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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2017‒01‒08
twenty-one papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Sergio Cesaratto |
| Abstract: | The paper reviews the main elements of Modern Classical Theory in view of the analysis of contemporary societies and in particular: the recovery of the Classical and Marxist “surplus approach” as a solid foundation for the analysis of social conflict; a demand-led theory of the level and growth of output based on the rejection of Say’s Law and the recovery of the notion of “external markets” put forward by Rosa Luxembourg and Kalecki, as the framework for the investigation of growth and crises in different historical phases of capitalism; the dismantling of the analytical core of Marginalism and of its laissez-faire policy prescriptions; and finally, the rejection of methodological individualism and of subjectivism in economic analysis and the preservation of the analytical methods of the Classical economists and Marx. In this regard, the paper underlines some differences with other heterodox schools, but also convergence with endogenous money theory and with systemic views of technical change. |
| Keywords: | Classical economists, Sraffa, Kalecki, Keynes, Surplus approach, heterodox economics |
| JEL: | B12 B24 B51 E11 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:735&r=hme |
| By: | Gräbner, Claudius |
| Abstract: | Analyzing economic systems from an evolutionary-institutional or a complexity perspective are two complementary approaches to economic inquiry. Three arguments in favor of this hypothesis are discussed: (i) eminent institutional economists have considered the economy as what today could be considered a complex system; (ii) complexity economists lack meta-theoretical foundations which could be provided by institutionalist theory; (iii) institutional economists could benefit from using methods of complexity economics. In this context I argue that scholars considering the economy to be complex should seek to explain it by discovering social mechanisms instead of focusing on prediction. For the discrimination between alternative explanations, scholars should refer to the deepness of an explanation, rather than to Occam’s razor. |
| Keywords: | Evolutionary-Institutional economics, Philosophy of science, Systemism, Agent-Based Computational Economics, Complexity Economics |
| JEL: | B25 B41 B52 |
| Date: | 2016–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:75636&r=hme |
| By: | Tanya Ara\'ujo; Rui Faustino |
| Abstract: | In last years, the Portuguese economy has gone through a severe adjustment process, affecting almost all industrial sectors, the building blocks of economic structures. Research on economic structural changes has made use of input/output tables to define networks of industrial relations. Here, these networks are induced from output tables of the Portuguese national accounting system, being each inter-industry relation defined by the output made by any two industries for the products that they both produce. The topological analysis of these networks allows to uncover a particular structure that comes out during the Portuguese adjustment program. The evolution of the industrial networks shows an important structural change in 2011-2014, confirming the usefulness of inducting similarity networks from output tables and the consequent promising power of the graph formulation for the analysis of inter-industry relations. |
| Date: | 2016–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1612.06291&r=hme |
| By: | Heinrich, Torsten |
| Abstract: | Some models in evolutionary economics rely on direct analogies to genetic evolution: Assuming a population of firms with routines, technologies and strategies on which forces of diversity generation and selection act. This narrow conception can build upon previous findings from evolutionary biology. Broader concepts of evolution allow either many or just one adaptive entity instead of necessarily requiring a population. Thus, an institution or a society can also be understood as the evolutionary entity. Both the narrow and the broad approach have been extensively used in the literature, albeit in different literature traditions. The paper gives an overview over the conception and the development of both approaches to evolutionary modeling and argues that a generalization is needed to realize the full potential of evolutionary modeling. |
| Keywords: | evolutionary economics; pattern evolution; dissipative structures; stability |
| JEL: | B25 B52 O33 |
| Date: | 2016–12–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:75797&r=hme |
| By: | Zavelberg, Yvonne; Storm, Hugo |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses differences in the pricing behaviour between cooperatives and investor-owned dairies for raw milk in a spatial market setting. We systemize the theoretical literature concerning the relations between price and space in oligopsonistic markets. This provides the foundation for empirically analysing the price-space relationship in the German raw milk market. Space represents the distance to competing dairies and transportation cost. We differentiate between cooperatives and investor-owned dairies in North and South Germany. Specifically, the impact of a dairy’s own legal form and that of neighbouring competitors on the pricing behaviour is assessed. For the South of Germany, a negative relationship between space and raw milk price is found while for the North the relationship is positive. In both North and South the effect is stronger for cooperatives compared to investor-owned firms. Overall, our findings do not necessarily suggest an increase in market power and a decrease in raw milk prices when the concentration process of the dairy sector is progressing. Further, this paper provides the first spatial analysis of the competitive yardstick effect, for which we find weak evidence in the South. For the north, the theory of the competitive yardstick effect cannot be supported empirically. The estimation is based on a panel-data set covering all German dairies from 2001 to 2012 providing information on raw milk prices, processing quantities, legal and production form. |
