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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2018‒02‒12
twenty-one papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Drydakis, Nick |
| Abstract: | Economic pluralism proposes that economists and social planners should consider alternative theories to establish a range of policy actions. Neoclassical, Feminist and Marxian theories evaluate well-grounded causes of wage discrimination. Racist attitudes, uncertainties regarding minority workers’ productivity and power relations in lower-status sectors might generate discriminatory wages. Each cause deserves corresponding policy action. Given pluralism, wage discrimination might be reduced by implementing equality campaigns, creating low-cost tests to predict workers’ productivity and abolishing power relations towards minority workers. Pluralism might be jeopardised if there is a limited desire to engage with less-dominant theoretical frameworks. Also, pluralism might be misled with rejection of dominant theories. |
| Keywords: | Economic Pluralism,Schools of economic thought,Wages,Discrimination |
| JEL: | B4 B5 B54 J71 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:176&r=hme |
| By: | Melendez-Plumed, Vicenc |
| Abstract: | Slightly changing Karl Marx procedure to calculate his production prices by keeping surplus value in the price cost of commodities, allows us to envisage a labour values system as a production prices system. The current industry rates of profit, in labour terms, are used in the calculation of these production prices which will be equalized afterwards. This work presents an alternative approach to calculate production prices and the rate of profit based in the eigenvalue and the eigenvector of the Leontief matrix. This allows us to see production prices systems as derived from labour values systems and keeping them proportional. Only after the industry rates of profit equalization occurs, i.e., when a similar remuneration to all capitals has to be assured, will prices differ necessarily from values. Prices and labour values initially form a unique system from which prices become autonomous. |
| Keywords: | Sectoral rates of profit in value terms; Rate of surplus value; Production prices; Labour values; Redundancy; One system; Eigenvalue; Eigenvector |
| JEL: | B51 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:83908&r=hme |
| By: | Kurz, Heinz D. (University of Graz) |
| Abstract: | The paper scrutinises George Stigler’s interpretation of Ricardo's theory. Like many marginalists, he assesses Ricardo’s contribution in terms of marginalist theory. This confirms Piero Sraffa’s observation that by the end of the nineteenth century the analytical structure, content and genuine significance of the classical theory had been “submerged and forgotten”. However, Stigler's textual acuteness makes him see important elements of Ricardo’s analysis that resist the marginalist interpretation. His irritation can only have been increased by Sraffa’s exposition of Ricardo’s sur-plus-based theory of profits in volume I of the Ricardo edition. This contradicted mar-ginal productivity theory of profits. Stigler praises Sraffa’s edition beyond all measure, refrains however from discussing his interpretation. Things do not change after Sraffa in 1960 publishes a logically consistent formulation of the classical theory of value and distribution. Sraffa's interpretation challenged Stigler's ideological position, which, however, he did not feel the need, or possibility, to defend. |
| Keywords: | David Ricardo; Ideology; Piero Sraffa; George Stigler; Value and distribution |
| JEL: | B12 D24 D46 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:sraffa:0027&r=hme |
| By: | Dorian Jullien (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis - UCA - Université Côte d'Azur - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Côte d'Azur) |
| Abstract: | This paper conducts a systematic comparison of behavioral economics's challenges to the standard accounts of economic behaviors within three dimensions: under risk, over time and regarding other people. A new perspective on two underlying methodological issues, i.e., interdisciplinarity and the positive/normative distinction, is proposed by following the entanglement thesis of Hilary Putnam, Vivian Walsh and Amartya Sen. This thesis holds that facts, values and conventions have interdependent meanings in science which can be understood by scrutinizing formal and ordinary language uses. The goal is to provide a broad and self-contained picture of how behavioral economics is changing the mainstream of economics. |
| Keywords: | behavioral economics, economic rationality, expected utility, prospect the-,ory, exponential discounting, hyperbolic discounting, self-interest, other-regarding behav-,iors, economic methodology, history of economics, philosophy of economics, economics and,language,JEL: A12, B21, B41, D01, D03, D81, D90, D64 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01651042&r=hme |
| By: | Antonia Grohmann; Annekathrin Schoofs |
