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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2019‒08‒26
twelve papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Lorde, Troy; Joseph, Tennyson S D |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on how Airbnb, an internet platform which has created the possibility for mass participation in the tourism market, is resulting in class conflict between new entrants and the ‘traditional’ tourism industry. Specifically, it studies how traditional tourism interests in Barbados have responded to Airbnb by seeking to restrict participation in the industry and presents this as a microcosm of broader class transitions and conflicts associated with new technologies. The paper utilises a Marxist theoretical perspective buttressed by Joseph Schumpeter’s theory of ‘creative destruction’ – places emphasis on the process of destroying productive systems to understand how specific industries expand and survive – and Clayton Christensen’s notion of ‘disruptive innovation’ – a process by which a disruptive product transforms a market – for studying how transformations in technology are impacting the tourism industry in Barbados. Its aim is to provide an account of how the process of disruption is unfolding in Barbados by highlighting the reactions of the main hotel lobby group to Airbnb, while also applying the ideas of Marx, Schumpeter and Christensen as useful theoretical lenses through which to examine the unfolding of the process of disruption of settled class and historical control of a dominant economic sector by new technologies. |
| Keywords: | Airbnb Marxist theory creative destruction disruptive innovation tourism industry class relations |
| JEL: | B51 L83 O1 Z13 |
| Date: | 2018–06–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:95488&r=all |
| By: | Scartozzi, Cesare M. |
| Abstract: | Abstract: The international system is a complex adaptive system with emergent properties and dynamics of self-organization and information processing. As such, it is better understood with a multidisciplinary approach that borrows methodologies from the field of complexity science and integrates them to the theoretical perspectives offered by the field of international relations (IR). This study is set to formalize a complex systems theory approach to the study of international affairs and introduce a new taxonomy for IR with the two-pronged aim of improving interoperability between different epistemological communities and outlining a formal grammar that set the basis for modeling international politics as a complex adaptive system. |
| Keywords: | international politics; international relations theory; complex systems theory; taxonomy; adaptation; fitness; self-organization |
| JEL: | N40 Y80 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:95496&r=all |
| By: | Dini, Paolo; Kioupkiolis, Alexandros |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the question whether complementary currencies can help us think and practice politics in new and different ways which contribute to democratic change and civic empowerment in our times. The space created by the Sardex complementary currency circuit in Sardinia (2009-to date) seems to leave enough room for the emergence of a collective micropolitical consciousness. At the same time, the design of a technological and financial infrastructure is also an alternative political, or “alter-political” choice. Both are alternative to hegemonic politics and to typical modes of mobilization and contestation. Thus, the Sardex circuit can best be understood as an alter-political combination of the bottom-up micropolitics of personal interactions within the circuit and of the politics of technology implicit in the top-down design of the technological and financial infrastructure underpinning the circuit. The Sardex experience suggests that a market that mediates the (local) real economy only and shuts out the financial economy can provide economic sustainability by supporting SMEs, supply a shield against the adverse effects of financial crises, and counteract the fetishization of money by disclosing daily its roots in social construction within a controlled environment of mutual responsibility, solidarity, and trust. We broached the Sardex currency and circuit in such terms in order to illustrate a significant and effective instance of alter-politics in our times and also to indicate, more specifically, community financial innovations which could be taken up and re-deployed to democratize or “commonify” local economies. |
| Keywords: | alternative politics; commons; complementary currencies; micropolitics; mutual credit; politics of technology; SME empowerment |
| JEL: | F3 G3 |
| Date: | 2019–07–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:101368&r=all |
| By: | Karbowski, Adam |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we compare the knowledge subsystems in 11 countries from Central Europe and the varieties of knowledge capitalism distinguished by Bruno Amable. The varieties distinguished by Amable are represented by Germany, Italy, Sweden and Great Britain. Both the input and output empirical measures of knowledge subsystems are taken into account. The results are given as hexagons of similarity. |
| Keywords: | Institutions; capitalism; knowledge production; Central Europe |
| JEL: | P5 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:95570&r=all |
| By: | Lorde, Troy; Jacob, Jadon; Weekes, Quinn |
