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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2019‒04‒15
nineteen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Maria de Fátima Souza (Federal University of Tocantins and NIPE); Ana Carvalho (University of Minho and NIPE) |
| Abstract: | We propose a model of Organizational Capacity for wine cooperatives. Cooperatives are organizations with distinct characteristics, in particular, they have a dual nature: they are simultaneously a business and non-profit driven organizations owned by their members. This poses specific challenges to cooperative management. Organizational Capacity is a construct developed for nonprofit organizations, but it has not been applied to cooperatives. Based on a qualitative study with 19 wine cooperatives in Portugal, we developed an organizational capacity model that accounts for the social and the economic dimensions of cooperatives and the peculiarities of their identity. The model comprises seven interdependent capacity elements: infrastructure, financial, strategic planning, marketing, human resources, relationship with members, and management capacity. We explore each of these capacities and how they relate to each other, highlighting their specific relevance in cooperatives. |
| Keywords: | organizational capacity, cooperatives, wine cooperatives, PortugaL |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nip:nipewp:10/2018&r=all |
| By: | Maximilian Beikirch; Simon Cramer; Martin Frank; Philipp Otte; Emma Pabich; Torsten Trimborn |
| Abstract: | Monte Carlo Simulations of agent-based models in science and especially in the economic literature have become a widely used modeling approach. In many applications the number of agents is huge and the models are formulated as a large system of difference equations. In this study we discuss four numerical aspects which we present exemplified by two agent-based computational economic market models; the Levy-Levy-Solomon model and the Franke-Westerhoff model. First, we discuss finite-size effects present in the Levy-Levy-Solomon model and show that this behavior originates from the scaling within the model. Secondly, we discuss the impact of a low-quality random number generator on the simulation output. Furthermore, we discuss the continuous formulation of difference equations and the impact on the model behavior. Finally, we show that a continuous formulation makes it possible to employ correct numerical solvers in order to obtain correct simulation results. We conclude that it is of immanent importance to simulate the model with a large number of agents in order to exclude finite-size effects and to use a well tested pseudo random number generator. Furthermore, we argue that a continuous formulation of agent-based models is advantageous since it allows the application of proper numerical methods and it admits a unique continuum limit. |
| Date: | 2019–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1904.04951&r=all |
| By: | Alberto Botta; Eugenio Caverzasi; Alberto Russo |
| Abstract: | In the last decade, complexity economics has emerged as a powerful approach to the understanding of the most relevant factors influencing economic development. The concept of economic complexity has been applied to the study of different economic issues such as economic growth, technological change and inequality. With this work we aim at extending the application of this concept to the study of the financial side of the economy, and, in particular, of the macroeconomic effects of rising financial complexity. In this paper, we present an agent-based model integrating an increasingly complex financial sector with a real side of the economy populated, among other sectors, by heterogeneous households. We test the systemic impact that the increasing complexity of both the financial system and the financial products it manufactures bear on economic growth, macroeconomic stability and inequality. We find mixed results with respect to the positive economic implications the existing literature ascribes to products complexity and deepening production capabilities. Despite higher financial complexity may lead to faster growth, our model suggests that this comes at the cost of heightened financial fragility, a more crisis-prone economic system, and increasing levels of income and wealth inequality. According to these findings, and consistently with pioneering insights from Minsky, we claim that rising complexity does not always entail positive consequences for the well-being of the economy. This is particularly true when it comes to financial innovations and financial complexity. |
| Keywords: | AB-SFC model, financial complexity, securitization |
| JEL: | E44 G01 G23 |
| Date: | 2019–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pke:wpaper:pkwp1909&r=all |
| By: | Dalton, John; Logan, Andrew |
