nep-hme New Economics Papers
on Heterodox Microeconomics
Issue of 2020‒02‒10
twelve papers chosen by
Carlo D’Ippoliti
Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”

  1. La théorie économique est-elle encore utile? By Richard Arena
  2. Path-Dependency of Economic Transition: An Analytical Review By Satoshi Mizobata; Norio Horie
  3. ANTOINE GOURITIN, STARTUPISM. THE TECHNOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC FANTASY OF THE STARTUP NATION FYP ÉDITIONS, 2019, By D. Desbois
  4. L’économie de marché est-elle un facteur de paix ? By Jacques Fontanel
  5. « Théoriser les formes du capitalisme », A propos de Branko Milanovic, Capitalism Alone. The Future of the System That Rules the World, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019, 287 pages By Alexandre Chirat
  6. "Demand, Distribution, Productivity, Structural Change, and (Secular?) Stagnation" By Michalis Nikiforos
  7. L'énergie et les fonctions de production agrégées : perspectives historique et méthodologique By Quentin Couix
  8. A Skeptic's Guide to Modern Monetary Theory By N. Gregory Mankiw
  9. Relating Complexities for the Reflexive Study of Complex Systems By Juste Raimbault
  10. Steady State and Efficiency Convergence Dynamics in Alternative Banking Systems: The Cases of Islamic and Community Banks By Marwan Izzeldin; Jill Johnes; Steven Ongena; Vasileios Pappas; Efthymios G. Tsionas
  11. Does Birthplace Diversity affect Economic Complexity? Cross-country Evidence By Dany Bahar; Hillel Rapoport; Riccardo Turati
  12. Transfer Pricing and Corporate Social Responsibility: Arguments, Views and Agenda By Simplice A. Asongu; Joseph I. Uduji; Elda N. Okolo-Obasi

  1. By: Richard Arena (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)
    Date: 2019–12–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-02400823&r=all
  2. By: Satoshi Mizobata (Kyoto University); Norio Horie (University of Toyama)
    Abstract: The concept “path dependency” helps understanding the institutional changes and has given a logical basis which explains not convergence of the evolutionary path of transition economies but their diversified path. Based on “the base simplified literature”, in short random sampling papers from the EconLit database through a keyword search that examine the transition economies from the angle of path dependency, this paper empirically investigates the development trends with regard to path dependency arguments in economics of transition, the theoretical trends on which the economics of transition has been discussed and others. As a consequence, the theoretical and empirical characteristics of path dependency arguments in the economics of transition can be elucidated and the paper clarifies that the papers of David Stark has occupied the important position as a source of path dependency approach’s development, through an analysis of encoding a series of literature attributes the degree of support for path dependency, the relevant reasoning factors and other influential factors based on our own methodology. A systematic / analytical review clarifies the following points: support for path dependency has declined in 2000s; while path dependency approach covers all the transition economies, South-East European countries and Russia have comparatively been stronger supporters of path dependency influence than other EU joining East European countries; researches on institutions, regions and local identities have relatively strongly support path dependency arguments
    Keywords: path dependency, institution, transition, legacy, economics
    JEL: P26 B25 O17
    Date: 2019–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyo:wpaper:1014&r=all
  3. By: D. Desbois (ECO-PUB - Economie Publique - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AgroParisTech)
    Abstract: Without being bothered by too many social or environmental constraints, certified futurologists are surfing on technological prowess to hold out the promise of renewed economic growth thanks to investment in technical innovations. Based on the adage of "Winner takes all", an economic fact stylized by Sherwin Rosen in his "tournament theory" to analyze the economy of the star system, the doctrine of the "technological unicorn" celebrating enterprise 2.0 is distilled at Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conferences by digital media "opinion leaders", organized by strategy consulting firms and funded by asset managers in this "new economy". Rather than having to challenge certain rules of the economic game, these facilitators of a "renewed business ethics" call for sustainable entrepreneurship, philanthropic capitalism and artificial intelligence to bring out solutions with "socio impact - significant economic "in a context of globalized markets.