| Abstract: | Despite considerable policy efforts, women continue to be underrepresented in positions of power and decision making. As an important aspect of women empowerment, we examine women’s participation in intrahousehold financial decision making and how this is affected by financial literacy. Using both OLS and IV regression analysis, we show that women with higher financial literacy are more involved in household financial decisions. In line with the literature, we further find that women are less financially literate than men. Results from decomposition analysis show that education and personality traits (openness, happiness, and depression) drive this financial literacy gender gap. |
| Keywords: | financial literacy, women empowerment, intra-household decision making |
| JEL: | D14 J16 G02 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1720&r=hme |
| By: | Jo, Tae-Hee |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the historical developments of the institutionalist theory of the business enterprise since early 1900s. We will examine the major contributions in order to find the theoretical characteristics of the institutionalist theory of the business enterprise vis-à-vis evolving capitalism. The paper begins with a discussion of the present state of the institutional theory, looks back on the original ideas of Veblen and Commons, and goes on to later contributions, such as Gardiner Means, John Kenneth Galbraith, William Dugger, and Alfred Eichner. The paper concludes with a discussion as to what should be done for the further development of the institutionalist theory of the business enterprise. |
| Keywords: | Theory of the business enterprise, institutional economics, evolution of capitalism |
| JEL: | B50 B52 D20 |
| Date: | 2018–01–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84036&r=hme |
| By: | Alice Wu (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether people in academia portray and judge women and men differently in everyday “conversations†that take place online. I combine methods from text mining, machine learning and econometrics to study the existence and extent of gender stereotyping on the Economics Job Market Rumors forum. I first design a propensity score model to infer the gender a post mainly refers to from text, and simultaneously identify the individual words with the strongest association with gender. The words selected provide a direct look into the gender stereotyped language on this forum. Through a topic analysis of the posts, I find that when women are under discussion, the discourse tends to become significantly less academic or professionally oriented, and more about personal information and physical appearance. Moreover, a panel data analysis reveals the state dependence between the content of posts within a thread. In particular, once women are mentioned in a thread, the topic is likely to shift from academic to personal. Finally, I restrict the analysis to discussions about specific economists, and find that high-profile female economists tend to receive more attention on EJMR than their male counterparts. |
| JEL: | J16 J23 M51 J71 I23 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:cheawb:2017-09&r=hme |
| By: | Boehm, Johannes; Dhingra, Swati; Morrow, John |
| Abstract: | The presence of global value chains challenges the neoclassical idea of the firm since it implies firms are not monolithic but are rather interdependent on the larger economic environment. Examining establishments, the smallest units of production within firms, sheds light on the microeconomic incentives determining the location of production and whether a firm produces a good or sources it. Most work on multiproduct firms looks at developed countries, but constraints on firm growth are greater in developing economies. We examine multiproduct establishments in India during a high growth period. Multiproduct establishments made up the bulk of manufacturing production, and their product turnover contributed 28 per cent to net sales growth. Unlike the nineties which witnessed drastic liberalization, establishments in the two-thousands dropped products at rates similar to those for the US. Sales dispersion across products also predicts product addition |
| Keywords: | multiproduct firms; product adoption; product diversity |
| JEL: | L1 L2 M2 O3 |
| Date: | 2017–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:86603&r=hme |
| By: | Jiyoung Choi (Economic Research Institute, The Bank of Korea) |
| Abstract: | The expansion of the informal sector is one of the most representative changes in North Korean economy since the 2000s. This paper estimates a social accounting matrix(SAM) that distinguishes between formal and informal activities of North Korea during the year of 2013 in order to understand its dual economic structure. As the estimation results, the share of informal sector in North Korea is estimated at 18.5% for factor income and 28.5% for final demand. Also, it indicates the production inducement effect of the informal sector in both household consumption and investment based on the Input-Output analysis. Increasing informal investment expenditure could contribute to encouraging the entire North Korean economy because the output multiplier of investment expenditure is much higher than that of household spending. Lastly it is worth to note that these estimation results are based on relatively rough assumptions due to the limited statistics of North Korean economy. Therefore, the results could be changed in case different assumptions are introduced regarding informal economic activities in North Korea. |
