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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2020‒04‒27
nineteen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | B. Güney Işıkara (New York University, Liberal Studies); Patrick Mokre (Department of Economics, New School for Social Research) |
| Abstract: | The relationship between prices and labour values has been the source of fruitful controversy since the earliest Classical Political Economists. The alleged refutation of the labour theory of value was an integral part of the marginalist attack against Classical and Marxist analysis. However, statistical analysis of price-value relationships made possible by the data available since the later 20th century suggest considerable empirical strength of the labour theory of value. We trace the intellectual history of the price-value relationship and its inseparable link to capitalist competition through Smith, Ricardo, Marx and Sraffa. Following Shaikh and Ochoa, we present an empirical model of testing their hypotheses that (1) labour values regulate prices of production and (2) serve as gravitational centers for market prices. The analysis of a large dataset of 42 countries and 15 years reveal only small and stable deviations and thus lend support to the Classical Political Economic analysis. With a sample of over 36,000 price vectors, we provide the most comprehensive empirical application of its class and generalize the results that have been established in the relevant literature. |
| Keywords: | Price, value, input-output, classical political economics, labour theory of value |
| JEL: | B12 B51 C67 O57 P16 |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:new:wpaper:2003&r=all |
| By: | Jael, Paul |
| Abstract: | The marginalist theory of producer’s equilibrium has been a cornerstone of mainstream economics for a long time. This theory has been challenged more than once in the twentieth century, without losing its predominance. A lot of critics and many ideas have been ventured. My conclusion is that there is room and there is a need for alternative microeconomics. Approaching heterodox microeconomics may seem entering a labyrinth. For this reason, I propose a presentation of my conception about producer’s equilibrium in a structured and concise way: fifteen principles in a logical and instructive order. The principles are founded on a hypothesis shared by neoclassical economics: rationality of agents. Each behaviour must be compatible with the pursuit of self-interest. |
| Keywords: | market structure; competition; pricing |
| JEL: | D21 D40 |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:99456&r=all |
| By: | Michalis Nikiforos |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses some issues related to the triangle between capital accumulation, distribution, and capacity utilization. First, it explains why utilization is a crucial variable for the various theories of growth and distribution--more precisely, with regards to their ability to combine an autonomous role for demand (along Keynesian lines) and an institutionally determined distribution (along classical lines). Second, it responds to some recent criticism by Girardi and Pariboni (2019). I explain that their interpretation of the model in Nikiforos (2013) is misguided, and that the results of the model can be extended to the case of a monopolist. Third, it provides some concrete examples of why demand is a determinant for the long-run rate of utilization of capital. Finally, it argues that when it comes to the normal rate of utilization, it is the expected growth rate of demand that matters, not the level of demand. |
| Keywords: | Accumulation; Growth; Distribution; Utilization |
| JEL: | B22 O4 D3 D2 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_952&r=all |
| By: | Morgan, Mary S. |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an account of the 'use-value' of case-based research by showing how social scientists exploit cases, and case studies, in a variety of practices of inference and extension. The critical basis for making such extensions relies on the power of a case, or the account given of a case (the case-study account), to exemplify certain features of the social world in ways which prove valuable for further analysis: either of the same case, or in many domains beyond the original case study. Framing use-values in terms of exemplification compares favourably with understanding reasoning beyond the case either as a form of analogical reasoning or in taking cases as experimentable objects. |
| Keywords: | Case studies; Cases; Exemplification; Inference practices; Use-values |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2019–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:104057&r=all |
| By: | Jean Pierre Doussoulin (ERUDITE - Equipe de Recherche sur l’Utilisation des Données Individuelles en lien avec la Théorie Economique - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 - UNIV GUSTAVE EIFFEL - Université Gustave Eiffel) |
| Abstract: | This article proposes a new definition of the circular economy following analysis and comparison of the most prominent concepts of the biosphere: Sraffa's value theory and Moore's dialectical method. Our paper helps to identify the positions of each of these concepts with regard to free disposal, waste treatment and surplus distribution value. Thus, we are able to show that the mechanisms of the circular economy function simultaneously as part of the appropriation system and as part of the system for the protection of nature. This study enriches the literature on the circular economy by providing analysis of various scenarios of waste disposal. Finally, areas of application and policy implications of the small wins theory are explored in order to guide future research on the circular economy. |