| Abstract: | Joseph Schumpeter's contributions to economics, including theories about innovation and entrepreneurship, creative destruction, and the debate over capitalism versus socialism, all remain relevant today. There is evidence, however, that Schumpeter's ideas have long received less attention in the classroom than they deserve given the importance economists attach to them. This paper provides a description of a discussion-based course on Schumpeter. Using a dialogue between professor and student before, during, and after the course, we describe the structure of the course and specific details related to content. We also include a syllabus, sources for class materials, and a list of over forty discussion questions. The dialogue allows us to show the dynamic nature of a discussion-based class, something we think Schumpeter would approve. |
| Keywords: | Joseph Schumpeter; Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Creative Destruction; Education |
| JEL: | A2 O3 P0 |
| Date: | 2019–04–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:93263&r=all |
| By: | Nashihah, Faidatun |
| Abstract: | This article describes the market as a meeting place between demand and supply for the type of goods or services. In a capitalist economic system, buyers and sellers bargain with each other to determine prices that give freedom to the market and the government must not intervene which can disrupt the market balance. While the socialist economic system has a view by eliminating the role of markets and the government plays an active role in resolving and regulating all economic problems. In Islamic economics, the market is left freely or the government distorts the existence of a market mechanism. Using a comparative approach to the existing economic system in the world, this article concludes that the Islamic economic system combines market freedom and the role of government that emphasizes the principle of maslahah (goodness), which is a condition of market justice that emphasizes the fulfillment of people's needs in achieving welfare (falah). |
| Keywords: | market mechanism, capitalism, socialism, Islamic economics, falah |
| JEL: | E02 I31 P10 P20 P51 |
| Date: | 2019–03–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:93190&r=all |
| By: | Suzuki, Taku; Mizobata, Satoshi |
| Abstract: | While studies of transitions to market economies have long focused on the issue of corruption, the perspectives from which their analyses have been based have diverged. Accordingly, this paper employs a systematic review through testing 14 hypotheses from the perspectives of political and economic causes, as well as culture and values, based on 559 works from the literature on the subject. Its findings make it clear that the liberalization and privatization of ownership both expand and contract corruption; the effects of culture and values also should not be overlooked, while mostly rejecting the so-called “greasing-the-wheels” hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | corruption, systems, economic growth, democracy, tradition, systematic review |
| JEL: | C00 O17 P24 P26 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hituec:690&r=all |
| By: | Dr. Christian Lutz (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research); Dr. Markus Flaute (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research); Dr. Ulrike Lehr (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research); Dr. Andreas Kemmler (Prognos AG); Dr. Almut Kirchner (Prognos AG); Alex auf der Maur (Prognos AG); Inka Ziegenhagen (Prognos AG); Marco Wünsch (Prognos AG); Sylvie Koziel (Prognos AG); Dr. Alexander Piégsa (Prognos AG); Samuel Straßburg (Prognos AG) |
| Abstract: | Für die Transformation des Energiesystems zu einem klimafreundlichen System und dem gleichzeitigen Ausstieg aus der Kernenergie bis zum Jahr 2022 bei Gewährleistung einer sicheren, wirtschaftlichen und umweltverträglichen Energieversorgung sind technologische Entwicklungen und Investitionen notwendig. Da die Energiewende mit gesamtwirtschaftlichen Effekten und vielfältigen Verteilungswirkungen verbunden ist, ist es für die Akzeptanz der Energiewende entscheidend, dass sie gesamtwirtschaftliche Vorteile bzw. keine inakzeptablen Nachteile mit sich bringt und negative Verteilungswirkungen frühzeitig erkannt, begrenzt und – wenn möglich – ausgeglichen werden. In diesem Teilbericht zum gesamten Forschungsvorhaben 21/15 „Makroökonomische Wirkungen und Verteilungsfragen der Energiewende“ werden die Ergebnisse der makroökonomischen Analyse aus Arbeitspaket 3 vorgestellt. Zur Ermittlung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Wirkungen der Energiewende in der Vergangenheit und zu zukünftigen Wirkungen werden modellgestützt zwei Szenarien einander gegenübergestellt. Das Energiewende-Szenario EWS bildet eine Welt ab, in der die Energiewende seit dem Jahr 2000 so abläuft, wie sie auch faktisch stattgefunden hat und in der in der Zukunft die Ziele der Energiewende erreicht werden. Das Kontrafaktische Szenario KFS bildet eine in sich konsistente alternative Entwicklung ab, die wie folgt beschrieben werden kann: Ab dem Jahr 