| Keywords: | Social accounting matrix, Informal economy, North Korean economy, Production inducement Effects |
| JEL: | C67 O17 P24 |
| Date: | 2016–10–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bok:wpaper:1614&r=hme |
| By: | Frohmann, Alicia |
| Abstract: | SECO Working Paper 24/2017 by Alicia Frohmann |
| Abstract: | International trade interacts with gender equality in different ways. Its impact is not neutral. The different impacts of international trade upon them are conditioned by the distinct roles of women and men in economic activity. Recognizing the socio-economic gaps between both sexes, the most recent trade policies include gender provisions as a means to promote the economic empowerment of women. In some cases, gender-specific provisions are included in agreements to promote equality, and there are also initiatives to mainstream a gender perspective into general trade rules, and into support instruments for the export sector. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) has been a pioneer in including gender issues into its agenda. A stand-alone chapter on gender and trade in a bilateral trade agreement was included first in the 2016 free-trade agreement between Chile and Uruguay. Another milestone was the Joint Declaration on Gender and Trade, endorsed by 118 countries in the context of the 11th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in December 2017. At the firm level, trade policy in Latin America and the Caribbean has been developing gender initiatives to further women's export entrepreneurship. Future actions on gender and trade can be implemented in three different areas: generation of data disaggregated by sex; development of gender-specific trade policies at the national, bilateral and multilateral levels; and promotion of women's export entrepreneurship, where trade promotion agencies (TPOs) play a key role. |
| Date: | 2018–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wti:papers:1150&r=hme |
| By: | Sandro Pereira Silva; Gabriela Cavalcanti Cunha; Regilane Fernandes da Silva |
| Abstract: | Este trabalho analisou a relação entre mobilização social de atores públicos e privados e agenda de instituições participativas oficiais no campo da economia solidária. Mais especificamente, buscou-se analisar, por meio de observação participativa e análise documental, como essa relação se deu ao longo do processo de interface socioestatal promovido pelas conferências nacionais, em especial a III Conferência Nacional de Economia Solidária (Conaes), que ocorreu em 2014 e desencadeou a elaboração do Plano Nacional de Economia Solidária (PNES). Ao final, pode-se dizer que o processo conferencial foi apropriado para a parcela da sociedade civil envolvida em sua temática como um elo entre seus repertórios tradicionais de mobilização e a abertura de um canal oficial de contato com uma representação do poder público. This paper analyzes the relationship between social mobilization (of public and private actors) and the agenda of official participatory institutions in the field of solidarity economy. More specifically, it was sought to analyze, through participatory observation and documentary analysis, how this relationship occurred during the process of social-state interface promoted by the national conferences, especially the 3rd Conaes, which occurred in 2014 and triggered the elaboration of the National Plan of Solidarity Economy. In the end, it can be said that the conference process was appropriate for the part of the civil society involved in its theme as a link between its traditional mobilization repertoires and the opening of an official channel of contact with a representation of the public power. |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:2360&r=hme |
| By: | Kenza Qaoumi (CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris - PSL - PSL Research University - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Pascal Le Masson (CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris - PSL - PSL Research University - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Benoit Weil (CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris - PSL - PSL Research University - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Aytunç Ün (CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris - PSL - PSL Research University - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01619967&r=hme |
| By: | Anirban Chakraborti; Kiran Sharma; Hirdesh K. Pharasi; Sourish Das; Rakesh Chatterjee; Thomas H. Seligman |