| Keywords: | imperfect competition, spatial competition, competitive yardstick, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, D43, R32, C51, |
| Date: | 2016–12–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubfred:250230&r=hme |
| By: | Glötzl, Florentin; Aigner, Ernest |
| Abstract: | Pluralism has become a central issue not only in the public discourse but also in heterodox economics, as the focus on impact factors and rankings based on citations continues to increase. This marketization of science has been an institutional vehicle for the economic mainstream to promote its ideas. Citations thus have become a central currency in economics as a discipline. At the same time they allow to investigate patterns in the discourse. Analyzing articles published by the two major economics departments and the more interdisciplinary Department for Socioeconomics in Vienna, this paper is novel in applying both bibliometric techniques and citation network analysis on the department level. We find that (1) Articles in heterodox journals strongly reference the economic mainstream, while the mainstream does not cite heterodox journals, (2) Articles written by researchers of the Department of Socioeconomics cite more heterodox journals irrespective of whether they are published in mainstream or heterodox journals, (3) The economics departments display a citation network exhibiting a clear "mainstream core - heterodox periphery" structure, as Dobusch & Kapeller (2012b) suggest the overall discourse in economics to be, while the Department of Socioeconomics could be described as a plural though not pluralistic department with many distinct modules in the network , reflecting various disciplines, topics and schools of thought. (authors' abstract) |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus045:4730&r=hme |
| By: | Gruszka, Katarzyna; Scharbert, Annika Regine; Soder, Michael |
| Abstract: | In the wake of the economic crisis, a number of student organisations and researchers came together to highlight the lack of pluralism and heterodox approaches in economics curricula. The high relevance of the pluralism debate becomes clear once set within the considerations of the implications of a given scientific discourse on reality. This is especially relevant for social sciences, where reality-creating is visible in e.g. the influence of economists on policy making. This study explores the role of instructors in co-constructing the dynamics of the pluralism discourse and debates. An empirical field study is conducted with lecturers in introductory economics courses at the WU Vienna University of Economics and Business where they place themselves within the pluralism discourse via a Q-study. Q is a mixed method typically employed for studying subjectivity inherent to a given, socially contested topic. It begins with a set of statements that undergo a sorting procedure on a relative ranking scale, and finishes with factorrendering. Four voices are identified: Moderate Pluralist, Mainstreamers, Responsible Pluralists, and Applied Pluralists. The implications of the ideas brought by these voices are discussed from the point of view of discursive institutionalism, stressing in particular the role of ideas and discourse in institutional change. On top of what is here referred to as discursive readinesses for changes towards more pluralism, strategies for overcoming the difficulties on the institutional level need to be developed. (authors' abstract) |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus045:4794&r=hme |
| By: | Spash, Clive L.; Gattringer, Clemens |
| Abstract: | Human induced climate change poses a series of ethical challenges to the current political economy, although it has often be regarded by economists as only an ethical issue for those concerned about future generations. The central debate in economics has then concerned the rate at which future costs and benefits should be discounted. Indeed the full range of ethical aspects of climate change are rarely even discussed. Despite recent high profile and lengthy academic papers on the topic the ethical remains at best superficial within climate change economics. Recognising the necessary role of ethical judgment poses a problem for economists who conduct exercises in cost-benefit analysis and deductive climate modelling under the presumption of an objectivity that excludes values. Priority is frequently given to orthodox economic methodology, but that this entails a consequentialist utilitarian philosophy is forgotten while the terms of the debate and understanding is simultaneously restricted. We set out to raise the relevance of a broader range of ethical issues including: intergenerational ethics as the basis for the discount rate, interregional distribution of harm, equity and justice issues concerning the allocation of carbon budgets, incommensurability in the context of compensation, and the relationship of climate ethics to economic growth. We argue that the pervasiveness of strong uncertainty in climate science, incommensurability of values and nonutilitarian ethics are inherent features of the climate policy debate. That mainstream economics is ill-equipped to address these issues relegates it to the category of misplaced concreteness and its policy prescriptions are then highly misleading misrepresentations of what constitutes ethical action. (authors' abstract) |
