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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2017‒04‒09
fifteen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Luis Daniel Torres Gonzalez (Department of Economics, New School for Social Research) |
| Abstract: | Recent developments in price of production models have proposed a hypothesis on the structure of the input coefficient matrices to explain the empirical near-linearity and monotonicity found in prices as a function of income distribution - the tendency towards zero of subdominant eigenvalues. The objective of this paper is twofold: First, based on the behavior of observed eigenvalues, the paper shows that they cannot explain by their own the regularities found in prices of production. Second, it is shown theoretically and empirically the existence and relevance of an additional force acting on the input matrix and the labor coefficient vector: the concentration of industries' vertically integrated compositions of capital around their average. It is argued that the combined effect of these two factors produces the empirical regularities in relative prices. The tendency of the vertically integrated labor to means of production proportions to cluster around their average reveals the existence of an economic force acting on the structure of technology of observable economies and calls for an explanation. The paper relies on the US 1987- 2007 Input-Output accounts, at the highest disaggregation level (between 370-466 sectors), for the empirical evidence in this paper. |
| Keywords: | Prices of production, Structure of technology, Concentration of capital compositions, Spectral decomposition, Eigenvalues, Eigenlabors, US economy |
| JEL: | B12 B14 B24 B51 C67 D24 D33 D46 D57 J23 L16 L23 O51 P16 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:new:wpaper:1709&r=hme |
| By: | Antonelli, Crisiano (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | The limits of both evolutionary approaches, based upon biological metaphors, and the new growth theory based on the early economics of knowledge, are becoming apparent. Considerable progress can be made by implementing an evolutionary complexity approach that builds upon the legacy of Schumpeter (1947) with the notions of: i)reactive decision making; ii) multiple feedback; iii) innovation as the outcome of an emergent system process rather than individual action; iv);organized complexity and knowledge connectivity; iv) endogenous variety; vi) non ergodic path dependent dynamics. Building upon these bases, the paper articulates an endogenous theory of innovation centered upon the analysis of the systemic conditions that make the creative reaction and hence the introduction of innovations possible. |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201712&r=hme |
| By: | Daniela Campus; Gianna Giannelli (Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa) |
| Abstract: | Dramatic spikes in food prices, like those observed over the last years, represent a real threat to food security in developing countries with severe consequences for many aspects of human life. Price instability can also affect the intra-household allocation of time, thus changing the labour supply of women, who traditionally play the role of ‘shock absorbers’. This paper explores the nature of time poverty by examining how changes in the prices of the two major staples consumed, matooke and cassava, have affected the paid and unpaid labour time allocation in Ugandan households. We exploit the panel nature of the Uganda National Household Survey by adopting a Tobit-hybrid model. Our results show that gender differentials in the intra-household allocation of labour actually occur in correspondence with changes in food prices. We find that, overall, women work significantly more, since the additional hours women work in the labour market are not counterbalanced by a relevant reduction in their other labour activities. For men, we do not find any significant effect of price changes on hours of work. |
| Keywords: | food prices, labour supply, gender, Uganda |
| JEL: | J16 J22 J43 Q11 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2016_16.rdf&r=hme |
| By: | Tesfatsion, Leigh |
| Abstract: | Real-world economies are open-ended dynamic systems consisting of heterogeneous interacting participants. Human participants are decision-makers who strategically take into account the past actions and potential future actions of other participants. All participants are forced to be locally constructive, meaning their actions at any given time must be based on their local states; and participant actions at any given time affect future local states. Taken together, these properties imply real-world economies are locally-constructive sequential games. This study discusses a modeling approach, agent-based computational economics (ACE), that permits researchers to study economic systems from this point of view. ACE modeling principles and objectives are first concisely presented. The remainder of the study then highlights challenging issues and edgier explorations that ACE researchers are currently pursuing. |
| Date: | 2017–03–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genstf:201703280700001022&r=hme |