| Keywords: | Sraffa's value theory,capitalism,environment,political economy |
| Date: | 2019–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02542701&r=all |
| By: | Yvon Pesqueux (CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM], LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM]) |
| Abstract: | Ce texte est organisé de la manière suivante : un questionnement sur la société du risque ; des commentaires sur les liens « risque-société entrepreneuriale par nature » chez A. Giddens ; les fondements de la notion de risque ; une conclusion sur une socio-politique du risque ; un focus sur les stoïciens et la maitrise de soi (une éthique à l'épreuve des siècles, les présupposés physiques et métaphysique de la morale stoïcienne, la morale stoïcienne, quelques éléments de discussion), un focus sur Hans Jonas et le « principe responsabilité » comme nouvel impératif catégorique (considérations générales, un double constat : la transformation des rapports « Homme-Nature » à travers l'action de la science et la nécessité d'une nouvelle éthique, critiques et intérêts actuels) et un focus sur les apports de Jacques Ellul et de Jürgen Habermas à la notion de « technoscience ». La société du risque en question 1 De façon liminaire, on pourrait dire que le risque apparaît comme thématique majeure en dualité de la valorisation exacerbée de l'intérêt individuel à la fin du XX° siècle. C'est donc à ce titre que nos sociétés attribuent une valeur normative au risque 2 (U. Beck). A l'intérêt, d'ordre individualiste, répondrait le risque, d'ordre généraliste, dans une perspective à la fois cognitive et affective. Le risque ne peut en effet être pensé que dans le cadre d'une idéologie individualiste, car il apparaît en même temps que l'Autre (« L'enfer, c'est les autres » 3). En d'autres termes, sans l'Autre, pas de risque possible. À une anthropologie philosophique individualiste construite sur l'intérêt répondent donc une anthropologie générale et une héroïsation de celui qui prend les risques, dans le cadre de ce que l'on pourrait qualifier d'esthétique du risque. |
| Date: | 2020–04–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02538753&r=all |
| By: | Michalis Nikiforos |
| Abstract: | The paper makes three contributions. First, following up on Nikiforos (2016), it provides an in-depth examination of the Federal Reserve measure of capacity utilization and shows that it is closer to a cyclical indicator than a measure of long run variations of normal utilization. Other measures, such as the average workweek of capital or the national emergency utilization rate are more appropriate for examining long-run changes in utilization. Second, and related to that, it argues that a relatively stationary measure of utilization is not consistent with any theory of the determination of utilization. Third, based on data on the lifetime of fixed assets it shows that for the issues around the "utilization controversy" the long run is a period after thirty years or more. This makes it a Platonic Idea for some economic problems. |
| Keywords: | Accumulation; Growth; Distribution; Utilization |
| JEL: | B22 O4 D3 D2 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_953&r=all |
| By: | Francesco Bogliacino; Sandra Rojas Berrio; Daniel Castellanos G; Julio Cesar Chamorro; David F Forero; Mauricio Gómez Villegas; Andrea del Pilar González Peña; Gustavo Junca |
| Abstract: | A partir del 21 de noviembre 2019 (#21N) en Colombia se ha abierto un ciclo de movilizaciones y protestas sin precedentes en la historia del país. En las múltiples instancias de discusión y asambleas, uno de los llamados de movimientos y organizaciones ha sido dirigido hacia la Academia para que aporte con análisis y propuestas. Desde la Dirección del CID se ha considerado importante involucrar docentes e investigadores para que respondan a ese llamado. Este documento es el resultado de este esfuerzo. Como siempre, los autores tenían completa libertad de enfoque y posición teórica. |
| Keywords: | Paro; Pensiones; Instituciones; Tierra; Ambiente; Pensamiento Feminista; Holding; Financiarización; Líderes Sociales; Género |
| JEL: | B52 B54 D02 D20 D30 D63 E12 E24 E62 E69 G15 G23 G28 H10 H11 H20 H50 H82 I00 J26 J30 O43 O54 |
| Date: | 2020–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000426:018097&r=all |
| By: | Leire San-Jose (UPV/EHU - Universidad del Pais Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea [Espagne]); Jose Retolaza (DEUSTO - Universidad de Deusto [Bilbao] - University of Deusto); Eric Lamarque (IAE Paris - Sorbonne Business School) |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to establish the relationship between economic efficiency and social efficiency to analyze the sustainability of banking in Europe. The type-effect has been analyzed, as stakeholder value banks-cooperatives and saving banks-should not be less socially and economically efficient than commercial banks. This European analysis was made using the Bankscope database, as it provides a unique insight into the stakeholder view that clarifies, by an analysis of two-stage boundaries, that there is no single model of social and economic efficiency according to the type of financial entity in Europe. These findings contribute to the social cost paradox and shared value perspective, and more broadly to stakeholder theory. It is established that a tradeoff between economic and social efficiency is not needed. There are different behaviors in different European countries. Moreover, our results could lead to the development of social indicators of the sustainability aspects of organizations without resorting to traditional accounting. |