    Abstract: Sans guère s'embarrasser de trop de contraintes sociales ou environnementales, des futurologues patentés surfent sur les prouesses technologiques pour faire miroiter la promesse d'un regain de croissance économique grâce à l'investissement dans les innovations techniques. Basée sur l'adage du « Winner takes all », fait économique stylisé par Sherwin Rosen dans sa « théorie du tournoi » pour analyser l'économie du star system, la doctrine de la « licorne technologique » célébrant l'entreprise 2.0 est distillée lors de conférences Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) prononcées par les « leaders d'opinion » des médias numériques, organisées par les cabinets de consultants en stratégie et financées par les gestionnaires d'actifs de cette « nouvelle économie ». Plutôt que de devoir remettre en cause certaines règles du jeu économique, ces facilitateurs d'une « éthique renouvelée des affaires » en appellent à l'entrepreneuriat durable, au capitalisme philanthropique et à l'intelligence artificielle pour faire émerger des solutions à « impact socio-économique significatif » dans un contexte de marchés globalisés.
    Date: 2019–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02422377&r=all
  4. By: Jacques Fontanel (CESICE - Centre d'études sur la sécurité internationale et les coopérations européennes - UPMF - Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes)
    Abstract: Modern economists do not ask much about the issues of war, even when the economic war is on, as if it were a random external shock that the economic variables used cannot predict. The basic assumption is that market economy and capitalism normally lead to peace. However, the permanence of wars questions and highlights the impotence of the market economy to maintain international peace. Many economists even believe that it creates the conditions for war, with the development of wealth and income inequalities, its mismanagement of climatic and environmental factors, the general exhaustion of arable land or the potential it offers to the most powerful countries with the application of economic wars.
    Abstract: Les économistes modernes s'interrogent peu sur les questions de la guerre, même lorsque la guerre économique est engagée, comme s'il s'agissait d'un choc externe aléatoire que les variables économiques utilisées ne peuvent prévoir. L'hypothèse de base est de considérer que l'économie de marché et le capitalisme conduisent normalement à la paix. Or, la permanence des guerres interrogent et mettent en évidence l'impuissance de l'économie de marché à maintenir la paix internationale. De nombreux économistes pensent même qu'il crée les conditions de la guerre, avec le développement des inégalités patrimoniales et des revenus, sa mauvaise gestion des facteurs climatologiques et environnementaux, l'épuisement généralisée des terres arables ou le potentiel qu'il offre aux économies les plus puissantes avec l'application des guerres économiques.
    Keywords: capitalism,market economy,capitalisme Economic war,économie de marché,paix,guerre,guerre économique,peace,war
    Date: 2019–12–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02414694&r=all
  5. By: Alexandre Chirat (TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - IEP Lyon - Sciences Po Lyon - Institut d'études politiques de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
    Abstract: Revue des livres Essais critiques : Titre recensé : Branko Milanovic, Capitalism Alone: The Future of the System That Rules the World, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019, 287 pages, ISBN 978-067498759-3 Paru dans : Œconomia [En ligne], 9-4 | 2019, http://journals.openedition.org/oeconomi a/7178
    Date: 2019–12–31
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02428975&r=all
  6. By: Michalis Nikiforos
    Abstract: The present paper emphasizes the role of demand, income distribution, endogenous productivity reactions, and other structural changes in the slowdown of the growth rate of output and productivity that has been observed in the United States over the last four decades. In particular, it is explained that weak net export demand, fiscal conservatism, and the increase in income inequality have put downward pressure on demand. Up until the crisis, this pressure was partially compensated for through debt-financed expenditure on behalf of the private sector, especially middle- and lower-income households. This debt overhang is now another obstacle in the way of demand recovery. In turn, as emphasized by the Kaldor-Verdoorn law and the induced technical change approach, the decrease in demand and the stagnation of wages can lead to an endogenous slowdown in productivity growth. Moreover, it is argued that the increasingly oligopolistic and financialized structure of the US economy also contributes to the slowdown. Finally, the paper argues that there is nothing secular about the current stagnation; addressing the aforementioned factors can allow for growth to resume, as has happened in the past.