2000 fand keine Förderung von erneuerbaren Energien und Energieeffizienz statt und wird auch in Zukunft nicht stattfinden. Zur Energieumwandlung werden ab dem Jahr 2000 nur diejenigen Technologien eingesetzt, die sich marktgetrieben durchsetzen. Der Vergleich ökonomischer Kenngrößen unter den jeweiligen Szenarioannahmen lässt Rückschlüsse auf die gesamtwirtschaftliche Vorteilhaftigkeit eines Szenarios gegenüber dem anderen zu. Im Anschluss an die Ausgestaltung der beiden Szenarien sowie die ihnen zugrunde liegenden Annahmen und Rahmendaten für die Entwicklung von 2000 bis heute wird die Entwicklung von Primär- und Endenergieverbrauch sowie der energiebedingten THG-Emissionen in den beiden Szenarien ausführlich beschrieben. Diese Szenarien werden in das umweltökonomische makroökonometrische Modell PANTA RHEI eingestellt. Die damit ermittelten gesamtwirtschaftlichen Ergebnisse werden umfänglich dargestellt und anschließend verschiedene Sensitivitätsrechnungen durchgeführt. Zum einen werden die Effekte des Szenarienvergleichs aufgespalten in Wirkungen auf dem Strommarkt und Effekte, die durch höhere Energieeffizienz und erneuerbare Energien in den verschiedenen Verbrauchssektoren ausgelöst werden. Zum zweiten werden Analysen für die EU-Kommission nachvollzogen, die den Einfluss unterschiedlicher Restriktionen auf Märkten und ihre Umsetzung in konkreten Modellen betrachten. Es folgt eine Einordnung der Ergebnisse, sowohl durch den Vergleich mit nationalen und internationalen Ergebnissen als auch durch Aufzeigen der Grenzen der Modellrechnungen. Außerdem bietet der Report einen kurzen Überblick darüber, wie und wo weitergehende Effekte quantifiziert werden (können). Er schließt mit einer kurzen Zusammenfassung sowie einem Ausblick. |
| Keywords: | Gesamtwirtschaft, Energiewende |
| JEL: | Q43 Q48 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gws:report:18-4&r=all |
| By: | Amendola, Adalgiso; Dell’Anno, Roberto; Parisi, Lavinia |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses how the Great Recession affected the gender disparity in material and social deprivation in Europe. We propose multidimensional non-monetary indexes of absolute and relative (i.e. using peer comparisons) deprivations estimated on data from the European Quality of Life Survey for the waves 2007 and 2011. We find that the Great Recession decreased gender disparity over all the dimensions of deprivations. By applying a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, we estimate that this decline of gender gap has depended on a reduction of the difference in characteristics between genders that has more than offset an increase of gender discrimination. |
| Keywords: | Multidimensional deprivation; Gender gap; Great Recession; Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition |
| JEL: | I39 J16 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:93159&r=all |
| By: | Atkin, David; Colson-Sihra, Eve; Shayo, Moses |
| Abstract: | Are identities fungible? How do people come to identify with specific groups? This paper proposes a revealed preference approach, using food consumption to uncover ethnic and religious identity choices in India. We first show that consumption of identity goods (e.g. beef and pork) responds to forces suggested by social-identity research: group status and group salience, with the latter proxied by inter-group conflict. Moreover, identity choices respond to the cost of following the group's prescribed behaviors. We propose and estimate a modified demand system to quantify the identity changes that followed India's 1991 economic reforms. While social-identity research has focused on status and salience, economic costs appear to play a dominant role. |
| Date: | 2019–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13653&r=all |
| By: | Fabrice Ochou (Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny d’Abidjan-Cocody - Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny d’Abidjan-Cocody - Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny d’Abidjan-Cocody); Philippe Quirion (UMR CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - AgroParisTech - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Date: | 2019–03–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02080392&r=all |
| By: | Angelo Moro; Matteo Rinaldini; Jacopo Staccioli; Maria Enrica Virgillito |
| Abstract: | We explore the extent to which the current technological trend, dubbed Industry 4.0, might increase forms of control inside organisations, by focussing on pivotal firms in the so-called Italian Motor Valley currently embracing its adoption. We find that Industry 4.0 technologies open up great possibilities for incorporating the three forms of control identified by Orlikowski (1991), i.e. personal, bureaucratic, and social, into technological artefacts, often blending them together. If, on the one hand, this implies a technical and theoretical feasibility of enforcing forms of 'Big Brother' surveillance within the boundaries of organisations, and hereby of the workplace, on the other hand, the actual achievement of these possibilities depends on the organisational environment within which the new technologies are implemented. |