| Keywords: | Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA),cooperative banks,stakeholder theory,sustainability,risk,social efficiency,banking |
| Date: | 2018–09–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02536203&r=all |
| By: | Wallace Marcelino Pereira (Cedeplar-UFMG); Fabricio José Missio (Cedeplar-UFMG); Frederico G. Jayme Jr (Cedeplar-UFMG) |
| Abstract: | The literature on productive structure e economic growth shows the relevance of industry in the process of product expansion for both developed e developing countries. Recent studies also suggest that increasing participation of the modern services sector (industrial services) contributes to innovation, productivity, e hence growth. The main goal of this paper is to propose a theoretical discussion about the importance of the modern services sector for Latin America e proposes to update the central thesis of the Latin American structuralist approach. The data suggest that, as with industry, the center-periphery relationship is perpetuated in services. The ECLAC school of thought remains current e contributes to explain the underdevelopment of Latin American countries. |
| Keywords: | Structural change; services; structuralism. |
| JEL: | O1 O2 |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td620&r=all |
| By: | Nikolova, Milena; Cnossen, Femke |
| Abstract: | We demonstrate why meaningful work, i.e. job-related activities that individuals view as purposeful and worthwhile, matters to labour economists. Building on self-determination theory, which specifies the roles of autonomy, competence, and relatedness as preconditions for motivation, we are the first to explore the determinants of work meaningfulness. Specifically, using three waves of the European Working Conditions Survey, we show that autonomy, competence, and relatedness explain about 60 percent of the variation in work meaningfulness perceptions. Meanwhile, extrinsic factors, such as income, benefits, and performance pay, are relatively unimportant. Meaningful work also predicts absenteeism, skills training, and retirement intentions, which highlights the concept's economic significance. We provide new insights that could help organise the future of work in a meaningful and dignifying way and propose concrete avenues for future research on meaningful work in economics. |
| Keywords: | meaningful work,motivation,non-monetary benefits of work,labour economics,labour market outcomes,self-determination theory |
| JEL: | J01 J30 J32 J81 I30 I31 M50 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:509&r=all |
| By: | Dominique Foray (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne); Gaetan de Rassenfosse (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne); George Abi Younes (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne); Charles Ayoubi (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne); Omar Ballester (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne); Gabriele Cristelli (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne); Matthias van den Heuvel (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne); Ling Zhou (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne); Gabriele Pellegrino (Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne); Patrick Gaulé (University of Bath); Elizabeth Webster (Swinburne University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | The present document provides the take of innovation economists on the current pandemic. It is addressed to the general public and focuses on questions related to the Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) ecosystem. It does not present new research findings. Instead, it provides a reading of current real-world developments using economic reasoning and relying on existing economic research. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, economics, innovation, policy |
| JEL: | I18 |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iip:wpaper:10&r=all |
| By: | David Havrlant; Mehmet Ali Soytas (King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center) |
| Abstract: | When an economy is in the midst of a transformation and diversification process, it is hard to assume that its sectoral composition and inter-industry transactions will remain unchanged. This is especially the case since substantial adjustments to a country’s economic structure are at the heart of any restructuring plan. This paper introduces an approach that combines macroeconomic forecasts with the RAS method to produce long-term projections of input-output tables (IOTs), with an emphasis on key targets of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s blueprint for economic diversification. A significant advantage of the input-output framework is its high sectoral granularity, allowing it to capture the impacts of adjustments to final demand or government policies with respect to individual sectors. Our hybrid approach enables the introduction of different growth paths for the main variables, so that Vision 2030’s transformation plan is reflected appropriately in the projected IOTs. The framework is flexible enough to accommodate sudden adjustments with relative ease, such as the introduction of new technologies or entire sectors into the economy. Saudi Vison 2030 includes a set of targets relating to economic diversification, improved energy efficiency, the introduction of new technologies, social transformation and the support of selected emerging sectors. These policies are expected to have a substantial impact on the Saudi economy, underlining the need for an adequate and flexible tool for projecting and evaluating structural adjustments in the economy. |