| By: | Kazuhiro Kurose; Naoki Yoshihara |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the validity of the factor price equalisation theorem (FPET) in relation to capital theory. Additionally, it presents a survey of the literature on Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (HOS) models that treat capital as a primary factor, beginning with Samuelson (1953). Furthermore, this paper discusses the Cambridge capital controversy, which contends that marginal productivity theory does not hold when capital is assumed to be as a bundle of reproducible commodities instead of as a primary factor. Consequently, it is shown that under this assumption, the FPET does not hold, even when there is no reversal of capital intensity. This paper also demonstrates that the recent studies on the dynamic HOS trade theory generally ignore the difficulties posed by the capital controversies and are thereby able to conclude that the FPET holds even when capital is modelled as a reproducible factor. Our analysis suggests that there is a need for a basic theory of international trade that does not rely on factor price equalisation and a model that formulates capital as a bundle of reproducible commodities. |
| Date: | 2016–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:toh:dssraa:58&r=hme |
| By: | Francesco Lamperti; Andrea Roventini; Amir Sani |
| Abstract: | Taking agent-based models (ABM) closer to the data is an open challenge. This paper explicitly tackles parameter space exploration and calibration of ABMs combining supervised machine-learning and intelligent sampling to build a surrogate meta-model. The proposed approach provides a fast and accurate approximation of model behaviour, dramatically reducing computation time. In that, our machine-learning surrogate facilitates large scale explorations of the parameter-space, while providing a powerful filter to gain insights into the complex functioning of agent-based models. The algorithm introduced in this paper merges model simulation and output analysis into a surrogate meta-model, which substantially ease ABM calibration. We successfully apply our approach to the Brock and Hommes (1998) asset pricing model and to the ``Island'' endogenous growth model (Fagiolo and Dosi, 2003). Performance is evaluated against a relatively large out-of-sample set of parameter combinations, while employing different user-defined statistical tests for output analysis. The results demonstrate the capacity of machine learning surrogates to facilitate fast and precise exploration of agent-based models' behaviour over their often rugged parameter spaces. |
| Keywords: | agent based model; calibration; machine learning; surrogate; meta-model |
| Date: | 2017–03–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2017/11&r=hme |
| By: | Sato, Mine |
| Abstract: | This paper tries to identify factors and understand dynamics on enhancing agency (will and ability to pursuit for personal or social goals), commonly understood also as empowerment. Specifically, the question asked is if the ‘black boxes’ existing in current theoretical explanations in the field of empowerment and agency development can be opened up by connecting practice and research, with clarifying context specific factors. For this purpose, the author first reviews the literature relating to empowerment and agency development to reach a common understanding and to identify the discrepancies between the two schools, as well as to extract a theoretical model of agency development. Second, the paper identifies two dimensions and three factors for analyzing a case study to understand what is unclear from theory can be understood in reality. These are the initial context for developing the project, the actual development of an agency development project, and possible mechanisms of agency development for community members. Subsequently, a case study of the development of a training program called MMO (Metodologia de Motivacion y Organizacion) in Nicaragua is reported on, and the processes of its inspiration, development, execution and diffusion are documented in detail. Finally, the possible dynamics of each process of agency development, which are black boxes of the reviewed theories, are to be extracted through analyzing the case. The author also clarifies context specific factors which may have influenced the agency development process as described in the case study. The major findings are as follows: first, the context specific factors that influence the whole process of agency development of people (both community members as well as support members), such as the upbringing and experiences of the key person and the socio-cultural and economic features of Nicaragua are identified; second, the process of agency development experienced by the aid providers/supporters (core facilitators and village level facilitators), which can be explained by self-determination theory as well as by explanatory frameworks related to social communication such as concientizacion (a Brazilian consciousness-raising methodologies and movement) and storytelling, is outlined; and, finally, the plausible mechanisms of agency development perhaps experienced by the community members is explained. This final outcome is divided into four categories relating to discussions on agency development, to promote the understanding of what is actually done on the ground beyond theoretical explanations. In other words, what is actually done in practice to foster the four types of power in relation to agency: “power from within,” “power with,” “power to” and “power over.” |
| Keywords: | agency development,empowerment,third-country expert,process documentation,Nicaragua |