| Keywords: | Industry 4.0; Organisational Change; Control; Saturation of Working Time. |
| Date: | 2019–04–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2019/07&r=all |
| By: | Hali Edison (Williams College); Hector Carcel (Bank of Lithuania) |
| Abstract: | This paper applies Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), a machine learning algorithm, to analyze the transcripts of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) covering the period 2003 – 2012, including 45,346 passages. The goal is to detect the evolution of the different topics discussed by the members of the FOMC. The results of this exercise show that discussions on economic modelling were dominant during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), with an increase in discussion of the banking system in the years following the GFC. Discussions on communication gained relevance toward the end of the sample as the Federal Reserve adopted a more transparent approach. The paper suggests that LDA analysis could be further exploited by researchers at central banks and institutions to identify topic priorities in relevant documents such as FOMC transcripts. |
| Keywords: | FOMC, Text data analysis, Transcripts, Latent Dirichlet Allocation |
| JEL: | E52 E58 D78 |
| Date: | 2019–04–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lie:dpaper:11&r=all |
| By: | CANDELON Bertrand, (CORE, UCLouvain); HASSE Jean-Baptiste, (Aix-Marseille School of Economics); LAJAUNIE Quentin, (Université Paris-Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a skeptical look at the socially responsible investing (SRI) industry. Building upon a new database for European and American domestic equity mutual funds, it investigates whether there is a discrepancy between what is said (e.g., names or labels) and what is done (investments of mutual funds holdings) about SRI. It turns out that the correspondence between de jure and de facto SRI is weak. Additionally, using a novel nonlinear factor-augmented panel model, it is found that the de facto ethical positioning only matters for the funds’ financial performance. Both results shed new light on the SRI industry and pave the way for a new regulation framework. |
| Keywords: | socially responsible investing (SRI); environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria; ethical mutual funds; performane measurement |
| JEL: | G11 G14 G23 |
| Date: | 2018–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvco:2018034&r=all |
| By: | Gérard Desmaison (ISEOR - Institut de Socio-économie des Entreprises et des ORganisations - Institut de socio-économie des entreprises et des organisations, UJML - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III - Université de Lyon) |
| Abstract: | Il y a 50 ans avait lieu ce que l'on a appelé les Evènements de Mai 68. Cinq ans plus tard, Henri Savall finalisait ses premiers écrits sur le Management par l'Approche Socio-Economique (MASE). Nous expliquons en quoi les idées de mai 68 ont pu influer le Management Socio-Economique et en quoi les deux mouvances porteuses d'innovation se ressemblent et divergent. La RSE peut être considérée issue des idées de mai 68 et le MASE comme un vecteur de gouvernance de la RSE. Cette réflexion conduit à se poser des questions sur la durabilité de l'hétérodoxie en sciences de gestion et l'actionnabilité des innovations managériales en entreprise. Mots clés : Management par l'Approche Socio-Économique (MASE), Mai 68, innovation managériales, actionnabilité. |
| Date: | 2018–05–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02073919&r=all |
| By: | Ameri, Mason (Rutgers University); Ali, Mohammad (Pennsylvania State University); Schur, Lisa (Rutgers University); Kruse, Douglas L. (Rutgers University) |
| Abstract: | The employment of people with disabilities has received significant attention, but little is known about how unions affect their employment experiences. To address this, we analyze monthly U.S. Current Population Survey (CPS) data from 2009 through 2017 and find that the unionization rate declined more rapidly among employees with disabilities. The results are not due to demographic or occupational factors, but to the lower rate at which people with disabilities are hired into unionized jobs. This lower hiring rate more than offsets the greater job retention of unionized workers with disabilities. Given that employers generally control hiring, it appears they are particularly reluctant to hire people with disabilities into jobs with union protections. Overall, in the union context, workers with disabilities appear more likely to be "last hired," but less likely to be "first fired." We also find that a union wage premium of 29.8% for workers with disabilities is greater than the 23.9% premium for workers without disabilities. There remains a pay gap of -5.7% between union workers with and without disabilities, compared to a -10.1% pay gap between non-union workers with and without disabilities. Exploratory data reveal that both union coverage and disability status increase the likelihood of requesting accommodations, supporting the voice model of unions. Overall the results indicate that while unions appear to help workers with disabilities in the U.S., unionized positions are becoming less available to workers with disabilities. |
