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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2020‒08‒24
23 papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Kabeer, Naila |
| Abstract: | The 2019 Nobel Prize in economics was awarded to three scholars on the grounds that their pioneering use of randomized control trials (RCTs) was innovative methodologically and contributed to development policy and the emergence of a new development economics. Using a critical feminist lens, this article challenges that conclusion by interrogating the storytelling practices deployed by “randomista” economists through a critical reading of a widely cited essay by Esther Duflo, one of the 2019 Nobel recipients, on the relationship between women’s empowerment and economic development. The paper argues that the limitations of randomista economics have given rise to a particular way of thinking characterized by piecemeal analysis, ad hoc resort to theory, indifference to history and context, and methodological fundamentalism. It concludes that the randomista argument that broad-based economic development alone–without focused attention to women’s rights–will lead to gender equality has not been borne out by recent data. HIGHLIGHTS Despite claims of impartiality, Duflo’s interpretations of evidence and the language she uses indicate that the randomista method and narrative is not objective or impartial. The randomistas’ treatment of preferences as random and idiosyncratic ignores what feminists have long espoused: that the formation of preferences derives from entrenched social constructions. The randomistas' claims to methodological superiority result in a discounting or dismissal of findings from nonexperimental studies in favor of experimental studies that report the same findings. Duflo's main argument discussed in this paper is that while gender equality is desirable in its own right, it is better achieved through gender-neutral policies because gender-affirmative policies “distort” the allocative process and lead to efficiency costs. Yet, these so-called distortions stem from historical structures that have curtailed women's productive potential and protected male privilege. In other words, patriarchal discrimination introduces structural costs that are unlikely to be visible when the focus is on individual economic actors. |
| Keywords: | development; economic development; Empowerment |
| JEL: | O10 |
| Date: | 2020–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:104600&r=all |
| By: | Gough, Ian |
| Abstract: | The case for Universal Basic Services (UBS) is a recent idea that is attracting much attention. This article provides a theoretical justification for extending the delivery of public services, as an alternative to the longer‐standing argument for Universal Basic Income (UBI). It rests on human need theory and the concept of provisioning systems. Both recognise the irreducible heterogeneity of consumption, the multi‐faceted nature of human needs and the variety of systems on which we all depend. Both recognise the importance of shared systems and mutual benefits. The final part restates the case for social rights or entitlements to the satisfaction of basic needs and for collective responsibilities to meet them to serve the values of equality, efficiency, solidarity and sustainability. |
| Keywords: | human needs; provisioning systems; foundational economy; social entitlements; collective responsibility; solidarity |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2019–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:101051&r=all |
| By: | Vlados, Charis (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics); Chatzinikolaou, Dimos (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The evolution of institutions is a theoretical field of increasing interest today. Socio-economic development in the institutional approach results mainly from the historical unfolding and quality of institutions. This paper aims to highlight Daron Acemoglu’s institutional approach, which appears to be gaining prominence gradually, and propose a new theoretical perception of the developmental process of the Greek socio-economic system. It first analyses Acemoglu’s theoretical contribution, it then compares the ‘Acemoglian’ to other approaches and suggests that the analysis of inclusive and extractive institutions based on historically-significant virtuous and vicious circles has value for the Greek case. While several studies tend to focus on the macroeconomic and macro-financial symptoms of the Greek crisis, an evolutionary approach of the deeper institutional dynamics seems to offer a required reposition. We describe and recommend the development and underdevelopment process in terms of an ‘institutionally adaptive socio-economic system’ and ‘competitiveness web’. These findings indicate that development takes place over historically-significant periods, through complex processes of selection and diffusion of institutional restructurings, and that civil societies are responsible for the political forces who represent them, at least in democratic regimes. In the case of Greece, the proposal to utilise an approach of an ‘institutionally adaptive socio-economic system’ can give a repositioned theoretical perception, especially nowadays when the institutional and evolutionary socio-economic analytical classes seem to be gaining interest and prominence. |