| Abstract: | This study investigated the price-setting behaviour of hosts in the tourism sharing economy in the Caribbean. Generally speaking, we find that site, reputation, convenience, personal and amenities attributes, along with country-level indicators significantly affect prices in the Caribbean. More specifically, most attributes have a positive effect on price-setting. Larger accommodations charge higher prices. Hosts with superior reputations charge higher prices. However, listings with a larger number of ratings are associated with lower prices. This may be an artefact of tourists’ preferences for cheaper sharing accommodations, resulting in a relatively higher volume of reviews for properties at the lower end of the price spectrum. Provision of Convenience options have an overall positive effect on prices, although there is evidence that some options can result in lower prices for tourists. The sole Personal attribute investigated is associated with higher price-setting behaviour. Virtually all amenities examined result in greater prices being charged for the space. Results indicate that geography has significant effects on price-setting behaviour. Listings in countries with greater economic and infrastructural development, greater biodiversity, but weaker exchange rates have higher prices. On the other hand, prices are lower in countries where there is more competition for customers. |
| Keywords: | tourism, sharing economy, Airbnb, Caribbean, price-setting behaviour |
| JEL: | L83 O54 |
| Date: | 2018–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:95475&r=all |
| By: | Sophie van Huellen (Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK) |
| Abstract: | A recent debate over the financialisation of commodity markets has stimulated the development of approaches to price formation which incorporate index traders as a new trader category in commodity futures markets. I survey these new approaches by retracing their emergence to traditional price formation models and show that these new models arise from a synthesis between commodity arbitrage pricing and asset pricing theories in the tradition of Keynesian inspired hedging pressure models. Based on these insights, I derive testable hypotheses to provide guidance for a growing literature that seeks to empirically evaluate the effects of index traders on price discovery and risk management in commodity futures markets. |
| Keywords: | commodity prices, commodity futures, financialisation, index investment, speculation |
| JEL: | D84 G13 Q02 |
| Date: | 2019–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:soa:wpaper:223&r=all |
| By: | Theine, Hendrik |
| Abstract: | Based on the political economy of the media perspective, this paper explores the media coverage of wealth and inheritance taxation over the early 21st century (2000 to 2018) based on a large-scale corpus of seven German daily and weekly newspapers. Germany is a useful case study, being one of the most unequal countries in the Eurozone area in terms of wealth inequality. Drawing on text mining methods and corpus linguistics, it shows that wealth and inheritance taxation is a relatively infrequent topic over the entire period, with the exception of a few intense months of increased reporting. On the occasions that the media do report on the topic of wealth and inheritance taxation, it is mainly covered in terms of a political debate. This debate centres on the politics of a possible reform process and the connected difficulties of finding compromise between different actors, rather than focussing on the potential economic impact. Furthermore, this paper explores the power of agents (both on the organisational and individual level) as the primary definers of social reality. It shows that market-liberal and conservative organisations and economists dominate the news over social-democratic and left-wing ones. Overall, the findings indicate a hostile news coverage concerning the introduction of wealth taxation and the increase of inheritance tax. |
| Keywords: | wealth taxation, economic inequality, media coverage of redistribution policies, critical discourse analysis, political economy of the media |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus005:7098&r=all |
| By: | Martínez, Patricia Mercedes; Parnisari, María Florencia |
| Abstract: | El proyecto de extensión "Explorando la Economía Social y Solidaria II: Aprendizaje, Asociativismo y Universidad" de la FCEyS de la UNMdP, interactúa con alumnos y docentes del ciclo superior de escuelas secundarias con los objetivos de difundir e informar sobre una alternativa más solidaria y cooperativa de la economía, impulsando, de esta manera, una mayor responsabilidad social. En las distintas instituciones visitadas, se inicia la actividad con un juego denominado "Coopolis", en el que se utilizan diferentes herramientas para crear una cooperativa de la que formarán parte todos los jugadores del grupo, quienes se irán enfrentando en conjunto ante adversidades u oportunidades que irán surgiendo. Luego de diversos encuentros, en una de las instituciones se comienza a ayudar a pensar en formar una cooperativa escolar con estudiantes de cuarto y quinto año cuyo principal objetivo será mejorar la infraestructura del lugar a partir de diversas estrategias pensadas por ellos mismos. Pero a pesar del entusiasmo de los jóvenes, se ha tropezado con algunas dificultades relacionadas a la falta de interés y entendimiento con docentes y directivos del colegio. En el marco de las Jornadas de Sociología el análisis del presente trabajo se basa en los cambios y transformaciones en alumnos, docentes y el equipo, y en las dificultades que han surgido a la hora de llevar a cabo el intento de crear una cooperativa escolar. |
| Keywords: | Economía Social; Cooperativas; Escuelas Secundarias; |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:3193&r=all |