| Keywords: | disability, unions, wage differentials, job mobility |
| JEL: | J14 J51 J31 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12258&r=all |
| By: | Patrice Bertail (MODAL'X - Modélisation aléatoire de Paris X - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre); D. Bounie (SES - Département Sciences Economiques et Sociales - Télécom ParisTech); Stephan Clemencon (LTCI - Laboratoire Traitement et Communication de l'Information - Télécom ParisTech - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Patrick Waelbroeck (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Bretagne) |
| Abstract: | Les algorithmes s'immiscent de plus en plus dans notre quotidien à l'image des algorithmes d'aide à la décision (algorithme de recommandation ou de scoring), ou bien des algorithmes autonomes embarqués dans des machines intelligentes (véhicules autonomes). Déployés dans de nombreux secteurs et industries pour leur efficacité, leurs résultats sont de plus en plus discutés et contestés. En particulier, ils sont accusés d'être des boites noires et de conduire à des pratiques discriminatoires liées au genre ou à l'origine ethnique. L'objectif de cet article est de décrire les biais liés aux algorithmes et d'esquisser des pistes pour y remédier. Nous nous intéressons en particulier aux résultats des algorithmes en rapport avec des objectifs d'équité, et à leurs conséquences en termes de discrimination. Trois questions motivent cet article : Par quels mécanismes les biais des algorithmes peuvent-ils se produire ? Peut-on les éviter ? Et, enfin, peut-on les corriger ou bien les limiter ? Dans une première partie, nous décrivons comment fonctionne un algorithme d'apprentissage statistique. Dans une deuxième partie nous nous intéressons à l'origine de ces biais qui peuvent être de nature cognitive, statistique ou économique. Dans une troisième partie, nous présentons quelques approches statistiques ou algorithmiques prometteuses qui permettent de corriger les biais. Nous concluons l'article en discutant des principaux enjeux de société soulevés par les algorithmes d'apprentissage statistique tels que l'interprétabilité, l'explicabilité, la transparence, et la responsabilité. |
| Date: | 2019–02–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02077745&r=all |
| By: | Gérard Desmaison (ISEOR - Institut de Socio-économie des Entreprises et des ORganisations - Institut de socio-économie des entreprises et des organisations); Georges Vandenhove |
| Date: | 2017–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02073905&r=all |
| By: | Tipper, Adam |
| Abstract: | Environmental accounting has emerged as a global response to the shortcomings of the System of National Accounts (SNA) to reflect environmental considerations. Stats NZ is developing environmental-economic accounts to meet widespread needs around understanding the impacts and dependencies of the economy on the environment and develop statistics that show progress beyond that of GDP growth. This paper provides an overview of environmental-economic accounting, including its application to ecosystems and how it may be used to understand the stocks and flows of natural resources in New Zealand, its use in economic analysis, and Stats NZ’s work to date and future developments. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar18:287274&r=all |
| By: | Gamage, Danula K. (Queen Mary, University of London); Sevilla, Almudena (University College London) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of the Athena Scientific Women's Academic Network (SWAN) Charter on the wages and employment trajectories of female faculty. The Athena SWAN Charter is a gender equality initiative that formally recognises good practice towards the representation and career progression of women in Science, Technology, Engineer, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) through an accreditation process. We find that the gender wage gap closes after Athena SWAN accreditation. However, female faculty at the non-professorial level are not more likely to being promoted to professor after accreditation, or to move to an Athena SWAN accredited university. Taken together these results suggest that the higher wage growth experienced by female non-professorial faculty after Athena SWAN accreditation is likely to come from pay rises within a particular rank. |
| Keywords: | gender equality, positive action, gender pay gap, Athena SWAN |
| JEL: | I23 J16 J31 J44 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12211&r=all |