| Date: | 2016–04–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:129&r=hme |
| By: | Gao, Yuning; Lu, Yufeng; Meng, Bo; Yu, Miao |
| Abstract: | This paper recalculates value added, capital formation, capital stock, and related multifactor productivity for China's provinces by expanding on the genuine savings method proposed by the World Bank. Specifically, we construct China's time-series multiregional input?output tables to account for the natural resource depletion and environmental damage that affect genuine output when considering inter-provincial trade. The results show that although the loss of natural capital in China's provinces in terms of value added and investment has declined, the impact on productivity during the past decades is still significant and has even increased during the past decades. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, Input-output tables, Sustainable development, Genuine savings method, Total factor productivity, China |
| JEL: | D24 D57 O47 Q01 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper638&r=hme |
| By: | Nelson H. Barbosa-Filho (Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA)) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an adaptation ofthe square social accounting matrix used in economic planning and programming to the rectangular or vertical transaction matrix used in post-Keynesian monetary economics. The objective is to obtain a simple and intuitive framework to organize macroeconomic data in terms of the main institutional sectors of the economy, showing how production, distribution, demand and financing are inter-related. |
| Keywords: | Planning, Transaction Matrix, Post-Keynesian, Monetary |
| JEL: | E1 E5 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:epa:cepawp:2017-03&r=hme |
| By: | Fukuda‐Parr, Sakiko; Shiga, Hiroaki |
| Abstract: | In the context of current debates about the future of North-South aid in the changing landscape of development cooperation, this paper explores normative frameworks and alternative conceptions of aid, focusing particularly on the case of Japanese bilateral aid in comparison with Southern and DAC donors. Our analysis departs from the conventional approach in aid research which considers the purpose of aid as an economic transfer of resources, and the motivation of donors as an instrument for pursuit of geopolitical or economic interests. We draw on recent social science literature, and explore how donors’ conception of aid is shaped by their identity within the international community and concerned with the type of hierarchical relationship it wishes to create with the recipient. The paper finds that while Japan follows DAC norms, it has attempted to accommodate them within a distinctive paradigm of aid that has roots in post-war reconstruction efforts. Like the norms of Southern donors, many of core norms of Japanese aid lie outside of the consensus DAC paradigm while overlapping with those of South-South cooperation. Drawing on anthropological theory of the gift, the paper argues that the normative framing of Southern donors and Japan contrast with that of the DAC donors particularly in attempting to neutralize the power asymmetry that characterizes donor-recipient relationships. While Southern donors are seeking to create a relationship of solidarity, Japan has over the years sought to create a cooperative relationship necessary for mutually beneficial economic ties of trade and investment, and both contrasting with the charitable relationship created by North-South aid. We argue that these values shape policy approaches in aid models. In showing that the values that inform southern and Japanese donors lie outside of the DAC framework, we highlight the limitations of the DAC paradigm. |
| Keywords: | Japan,South-South Cooperation,aid norms,economic cooperation |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:130&r=hme |
| By: | Francesco Lamperti; Giovanni Dosi; Mauro Napoletano; Andrea Roventini; Alessandro Sapio |
| Abstract: | In this paper we develop the first agent-based integrated assessment model, which offers an alternative to standard, computable general-equilibrium frameworks. The Dystopian Schumpeter meeting Keynes (DSK) model is composed of heterogeneous firms belonging to capital-good, consumption-good and energy sectors. Production and energy generation leads to greenhouse gas emissions, which affect temperature dynamics in a non-linear way. Increasing temperature triggers climate damages hitting, at the micro-level, workers' labor productivity, energy efficiency, capital stock and inventories of firms. In that, aggregate damages are emerging properties of the out-of-equilibrium interactions among heterogeneous and boundedly rational agents. We find the DSK model is able to account for a wide ensemble of micro and macro empirical regularities concerning both economic and climate dynamics. Moreover, different types of shocks have heterogeneous impact on output growth, unemployment rate, and the likelihood of economic crises. Finally, we show that the magnitude and the uncertainty associated to climate change impacts increase over time, and that climate damages are much larger than those estimated through standard integrated assessment models. Our results point to the presence of tipping points and irreversible trajectories, thereby suggesting the need of urgent policy interventions. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change; Agent-Based Models; Integrated Assessment; Macroeconomic Dynamics; Climate Damages. |