| Keywords: | Economic Diversification, Economic projection, Input-Output table, Saudi Vision 2030 |
| Date: | 2020–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:prc:mpaper:ks--2020-mp03&r=all |
| By: | Sen, Ali |
| Abstract: | I analyze structural change within the services sector and its implications for Baumol's cost disease and cross-country productivity differences. My results show that Baumol's cost disease becomes less relevant over development: It generates minor declines on aggregate productivity growth rate and accounts for a small share of the productivity growth slow- down. I argue that the existence of services sub-sectors with high-productivity growth rates, progressive services, and their substitutability with other sectors in the economy rationalize these facts. A model consistent with these stylized facts predict that Baumol's cost disease would depress aggregate productivity growth rate less in the future for developed countries. I later analyze cross-country productivity differences. The results in Duarte and Restuccia (2010) hide discrepancies between different services sub-sectors: Although developed countries have caught-up the US in the low-productivity growth services sub-sectors, stagnant services, the opposite conclusions emerge for the progressive/business services. I conclude that the substitutability between progressive/business and stagnant services sectors contribute to increasing aggregate productivity differences between the US and other developed countries. To put differently, structural change facts that limit Baumol's cost disease also advance cross-country productivity differences. |
| Keywords: | structural change, services, Baumol's cost disease, aggregate productivity. |
| JEL: | E01 O41 O47 O57 |
| Date: | 2020–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:99614&r=all |
| By: | Mohamed Benabdelkrim (emlyon business school); Clément Levallois; Jean Savinien; Céline Robardet |
| Abstract: | Institutional scholarship studies how individuals coexist and interact with social structures. Organizations and inter-organizational relations within industries are a central focus of these studies. Hence, empirical research has so far largely relied on the observation of individual actors identified by their organizational attributes, and organizations identified by their industry characteristics. The flourishing of new types of social structures has sent an invitation to observe a broader range of actors beyond organizations stricto sensu, and to define the arena of interest beyond the boundaries of industry membership. However, in practice, these remain a favorite starting point of empirical investigations. In this article, we present a new method for the study of organizational fields that facilitates the identification of a large number and varied types of actors in a given field, provides a characterization of the relational structure of the field, and offers a content analysis on different sub-regions of the field. We test the method by replicating a previous study in the field of ‘social impact of nonprofits', and show how it can contribute to operationalize mechanisms at play in the field. We conclude by noting that the principles of this method can extend beyond the dataset it is originally built on and facilitate a comparative approach to the study of fields. This contribution should enhance the value of the field as a theoretical construct by extending its operational reach. |
| Keywords: | Online Social Networks,Classification,Fields,methodology,Curation |
| Date: | 2020–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02529429&r=all |
| By: | Lahcen Benbihi (Université Ibn Zohr [Agadir], LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM]); Anne Marchais-Roubelat (LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM]); Khalid Bourma (Université Ibn Zohr [Agadir]) |
| Abstract: | Communication on the impact of fair trade is of prime interest for its development. In line with researches on fair trade's capacities to transform socio-economic relationships in the long term, this article aims to compare its impact at the level of producer organizations with the level of the territory where they operate.The research carried out on the argan tree territory in Morocco stresses an evolution of the studied cooperatives. They become aware of becoming stakeholders in regional planning in a logic of sustainable development, beyond the short-term economic interest, which was initially their trigger. This awareness contrasts with the conception of the limited role played by fair trade in the sustainable transformation of socio-economic relations on the territory scale put up by the key players of the network of public institutions and representatives of producers created by the Moroccan government for the argan sector's development. Beyond the initial project of evaluating the local effects of fair trade and its capacity to transform socio-economic relationships in the long term in the perspective of communicating with consumers, this research highlights a plurality of communication issues upstream of the sector, on a territorial scale. |