| Keywords: | Climate change; economics; ethics; carbon budgets; discounting; compensation; harm; intergenerational equity; intragenerational distribution; justice; consequentialism; utilitarianism; incommensurability; risk; uncertainty; cost-benefit analysis; growth economy |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus009:5073&r=hme |
| By: | Wieland, Hanspeter; Giljum, Stefan |
| Abstract: | Politics' demand for informative consumption-based emission assessments based on multi-regional input output (MRIO) databases is steadily increasing. Based on the MRIO database EXIOBASE 3, we exemplify the utility of a range of analytical tools and discus their potential insights for consumption-based policies. The analysis decomposes the overall EU carbon footprint into product groups as well as into emitting regions. Subsequently, we illustrate the potential of applying production layer decomposition (PLD) and structural path analysis (SPA) for the assessment of global supply-chains related to the EU carbon footprint and their structural changes over time. We close with some policy ecommendations on reducing carbon footprint hot spots. |
| Keywords: | Carbon footprint, multi-regional input-output analysis, analytical tools, supply chains, production layer decomposition, structural path analysis |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus045:5310&r=hme |
| By: | Hanappi, Hardy; Scholz-Waeckerle, Manuel |
| Abstract: | In this paper we present the major theoretical and methodological pillars of evolutionary political economy. We proceed in four steps. Aesthetics: In chapter 1 the immediate appeal of evolutionary political economy as a specific scientific activity is described. Content: Chapter 2 explores the object of investigation of evolutionary political economy. Power: The third chapter develops the interplay between politics and economics. Methods: Chapter 4 focusses on the evolution of methods necessary for evolutionary political economy. The conclusion positions the field of evolutionary political economy – as we proposed to establish it in this paper - within the wider area of scientific activity. In particular, demarcation lines towards some fashionable economic schools (institutionalism, behavioural economics, post-Keynesianism, etc.) are indicated. |
| Keywords: | Evolutionary Theory, Political Economy, Methodology of Social Sciences |
| JEL: | B00 B52 C63 |
| Date: | 2015–10–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:75447&r=hme |
| By: | Lance Taylor; Duncan K Foley; Armon Rezai; Luiza Pires; Ozlem Omer; Ellis Scharfenaker (Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA)) |
| Abstract: | This paper makes three contributions to the existing literature on economic growth: first, we provide a demand-driven alternative to the conventional supply side Solow-Swan growth model. The model’s medium run is built around MarxGoodwin cycles of demand and distribution. Second, we introduce wage income of “capitalist” households. The Samuelson-Modigliani steady state “dual” to Pasinetti’s cannot be stable when capitalists have positive wages. Finally, we speak to the discussion triggered by Piketty on the stability of wealth concentration and its relation to the profitability of capital. Our demand-driven model of the long run satisfies Kaldor’s stylized facts (the gold standard of growth theory) and generates sustained economic growth with the capitalists’ share of wealth stabilizing between zero and one. Complications arising from “excess” capital gains and how well the model fits the data are briefly considered. |
| Keywords: | Demand, Growth, Keynes |
| JEL: | B51 E12 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:epa:cepawp:2016-04&r=hme |
| By: | Peter Mihalyi (Department of Macroeconomics, Corvinus University of Budapest and Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences); Iván Szelenyi (Sociology and Political Science, Yale University, USA) |
| Abstract: | The starting point of our research is Piketty (2014) who follows Marx by asserting that rents are merely one of the forms of profits, therefore they do not require separate conceptual analysis and statistical separation. Speaking of the generation of rents (as a distinctly different mechanism from profit maximising business activity), we use a broader notion of rent than it was customary in the past 50 years. We return to the Ricardian tradition and define the institution of rent as payments for goods, services or for work in employment that exceed the competitive price. Our rent concept includes – inter alia - the income of those whose jobs are protected by unions or professional associations, with the same holding for top-managers or celebrities of the entertainment industry. We also show that state-generated oligopolies are not necessarily evil, as they are often justified by other social objectives than equity. To conclude, three main propositions are presented: (i) rents are not anomalies of the advanced market economies, they are indispensable building blocks of it; (ii) rents are not the privilege of large companies and their owners; (iii) rents, rather than profits are the main driving force of the increase of wealth inequalities since the 1970s |
| Keywords: | inequality, capital, capitalism, profits, rents |
| JEL: | B12 D63 E01 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:1630&r=hme |
| By: | Quentin Perrier (CIRED, Engie); Philippe Quirion (CIRED, CNRS) |