    Keywords: Stagnation; Demand; Distribution; Technical Change; Institutions
    JEL: E02 E11 E12 E21 E22 E32 O33
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_945&r=all
  7. By: Quentin Couix (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne)
    Abstract: From a historical and methodological perspective, this paper focuses on empirical work on energy based on the aggregate production function, from the early 1970s to the late 2000s. It starts with the standard neoclassical approach, and in particular the controversy over the substitutability between capital and energy. Then it tackles the thermodynamic approach, which focuses on the explanation of the long-term growth. It shows continuity in the methodological issues raised by this work. At the theoretical level, the aggregate production function offers little conceptual insight into the physical aspects of the production process. At the empirical level, the results of estimates of energy production functions raise questions. In the neoclassical framework, the estimation is done indirectly through the cost function, so that the result is overdetermined by the marginal productivity pricing assumption. The thermodynamic approach proceeds in the opposite direction to a direct estimate, which encounters statistical problems no less important. If these difficulties relate more generally to the aggregate production function, energy issues reveal them in a very striking way.
    Abstract: Dans une perspective historique et méthodologique, cet article s'intéresse aux travaux empiriques sur l'énergie qui reposent sur la fonction de production agrégée du début des années 1970 à la fin des années 2000. Il traite dans un premier temps de l'approche néoclassique standard, et en particulier de la controverse sur la substituabilité entre le capital et l'énergie. Puis il aborde l'approche thermodynamique, davantage tournée vers l'explication de la croissance à long terme. Il montre une continuité dans les enjeux méthodologiques soulevés par ces travaux. Au niveau théorique, la fonction de production agrégée offre peu de prise conceptuelle pour rendre compte des aspects physiques du processus de production. Au niveau empirique, les résultats des estimations de fonctions de production avec énergie soulèvent des interrogations. Dans le cadre néoclassique, l'estimation est réalisée de manière indirecte via la fonction de coût, de sorte que le résultat est surdéterminé par l'hypothèse de rémunération à la productivité marginale. L'approche thermodynamique procède à l'inverse à une estimation directe, qui rencontre des problèmes statistiques non moins importants. Si ces difficultés concernent de manière plus générale la fonction de production agrégée, la question de l'énergie les révèle de façon très frappante.
    Keywords: energy,aggregate production function,growth accounting,thermodynamics,énergie,fonction de production agrégée,comptabilité de la croissance,thermodynamique
    Date: 2019–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02385521&r=all
  8. By: N. Gregory Mankiw
    Abstract: This essay discusses a new approach to macroeconomics called modern monetary theory (MMT). It identifies the key differences between MMT and the approach found in mainstream textbooks. It concludes that while MMT contains some kernels of truth, its most novel policy prescriptions do not follow cogently from its premises.
    JEL: E0 H6
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26650&r=all
  9. By: Juste Raimbault (Center for Advanced Spatial Analysis, UCL - UCL - University College of London [London], ISC-PIF - Institut des Systèmes Complexes - Paris Ile-de-France - ENS Cachan - École normale supérieure - Cachan - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 - X - École polytechnique - Institut Curie - SU - Sorbonne Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, GC (UMR_8504) - Géographie-cités - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - UPD7 - Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
    Abstract: Several approaches and corresponding definitions of complexity have been developed in different fields. Urban systems are the archetype of complex socio-technical systems concerned with these different viewpoints. We suggest in this chapter some links between three types of complexity, namely emergence, computational complexity and informational complexity. We discuss the implication of these links on the necessity of reflexivity to produce a knowledge of the complex, and how this connects to the interdisciplinary of approaches in particular for socio-technical systems. We finally synthesize this positioning as a proposal of an epistemological framework called applied perspectivism, and discuss the implications for the study of urban systems.