| Abstract: | La communication autour des effets du commerce équitable sur les territoires dans lesquels il s'inscrit joue un rôle essentiel dans son développement. Dans la mouvance des travaux de recherche sur l'impact du commerce équitable et sur ses capacités à transformer durablement les relations socio-économiques, cet article a pour objectif de comparer les effets du commerce équitable à l'échelle des organisations de producteurs et à celle du territoire où ils vivent. La recherche effectuée sur le territoire de l'arganier au Maroc montre une évolution des coopératives étudiées qui prennent conscience de devenir parties prenantes de l'aménagement du territoire dans une logique de développement durable, au-delà de l'intérêt économique à court terme qui constituait initialement leur unique facteur de motivation. Cette prise de conscience contraste avec la conception du rôle limité que joue le commerce équitable dans la transformation durable des relations socio-économiques à l'échelle du territoire qu'ont les acteurs clefs du réseau d'institutions publiques et de représentants de producteurs créés par le gouvernement marocain pour le développement de la filière de l'argan. Au-delà du projet initial de l'évaluation des effets locaux du commerce équitable et de sa capacité à transformer durablement les relations socio-économiques en vue de sa communication auprès des consommateurs, cette recherche met en lumière une pluralité de problématiques communicationnelles en amont de la filière, à l'échelle du territoire. |
| Keywords: | transformation,cooperatives,territory,fair trade,certification,commerce équitable,coopératives,territoire |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02514174&r=all |
| By: | Segal, Paul |
| Abstract: | The modern study of economic inequality is based on the distribution of entitlements over goods and services. But social commentators at least since Rousseau have been concerned with a different aspect of economic inequality: that it implies that one person is entitled to command another person for their own personal ends. I call this inequality as entitlements over labour. I propose to measure entitlements over labour by calculating the extent to which top income groups can afford to buy the labour of others for the purpose of their personal consumption. Unlike standard inequality measures, this measure is not welfarist, but instead has its normative basis in relations of domination, hierarchy and social status between people. I estimate entitlements over labour in three high-inequality and two low-inequality countries and argue that inequality as entitlements over labour is socially and politically salient, capturing a side of inequality neglected by standard measures. |
| Keywords: | inequality; income distribution; socio-economics; elites; hierarchy |
| JEL: | D31 |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:104083&r=all |
| By: | Steve Bond; Arshia Hashemi; Greg Kaplan; Piotr Zoch |
| Abstract: | The ratio estimator of a firm’s markup is the ratio of the output elasticity ofThe ratio estimator of a firm’s markup is the ratio of the output elasticity ofa variable input to that input’s cost share in revenue. This note raises issues thatconcern identification and estimation of markups using the ratio estimator. Concerningidentification: (i) if the revenue elasticity is used in place of the output elasticity, thenthe estimand underlying the ratio estimator does not contain any information aboutthe markup; (ii) if any part of the input bundle is either used to influence demand, or isneither fully fixed nor fully flexible, then the estimand underlying the ratio estimatoris not equal to the markup. Concerning estimation: (i) even with data on outputquantities, it is challenging to obtain consistent estimates of output elasticities whenfirms have market power; (ii) without data on output quantities, as is typically thecase, it is not possible to obtain consistent estimates of output elasticities when firmshave market power and markups are heterogeneous. These issues cast doubt overwhether anything useful can be learned about heterogeneity or trends in markups,from recent attempts to apply the ratio estimator in settings without output quantitydata. |
| Keywords: | Markups, Output Elasticity, Revenue Elasticity, Production Functions |
| JEL: | D2 D4 L1 L2 |
| Date: | 2020–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:906&r=all |
| By: | Luiza Nassif-Pires; Laura de Lima Xavier; Thomas Masterson; Michalis Nikiforos; Fernando Rios-Avila |
| Abstract: | The costs of the COVID-19 pandemic--in terms of both the health risks and economic burdens--will be borne disproportionately by the most vulnerable segments of US society. In this public policy brief, Luiza Nassif-Pires, Laura de Lima Xavier, Thomas Masterson, Michalis Nikiforos, and Fernando Rios-Avila demonstrate that the COVID-19 crisis is likely to widen already-worrisome levels of income, racial, and gender inequality in the United States. Minority and low-income populations are more likely to develop severe infections that can lead to hospitalization and death due to COVID-19; they are also more likely to experience job losses and declines in their well-being. The authors argue that our policy response to the COVID-19 crisis must target these unequally shared burdens--and that a failure to mitigate the regressive impact of the crisis will not only be unjust, it will prolong the pandemic and undermine any ensuing economic recovery efforts. As the authors note, we are in danger of falling victim to a vicious cycle: the pandemic and economic lockdown will worsen inequality; and these inequalities exacerbate the spread of the virus, not to mention further weaken the structure of the US economy. |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:levppb:ppb_149&r=all |