| Keywords: | Daron Acemoglu; Greek crisis; why nations fail; socio-economic development; institutionally adaptive socio-economic system; institutional innovations; competitiveness web |
| JEL: | B15 B52 F63 |
| Date: | 2020–03–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:duthrp:2020_005&r=all |
| By: | Maé Geymond (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we combine the Varieties of Capitalism and the global value chain approaches, considering the interaction between lead firms' global strategies and national capitalism, to show how local pharmaceutical employment results from this interaction. Our analysis is grounded in the comparison between France and Quebec. The first part presents the relevant differences in both historical and institutional elements. Second, after highlighting the similarities that can be attributed to global dynamics, we detail the mechanisms by which local institutions shape the global value chain implantation, giving different forms to the employment structure and dynamcis. We show that France is clearly oriented towards manufacturing activity because of industrial history and market features, whereas Quebec has a commercial specialty and an outsourced R&D as a result of high prices and the global organization of research |
| Keywords: | political economy; varieties of capitalism; industrial organization; local government; multinational firms |
| JEL: | L65 P52 P16 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:20011&r=all |
| By: | Vlados, Charis (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics); Chatzinikolaou, Dimos (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Competitiveness is a field of discord and controversies among economists from the very first moment it appeared in the theory and practice of economic policy. This article aims to identify how the concept of competitiveness evolves and find out possible points of convergence, divergence, and synthesis in contemporary scientific dialogue. It first presents older and recent approaches to competitiveness by identifying potential conceptual enrichments and reorientations at the meso-level of analysis. It finds that the rediscovery and deepening into the meso-economic approaches, which connect the micro and macro-economic levels of analysis dynamically, have the potential to offer new analytical content and interpretive potential on competitiveness. Growth poles, industrial districts, and innovation environments constitute such meso-level approaches. In conclusion, we propose a multilevel synthesis of competitiveness and an integrated form of industrial policy in the scheme of “competitiveness web” and “co-opetitiveness pole.” |
| Keywords: | Competitiveness; Micro-meso-macro analysis; Growth poles; Industrial districts; Innovation environment; Competitiveness web; Co-opetitiveness pole |
| JEL: | B52 L52 |
| Date: | 2020–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:duthrp:2020_011&r=all |
| By: | Vlados, Charis (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics); Chatzinikolaou, Dimos (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics); Deniozos, Nikolaos (National and Kapodistrian University of Greece - Department of Turkish Studies and Modern Asian Studies); Katimertzopoulos, Fotios (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics); Koutroukis, Theodore (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics); Digkas, Agis-Georgios (National and Kapodistrian University of Greece - Department of Turkish Studies and Modern Asian Studies) |
| Abstract: | This volume—which is a collection of published articles by the “Stra.Tech.Man Lab” research team—focuses on and examines the dynamics of local systems as the principal contributors to overall socioeconomic development. Our goal is to clarify that local development is a phenomenon that goes beyond the traditional regional analysis and the “conventional” neoclassical theorization of maximization; the dynamics of local development seems to belong in the evolutionary socioeconomic science. The evolutionary and trans-disciplinary approach to local development dynamics focuses on the examination of local-level phenomena while seeking to comprehend how local systems (local innovation environments, local business ecosystems, local clusters) shape their potential of innovation and competitiveness. In our perspective, the scientific discipline of local development studies how socioeconomic systems in today’s era of globalization innovate and compete in their different spatial articulations. |
| JEL: | F63 O19 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2019–12–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:duthrp:2019_037&r=all |