| Abstract: | Catastrophic events, though rare, do occur and when they occur, they have devastating effects. It is, therefore, of utmost importance to understand the complexity of the underlying dynamics and signatures of catastrophic events, such as market crashes. For deeper understanding, we choose the US and Japanese markets from 1985 onward, and study the evolution of the cross-correlation structures of stock return matrices and their eigenspectra over different short time-intervals or "epochs". A slight non-linear distortion is applied to the correlation matrix computed for any epoch, leading to the emerging spectrum of eigenvalues. The statistical properties of the emerging spectrum display: (i) the shape of the emerging spectrum reflects the market instability, (ii) the smallest eigenvalue may be able to statistically distinguish the nature of a market turbulence or crisis -- internal instability or external shock, and (iii) the time-lagged smallest eigenvalue has a statistically significant correlation with the mean market cross-correlation. The smallest eigenvalue seems to indicate that the financial market has become more turbulent in a similar way as the mean does. Yet we show features of the smallest eigenvalue of the emerging spectrum that distinguish different types of market instabilities related to internal or external causes. Based on the paradigmatic character of financial time series for other complex systems, the capacity of the emerging spectrum to understand the nature of instability may be a new feature, which can be broadly applied. |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1801.07213&r=hme |
| By: | Pilon, André Francisco |
| Abstract: | The ecosystemic approach favours the development of healthy societies, that invest in each other rather than in mega-projects with intensive use of resources, it extends to environmental problems, quality of life and the state of the world a larger conceptual framework that includes ontological and epistemological issues, in view of the isomorphy and transfers of concepts, laws and models in various fields; it relates to how taken for granted worldviews, values and perceptions affect the definition and treatment of the problems by public policies, research and teaching programmes in the contemporary world. |
| Keywords: | Public Policies, Ecosystems, Education, Ethics, Economics |
| JEL: | I0 I2 I25 I28 I3 O21 Q5 Q56 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2018–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84224&r=hme |
| By: | André Cieplinski |
| Abstract: | Recent contributions have highlighted a technological bias in the substitution of routine work as a cause of wage inequality. Technological progress is assumed to increase returns to abstract, cognitive work and reduce those related to physical, usually routine, work activities. This article puts forward an alternative interpretation whereby wages are related to employees' control over work, which is conditioned by the institutions that represent workers' interests. We use O*NET detailed occupational level data to build two measures of control over i.) physical or tangible work activities, ii.) abstract or non-tangible work activities and one of the direct impact over firm's profits and production. These are used to contest previous interpretations of this data as a measure of task intensity and the relevance of a disaggregation between routine and non-routine work, at least for wage outcomes. We develop a simple bargaining model that suggests employee control adds to the bargaining power of workers and has a negative relation to impact, which is used to a greater extent in industries where control over work is not sufficient to increase wages, a relation that is corroborated by random slopes multilevel models estimates. A comparison of these random coefficients with industry level characteristics provides evidence that institutions such as unions and professional associations increase the odds of receiving a wage premium related to employee control, but finds very limited support for a relation between technological change and the estimated wage premia. |
| Keywords: | Labour Economics, Industrial Relations, Job Polarization, Wage Polarization |
| JEL: | J01 J31 J50 O33 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:775&r=hme |
| By: | Wu, Cheng |
| Abstract: | Though Wu (2017) has shown Clower’s Dual Decision Hypothesis leading to Keynes’ change in saving (and disequilibrium) conclusion, it is important to compare Clower’s budget constraint approach with other models, including those found in Hall’s consumption theorem and similar approach. In Clower, by assuming that, consumers may not satisfy the budget constraint, one cannot automatically assume Hall’s consumption theorem to hold. And, by showing how households need to optimize contingent on the satisfaction of their budget constraint, Clower was, in effect, creating a feedback mechanism. |
| Keywords: | Keynes; Clower; Keynesian; disequilibrium; Dual Decision Hypothesis; consumption; martingale; saving; growth; income; trade; feedback |
| JEL: | A10 B20 C0 D1 E2 N0 O4 P0 |
| Date: | 2018–01–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84013&r=hme |
| By: | Mohajan, Haradhan |
| Abstract: | This article provides partial mathematical analysis of Amartya Sen’s published paper “Peasants and Dualism With or Without Surplus Labor”. This paper may provide useful illustrations of the applications of mathematics to economics. Here three portions of Sen’s paper ‘the simplest model, production for a market response and to withdrawal of labor’ are discussed in some details. Results of the study are given in mathematical formulations with physical interpretations. An attempt is taken here to make the Sen’s paper more interesting to the readers who have desire for detailed mathematical explanations with theoretical analysis. |