| Abstract: | In the public debate on energy transition in France, employment figures prominently. We calculate, for the French economy in 2010, the employment content and greenhouse gas intensities in different branches, that is to say the number of jobs and tonne-CO2 equivalent per million euro of final demand. For this we use the input-output table at the most disaggregated level available (64 branches). We develop and then apply a unique methodology to decompose the differences in job content between industries in five factors: the rate of imports of final products, the rate of imports of intermediate goods, the rates of taxes and subsidies, the levels of wages and the share of labor compensation in value added. Finally, we study some intersectoral substitutions that would result from an energy transition to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. |
| Keywords: | Emploi, Transition énergétique, Emissions de gaz à effet de serre, Substitutions intersectorielles, Input-output |
| JEL: | E2 Q5 O13 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:ppaper:2016.02&r=hme |
| By: | Rotondo, Sebastián; Calá, Carla Daniela; Llorente, Leandro |
| Abstract: | Existe consenso sobre el rol dela diversificación productiva en promover el cambio estructural, incentivarla realización de actividades más dinámicas o complejas, generar externalidades positivas y disminuir la vulnerabilidad de los territorios. Este trabajo constituye un primer aporte para analizar el grado de diversidad productiva y su evolución en Argentina, a partir de datos de empleo registrado de 85 Áreas Económicas Locales (AEL) entre 1996 y 2015. Los resultados indican que la estructura económica transita desde 1996 un proceso de especialización productiva. Sin embargo, del análisis a nivel de AEL se desprende la existencia de dos procesos de carácter acumulativo: las AEL de menor tamaño e inicialmente muy especializadas se diversifican a lo largo del período; las AEL de mayor tamaño y diversidad inicial tienden a especializarse. |
| Keywords: | Diversificación de la Producción; Estructura Económica; Regiones Económicas; Argentina; |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:2599&r=hme |
| By: | Vahid Moosavi |
| Abstract: | The initial theoretical connections between Leontief input-output models and Markov chains were established back in 1950s. However, considering the wide variety of mathematical properties of Markov chains, there has not been a full investigation of evolving world economic networks with Markov chain formalism. Using the recently available world input-output database, we modeled the evolution of the world economic network from 1995 to 2011 through analysis of a series of finite Markov chains. We assessed different aspects of this evolving system via different properties of the Markov chains such as mixing time, Kemeny constant, steady state probabilities and perturbation analysis of the transition matrices. First, we showed how the time series of mixing times and Kemeny constants could be used as an aggregate index of globalization. Next, we focused on the steady state probabilities as a measure of structural power of the economies that are comparable to GDP shares of economies as the traditional index of economies. Further, we introduced two measures of systemic risk, called systemic influence and systemic fragility, where the former is the ratio of number of influenced nodes to the total number of nodes, caused by a shock in the activity of a node and the latter is based on the number of times a specific economic node is affected by a shock in the activity of any of the other nodes. Finally, focusing on Kemeny constant as a global indicator of monetary flow across the network, we showed that there is a paradoxical effect of a change in activity levels of economic nodes on the overall flow of the network. While the economic slowdown of the majority of nodes with high structural power results to a slower average monetary flow over the network, there are some nodes, where their slowdowns improve the overall quality of the network in terms of connectivity and the average monetary flow. |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1612.06186&r=hme |
| By: | Belmartino, Andrea |
| Abstract: | El objetivo del trabajo es analizar la diversificación productiva regional en Argentina e identificar sus factores asociados en el período 1996-2012. Los resultados indican que las principales jurisdicciones del país (Buenos Aires, CABA, Santa Fe y Córdoba) poseen una estructura productiva más diversificada. Las provincias restantes presentan un menor grado de diversificación pero con una mayor variabilidad durante el período analizado. A través de un panel de datos, se estima un modelo con efectos fijos a nivel provincial. Los resultados indican que el grado de desarrollo, la orientación exportadora y una mayor urbanización promueven la diversificación productiva regional. Asimismo, se advierte que un tipo de cambio real competitivo se asocia de forma negativa a la diversificación. Finalmente, durante el período 1996-2012 se producen salidas de empresas en ramas no tradicionales que deterioran el proceso de diversificación regional. En cambio, en el período 2003-2012 la entrada de firmas en sectores no tradicionales genera el efecto contrario en la diversificación productiva. |
| Keywords: | Diversificación de la Producción; Estructura Productiva; Análisis Provincial; Argentina; |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:2597&r=hme |
| By: | Gruszka, Katarzyna |