| Date: | 2017–03–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2017/12&r=hme |
| By: | Spash, Clive L.; Dobernig, Karin |
| Abstract: | In this discussion paper we review and contrast alternative theories of consumption in terms of the intellectual basis they provide for understanding sustainable behaviours. A defining aspect of the modern literature in this field is the emphasis on the individual as a volitional agent who engages wilfully in the decision to consume. This is in stark contrast to earlier literature that concentrated on the structural lock-in of individuals to undesirable consumption patterns and the powers of corporations in creating consumer demand for their products and services. We argue that, in order to unravel consumption in its full complexity, and as a matter of utmost importance, understanding must include both the buy-in of individual agents, whose consumption activities contribute to their self-identity, and the structure imposed by the institutions of society, that frame the context of actors' decisions. More than this, any move away from the current unsustainable consumption patterns prevalent in modern societies requires a richer conceptualisation of consumption that involves an awareness and examination of the political economy in which humans live. |
| Keywords: | sustainable consumption, structure, agency, nudging, social practice theory, technostructure, corporate power, social ecological transformation |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus009:5513&r=hme |
| By: | Margulis, Sergio |
| Abstract: | El objetivo de este estudio es realizar una revisión teórica y empírica de los procesos de mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático en áreas urbanas enfocándose en América Latina. De acuerdo con los resultados recientes de la Conferencia de las Partes (COP 21, por sus siglas en inglés) en París, se espera que muchas ciudades en América Latina y de otras partes del mundo preparen planes de acción climática. Sin embargo, de acuerdo con la con la revisión realizada, no existen muchas ciudades en la región que tengan planes consistentes con un fundamento técnico solido. La revisión abarca 12 planes de 11 ciudades y regiones metropolitanas, incluyendo 2 planes para Bogotá y su Región Metropolitana, São Paulo, Ciudad de México, Buenos Aires, Río de Janeiro, Lima, Santiago de Chile, Belo Horizonte, Montevideo, Quito y Cartagena. |
| Keywords: | CAMBIO CLIMATICO, CIUDADES, DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE, PLANIFICACION URBANA, CLIMATE CHANGE, CITIES, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, URBAN PLANNING |
| Date: | 2016–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col022:41041&r=hme |
| By: | Lobna AbdelLatif; Mohamed Zaky (Cairo University); Mohamed Ramadan |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a conceptual framework that relates failure of progressing in gender equality to weakness of budgetary and political institutions. Whereas, the former drift budgetary allocation away from producing the required public values, the latter leads to failure of reconciling and shaping individual values to come up with informed budgetary objectives. Application on Egypt shows that gender values may be locked in the basic needs perspective and lack an informed governance framework to position them dynamically in the utilitarian set of objectives of the budgetary system. Fiscal transparency should inform the process of public values formation and level up budgetary objectives for gender. Additionally, tapping up all public assets and networking them with the budgetary exercise is an important responsibility for governments. |
| Date: | 2017–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1075&r=hme |
| By: | Nishimura, Mikiko |
| Abstract: | In the international sphere, gender equality is primarily discussed in relation to the gender parity index (GPI), a female to male ratio of enrollment. This paper attempts to adopt a wider scope of gender equality that includes continuous learning and achievement. By using the data from 306 primary schools in rural Senegal, collected by the Japan International Cooperation Agency Research Institute (JICA-RI), this paper examined school factors that affect the gender gaps in internal efficiency and learning achievement by considering policy input and the environment at the school level. The results show that the existence of a school management committee (“CGE”), is associated with lower dropout rates for both boys and girls and that the amount of financial contribution made by a CGE is correlated with fewer gender gaps in the number of dropouts and the repetition rate. We also found that providing parents with a periodic report on students’ attendance and learning achieveme nts as well as offering remedial lessons is negatively correlated with gender gaps in the repetition rate. Although we need to further investigate the mechanism that brought about this result, learning support initiatives may affect students differently according to gender depending on how one plans and implements them. School-level interventions should mainstream gender considerations so as to ensure gender equality in learning processes and achievements. |
| Keywords: | gender,primary education,SABER,school governance,Senegal,rural schools |
| Date: | 2017–03–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:141&r=hme |