| Keywords: | Peasant economy, output, Sen, withdrawal of labor |
| JEL: | Q1 Q18 |
| Date: | 2016–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:82937&r=hme |
| By: | Tsoulfidis, Lefteris; Tsimis, Achilleas; Paitaridis, Dimitris |
| Abstract: | The general idea about unproductive labour and the associated with it activities is that they tend to expand and by expanding reduce the investible product and the growth potential of the economy, however little is known about the determinants of their movement. In this study, we take a closer look at the US unproductive labour and activities in general during the long enough 1964-2015 period. As possible determinants of the movement of unproductive activities we consider the economy-wide average rate of profit, the real interest rate and the degree of capacity utilization. The Toda Yamamoto causality tests, as well as the ARDL econometric model, lend support to the view that the unproductive expenditures and activities are determined rather than determine the above variables. Furthermore, the error correction term indicates that a long-run equilibrium relationship exists and it is attainable after the passage of not too long time. |
| Keywords: | Unproductive expenditures, rate of profit, Great recession, ARDL |
| JEL: | B12 B13 B14 B19 B2 B22 B5 C51 D33 E11 N12 O40 |
| Date: | 2018–01–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84035&r=hme |
| By: | De Mattos, Fernanda Bárcia.; Dasgupta, Sukti. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the nexus between legislation, paid employment, women’s empowerment and transformative gender equality in India. Using a sample of married women from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS), we find that the government legislated rural employment guarantee, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), has been instrumental in ensuring paid employment for women – for many married women it is the first opportunity for paid work. We also find paid employment and MGNREGA had positive and significant effects on women’s control over household decisions. However, we do not find enough evidence to suggest a transformative impact in terms of breaking the cycle of disadvantage, proxied by the timethe older girl child spends in school. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:994974190802676&r=hme |
| By: | Chibani Ltaief, Faten; Henchiri, jamel E. |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to analyze whether pecking order theory has a relevant application for family businesses. For this purpose, we compared two series of family and non-family unlisted firms in the French context. Our results indicate that generally the financial behavior of family businesses differs from non-family enterprises. Family business prefer internal financing to external financing and, in the case of external financing, debt is preferred to the capital increase. The Pecking order theory is more appropriate for family businesses than for non-family businesses. |
| Keywords: | Family business - pecking order theory - internal financing gap - france |
| JEL: | G32 |
| Date: | 2016–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:76784&r=hme |
| By: | Vincent Leyaro; Pablo Selaya; Neda Trifkovic |
| Abstract: | We study the roots of violence against women, and propose that it partly originates in cultural norms that derive from (a) characteristics of the traditional subsistence problem in different societies, and (b) differences in the sexual division of labor for solving that problem in each society. We construct this hypothesis on economics and anthropology research showing the potential of traditional livelihoods to shape persistent cultural norms at the local level, and arguing that this concept can be extended to explain outcomes at the domestic level. We test our main hypothesis by examining differences in the incidence of domestic violence across areas with different historical livelihoods in modern-day Tanzania, where we observe a large degree of spatial variation in both attitudes and actions of violence against women. Using rich individual survey and high-resolution georeferenced data, we find systematically less violence against women in traditionally sea-fishing areas vis-à-vis traditionally lake-fishing, agricultural, and pastoralist ones. Our results are consistent with anthropological accounts of the idea that women in sea-fishing societies tend to be comparatively more independent in decision-making, and to acquire skills that are complementary to demands in non-agrarian sectors. We interpret this as evidence for direct mechanisms helping to sustain egalitarian gender norms in general, and less violence against women in particular. By exploiting sub-national variation, this research allows us to move beyond studying the socio-economic and institutional determinants of violence against women, and to analyse the formation of specific cultural traits that explain where and why some women tolerate less violence against them. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2017-205&r=hme |