    Keywords: Complexity,Socio-technical Systems,Reflexivity,Knowledge of Knowledge
    Date: 2020–01–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02430521&r=all
  10. By: Marwan Izzeldin (Lancaster University Management School); Jill Johnes (University of Huddersfield); Steven Ongena (University of Zurich - Department of Banking and Finance; Swiss Finance Institute; KU Leuven; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)); Vasileios Pappas (University of Kent, Kent Business School); Efthymios G. Tsionas (Lancaster University)
    Abstract: This paper compares the efficiency dynamics of Islamic and community banks relative to their conventional counterparts. We employ parametric and non-parametric methods to analyze: i) a cross-country panel of Islamic and conventional banks from 23 countries; and, ii) a panel of community and conventional banks from the US. Parametric methods find no significant differences between the steady states and convergence rates for Islamic and conventional banks, but reveal distinctive patterns between community and conventional banks. To identify factors pertaining to these observed differences, we subject both data sets to further analyses. For the cross-country panel, factors like financial depth, transparency, economic stability and banking concentration can explain the different steady state levels and convergence rates between Islamic and conventional banks across sample countries. For the US panel, efficiency and liquidity creation compete as objectives for conventional banks, while liquidity creation is not penalized in steady state efficiency terms among community banks. In addition, for these banks steady state efficiency is positively related with profitability and negatively with capitalization.
    Keywords: Efficiency convergence, Community banks, Conditional β-convergence, Islamic banks, Classification trees
    JEL: G21 F36 D24
    Date: 2019–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp1971&r=all
  11. By: Dany Bahar; Hillel Rapoport; Riccardo Turati
    Abstract: We empirically investigate the relationship between a country’s economic complexity and the diversity in the birthplaces of its immigrants. Our cross-country analysis suggests that birthplace diversity is strongly and positively associated with economic complexity. This holds particularly for diversity among highly educated migrants and for countries at intermediate levels of economic complexity. The results are robust to accounting for previous trends in birthplace diversity as well as to using alternatives diversity measures. We address endogeneity concerns by instrumenting diversity through predicted stocks from a pseudo-gravity model as well as from a standard shift-share approach. Finally, we provide evidence suggesting that birthplace diversity boosts economic complexity by increasing the diversification of the host country’s export basket.
    Keywords: Economic Complexity;Birthplace Diversity;Immigration;Growth
    JEL: F22 O31 O33
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2020-01&r=all
  12. By: Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroon); Joseph I. Uduji (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria); Elda N. Okolo-Obasi (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria)
    Abstract: The central thesis of the paper is that Multinational Companies (MNC) should invest in the use of “soft†methods (socially responsible behavior) to mitigate costs in society accrued due to use of “hardcore†tax evasion tactics (Transfer mispricing) to maximize profits from operations in developing countries and/or countries with weak or inefficient tax laws and tax collection institutions. Therefore, we articulate the argument of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as an indirect compensation for transfer mispricing. Our aim is not to present CSR as solution to transfer mispricing. An analytical approach is based on a content analysis of the existing literature with emphasis on a case study. We first discuss the dark side of transfer pricing (TP), next we present the link between TP and poverty and finally we advance arguments for CSR as a compensation for transfer mispricing. While acknowledging that TP is a legal accounting practice, we argue that in light of its poverty and underdevelopment externalities, the practice per se should be a strong defence for CSR because it is also associated with schemes that deprive developing countries of the capital essential for investment in health, education and development programmes.
    Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Transfer pricing; Extreme poverty
    JEL: F20 H20 M14 O11
    Date: 2019–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:abh:wpaper:19/029&r=all

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