| Abstract: | Within the context of multiple crises and change, a range of practices discussed under the umbrella term of collaborative (or sharing) economy have been gaining considerable attention. Supporters build an idealistic vision of collaborative societies. Critics have been stripping the concept of its visionary potential, questioning its revolutionary nature. In the study, these debates are brought down to the local level in search for common perceptions among the co-creators of the concept in Vienna, Austria. Towards this aim a Q study is conducted, i.e. a mixed method enabling analyses of subjective perceptions on socially contested topics. Four voices are identified: True Believers, Market Optimists, Dedicated Critics, and Healthy Sceptics, each bringing their values, visions, and practical goals characteristic of different understanding of the collaborative economy. The study questions the need for building a globally-applicable definition of the concept, calls for more context-sensitivity, and the need for further exploratory approaches. (author's abstract) |
| Keywords: | collaborative economy; sharing economy; Q study |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus045:4911&r=hme |
| By: | GAROFALO, Maria Rosaria (CELPE - Centre of Labour Economics and Economic Policy, University of Salerno - Italy) |
| Abstract: | Il lavoro discute il tema delle disuguaglianze di genere focalizzandosi sulla conciliazione dei tempi vita-lavoro e sui profili apicali delle donne alla luce del dibattitto teorico, ortodosso ed eterodosso, e di policy a partire dagli anni ’90, e con un’ottica secondo cui le misure per l’uguaglianza di genere possono generare benefici sia a cavallo tra i domini di lavoro, pagato e non, e di non lavoro, sia nel contesto territoriale e sociale di riferimento. Con riferimento al quadro normativo italiano, si analizza, in chiave istituzionale, la L. 53/2000 art. 9 sui congedi parentali e sulle misure a supporto della conciliazione dei tempi e la L.120/2011 sull’accesso delle donne a posizioni apicali nelle imprese quotate e partecipate. |
| Keywords: | Approcci eterodossi; Economia di genere; Uso del tempo; Skills e profili di carriera |
| JEL: | B52 J16 J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–12–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sal:celpdp:0139&r=hme |
| By: | Pontoni, Gabriela A. |
| Abstract: | El objetivo del artículo es identificar y comprender las estrategias desarrolladas por el colectivo sindical reconocido como "Camioneros" en Argentina, para mejorar su capacidad de negociación en el marco de los procesos de negociación colectiva. Los resultados se basan en un estudio de caso en el cual, a través de entrevistas y análisis documental, se recolectaron datos sobre el accionar del sindicato para establecer una comparación diacrónica entre dos momentos sucesivos con características diferenciadas: 1990-2002 y 2003-2011. Se concluye que después de 2003 no fueron sólo las particularidades del contexto las que fortalecieron la capacidad de negociación de Camioneros, sino que resultaron fundamentales las decisiones de sus dirigentes para aprovechar las oportunidades surgidas en el nuevo escenario. |
| Keywords: | Negociación Colectiva; Sindicatos; Camiones; Transporte por Carretera; Transporte de Mercancías; |
| Date: | 2016–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:2593&r=hme |
| By: | Sergio Cesaratto |
| Abstract: | Supporters of the Monetary Circuit Theory argue that workers’ or households’ savings may be used to fix firms’ losses and avoid crises. The question is reminiscent of a discussion that took place between Dennis Robertson (DHR) and Keynes on the Treatise (1930) about Keynes’s idea that workers’ savings might cover firms’ losses. In this discussion, DHR denied that savings could correspond to firms’ losses, arguing that savings do not exist independently of investment. Circuitists like Graziani seem to reiterate the Treatise’s mistake of maintaining that part of savings corresponds to firm’s losses and are lent to firms to fix those losses, while neglecting the effects of those losses on output as DHR pointed out in the early 1930s. |
| Keywords: | Monetary circuit, Robertson, Keynes, Graziani, Treatise |
| JEL: | B22 B50 E12 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:732&r=hme |
| By: | Lambert, Thomas |
| Abstract: | There has been a growing literature over the last several years on a possible decline in US entrepreneurship and the reasons for it. US small business formation and the jobs created by small businesses are supposed to be key elements in US economic growth. Many claim that without growth in small businesses and the jobs they provide that the US economy will either not grow at all or only very slowly. Therefore, small business formation is a possible key to understanding capitalism in the 21st century since under monopoly capital there is claimed to be a tendency toward economic stagnation. Some of the general causes mentioned for less US entrepreneurism include high levels of personal debt (mortgages, student loans, credit cards, etc.) among the US populace and the increasing challenges that small businesses face against larger ones. Another concern is the amount of increasing business regulation and government presence in the US economy with which small businesses struggle more than larger ones. If entrepreneurism requires risk taking, then high levels of household debt and large, well-financed potential competitors may be hindering prospective entrepreneurs. This exploratory paper finds that high levels of household debt, the increasing size of existing businesses, and government size are highly correlated with the slowdown in the entry rates of new firms into the US economy since the late 1970s as well as with a slowdown in the job creation rate of these firms. |
| Keywords: | big business, corporations, entrepreneurism, household debt, monopoly capital, small business |
| JEL: | B51 L26 |
| Date: | 2017–01–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:75999&r=hme |