| By: | Anke Becker |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the origins and function of customs aimed at restricting women’s sexuality, such as a particularly invasive form of female genital cutting, restrictions on women’s freedom of mobility, and norms about their sexual behavior. The analysis tests the anthropological theory that a particular form of pre-industrial subsistence – pastoralism – favored the adoption of such customs. Pastoralism was characterized by heightened paternity uncertainty due to frequent and often extended periods of male absence from the settlement, implying larger payoffs to imposing restrictions on women’s sexuality. Using within-country variation across 500,000 women in 34 countries, the paper shows that women from historically more pastoral societies (i) are significantly more likely to have undergone infibulation, the most invasive form of female genital cutting; (ii) adhere to more restrictive norms about women’s promiscuity; (iii) are more restricted in their freedom of mobility. Instrumental variable estimations that make use of the ecological determinants of pastoralism support a causal interpretation of the results. The paper further shows that the mechanism behind these patterns is indeed male absence, rather than male dominance, per se, or historical economic development. |
| Keywords: | infibulation, female sexuality, paternity uncertainty, concern about women’s chastity |
| JEL: | I15 N30 Z13 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7770&r=all |
| By: | Singh, A. |
| Abstract: | Ownership has long been a symbol of status in Russia but as the consumer behavior is getting changed in developed and developing countries due to digital transformation, Russia is not an exception anymore. There’s a paradigm shift in consumer behavior and collaborative consumption is leading this phenomenon. However, beyond some theoretical evidence, there is a dearth of understanding why people participate in collaborative consumption in Russia. Therefore, this research investigates the people’s motivation behind their participation in collaborative consumption. Apart from socio-technological factors, this research also explores the intricate interplay in between social and technological phenomenon behind the collaborative consumption. In this regard, this research addresses three research questions, which are, what is the interplay in social and technological context in collaborative consumption? What are the socio-technologic factors that have an impact on a particular individual participation towards collaborative consumption? How to balance managing social and technological context of collaborative consumption? This is a conceptual paper which explains the social and technological factors that underlies the peoples’ motivation behind their participation towards collaborative consumption. |
| Keywords: | collaborative consumption, socio-technological factors, sharing economy, cconsumer behavior, social, social media, technology, emerging market, Russia, |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sps:wpaper:16125&r=all |
| By: | Alain Burlaud (LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM]) |
| Abstract: | In line with his concerns to conceptualize the accounting principles and practices, the author develops the topic that falls under the above title, based on the premise that the facts and developments during the economic crisis show that accounting standards cannot be conceived solely by their internal consistency-often revealed a posteriori by their conceptual framework, but also by taking into account their economic and social impact, and their consequences. Hence, the standard setters claim that they work for the general interest. Consequently, the author pursues to define the concept of general interest in the light of relevant literature and accounting law, and examines the procedural answers provided by standard setters to confirm the consideration of the general interest concept, and to finally find out whether a substantiated answer is possible. In his analysis, the author also outlines the issue of high relevance of stakeholders' representation in regulatory bodies and their intervention in the development of standards. In his endeavour, the author also suggests a substantial approach to the general interest in terms of consequentialism, i.e. the teleological ethics according to which an action must be judged morally on the consequences it implies. Of course, the concept is applied to financial and non-financial information. An interesting conclusion is reached on the general interest that not only legitimizes the standard setters who claim it, but also the public authorities that also determine the content of the financial and non-financial statements of the companies. This intervention is due to the consequences of the standards and their impact on society. Therefore it can never be taken for granted the fact that international standard setters consider themselves as representatives of the general interest. |
| Keywords: | Accounting standards,standard setters,regulatory bodies,general interest JEL Classification: M 41,M 48 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02145524&r=all |
| By: | Pal, Sumantra |
| Abstract: | The reverse causality between female employment and domestic violence is debatable. Due to the adverse health consequences of domestic violence women shy away from employment. For fears about backlash from their husbands, wives may abstain from working. Battered women may also take up employment to liberate themselves from the grip of domestic violence. Using a new dataset that combines ethnographic data with the third wave of the National Family and Health Survey, I identify three instruments. Those are traditional tribal norms that are more conducive to the participation of women in activities outside of their homes, namely, female political engagement, female hunting, and female gathering of food, fodder and fuel. The instrument variable procedure generates significant protective effects for working wives with a 38 percent reduction in the probability of physical violence, while controlling for observable social norms surrounding tribal marriage, separation, descent, inheritance, subsistence, and settlement patterns. |
| Keywords: | Female employment,Domestic Violence,Male-backlash,India |
| JEL: | B54 J12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:201543&r=all |