la nature du capitalisme afin de circonscrire son pouvoir de résilience et ses capacités de transformation. Un détour par la pensée humaniste progressiste du siècle dernier est alors suggéré afin de mieux réinterroger les fondements d’un capitalisme raisonnable et juste. Puis l’argumentation se fige sur le coeur de l’essai : le rôle de l’entreprise comme "bien commun" dans la création d’un agir démocratique qui servirait le vivre-ensemble de la Cité. L’essai se termine par l’énoncé argumenté de recommandations et de pistes de progrès institutionnels. |
| Keywords: | bien commun , entreprise , démocratisation , système capitaliste , économie politique , société |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01346445&r=hme |
| By: | Hiroshi Nishi |
| Abstract: | This study presents an empirical analysis to detect Minsky’s financial fragility and its determinants in the non- financial sectors in Japan, with particular attention paid to differences between sectors and sizes. While Minsky developed theoretical analyses of financial fragility for use in economic growth models, its empirical application is limited. Based on the financial fragility indices derived from a cash flow accounting framework and Minsky’s margins of safety, I detect the overall configuration and evolution of financial fragility (hedge, speculative, and Ponzi) in Japan. Then, the factors that determine the probability of being Ponzi finance are detected by using panel logistic regression. In doing so, this study reveals that although speculative finance is dominant in many sectors, the evolution of financial fragility is diversified and its determinants differ according to sector and size in Japan. |
| Keywords: | Minsky, Financial fragility, Margin of safety, Japanese economy |
| JEL: | E12 C25 N15 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kue:epaper:e-16-007&r=hme |
| By: | Giuseppe Mastromatteo; Giuseppe Mastromatteo |
| Abstract: | The global financial crisis shattered the conventional wisdom about how financial markets work and how to regulate them. Authorities intervened to stop the panic -- short-term pragmatism that spoke volumes about the robustness of mainstream economics. However, their very success in taming the collapse reduced efforts to radically change the "big bank" business model and lessened the possibility of serious banking reform -- meaning that a strong and possibly even bigger financial crisis is inevitable in the future. We think an overall alternative is needed and at hand: Minsky's theories on investment, financial stability, the growing weight of the financial sector, and the role of the state. Building on this legacy, it is possible to analyze which aspects of the post-2008 reforms actually work. In this respect, we argue that the only effective solution is to impose a global cap on the absolute size of banks. |
| Keywords: | Banking Regulation; Financial Stability; Minsky; Basel 3 |
| JEL: | E12 G01 G28 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_875&r=hme |
| By: | Giacomo Degli Antoni (University of Parma, Department of Law); Marco Faillo (University of Trento); Lorenzo Sacconi (University of Trento); Pedro Francés-Gomez (University of Granada) |
| Abstract: | Drawing on the theoretical and experimental literature on distributive justice, we put some assumptions of the contractarian argument to an empirical test by means of an experiment which investigates the influence that explicit agreement under the veil of ignorance may have on individuals' conception of justice and its implementation in a context of the production and distribution of a common output. One crucial characteristic of our experiment is that subjects are assigned unequal endowments for which they are not responsible; the assignment is random. At the same time, their work naturally generates unequal levels of earnings. Do the subjects involved in this interaction distinguish between the two types of inequality? Do they try to reduce the arbitrary one, while accepting the one generated through effort? Do they elaborate other distributive criteria? Does their choice ex-ante, when they are behind the veil, differ from their choice ex-post once the veil has been lifted and they know the outcome of the production phase? The main result is that the agreement under a veil of ignorance induces subjects to accept a liberal egalitarian division rule not only in the ex-ante agreement, but also in the actual implementation of the pie division, even if this contradicts their self-interest and some common economic assumptions about reciprocal expectations of rationality. In addition, our results show that deliberating through open discussion increases the level of ex-post compliance. |
| Keywords: | Trust; Distributive justice, social contract, fairness, dictator game, contractarian business ethics |
| JEL: | C72 C91 D02 D63 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ent:wpaper:wp60&r=hme |