| By: | Samia Sediri (GAEL [2020-....] - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble [2020-....] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - UGA [2020-....] - Université Grenoble Alpes [2020-....] - Grenoble INP [2020-....] - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology [2020-....] - UGA [2020-....] - Université Grenoble Alpes [2020-....], ESE - Ecologie Systématique et Evolution - UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 - AgroParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Orée (association)); Michel Trommetter (GAEL [2020-....] - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble [2020-....] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - UGA [2020-....] - Université Grenoble Alpes [2020-....] - Grenoble INP [2020-....] - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology [2020-....] - UGA [2020-....] - Université Grenoble Alpes [2020-....]); Nathalie Frascaria-Lacoste (ESE - Ecologie Systématique et Evolution - UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 - AgroParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Juan Fernández-Manjarrés (ESE - Ecologie Systématique et Evolution - UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 - AgroParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Transformability is increasingly promoted as a way of moving societies toward more sustainable futures in the era of the Anthropocene, mostly because the concept of resilience has fallen short in many instances where impacts on social-ecological systems are continuous, varied, and usually unknown. While such transformations can play a crucial role in improving the sustainability of social-ecological systems, they may lead to unexpected and undesirable outcomes. This literature review on social-ecological transformability and wicked problems seeks to shed light on and acknowledge some of the limitations of transformability regarding unforeseen conditions. We argue that wicked problems arise in transformation initiatives in the presence of high complexity, deep uncertainty, deep conflicts, and divergence among stakeholders, as well as scale mismatches concerning spatial, temporal, and institutional processes. Our findings may explain why some transformation initiatives fail to generate expected changes on the ground, mainly in two cases: (a) a polarized configuration that maintains the status quo of the system to be transformed and (b) an unforeseen transformation that causes the system to lurch from crisis to crisis. To conclude, we recommend using diagnostic questions to prevent wicked problems in social-ecological transformations |
| Keywords: | social-ecological system,resilience,transformability,sustainability,wicked problems,social complexity,uncertainty |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02907306&r=all |
| By: | Vlados, Charis (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics); Chatzinikolaou, Dimos (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The concept of competitiveness and the practice of industrial policy seem to acquire a repositioned meaning and new interest today. We explore how the concept of competitiveness is changing shape and scope and what is the focus of industrial policy both historically and recently in the effort of finding their theoretical convergences and divergences. The findings suggest a move towards an industrial policy that is systemic and integrated since it focuses on enhancing the multilevel competitiveness of the socio-economic system in a unified micro-meso-macro approach. A counter-proposed analysis of the “competitiveness web,” which perceives at the centre of the system the evolutionary micro-dynamics of the firm surrounded by co-evolving meso-dynamics and macro-economic and macro-social environments, enhances our understanding towards an “organic” industrial policy that focuses on strengthening the multi-level competitiveness. |
| Keywords: | multilevel competitiveness; integrated industrial policy; business dynamics; socio-economic development; micro-meso-macro analysis; competitiveness web |
| JEL: | B52 F63 L52 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:duthrp:2020_003&r=all |
| By: | Seema Jayachandran |
| Abstract: | This article discusses cultural barriers to women's participation and success in the labor market in developing countries. I begin by describing how gender norms influence the relationship between economic development and female employment, as well as how gender norms vary substantially across societies at the same level of economic development. I then examine several specific gender-related social norms and how they constrain women's employment. I present examples of policies aimed at dismantling these cultural barriers to female employment and the impacts they have. |
| JEL: | J16 J20 O10 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27449&r=all |
| By: | Ignazio Visco (Bank of Italy); Giordano Zevi (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | Starting from Simon’s bounded rationality notion, in this study we consider some of the links between concepts of bounded rationality and the approaches followed by economists in their analysis of the role played by economic agents’ expectations in driving the evolution of the economy through time. We argue that the degree of attention devoted to the formation of expectations by the macroeconomic theory has followed high and low cycles. In recent years, the increasing availability of survey data and the failings of models based on purely rational representative agents have prompted renewed interest in inquiries into the direct measurement of expectations and empirical studies of their formation. The intellectual legacy of Herbert Simon provides a useful guide for both these activities. |
| Keywords: | bounded rationality, expectations, Herbert Simon |
| JEL: | B3 D80 D9 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_575_20&r=all |
| By: | Vlados, Charis (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics); Chatzinikolaou, Dimos (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The multipolar cooperation between Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS countries) seems to be a significant development in the current phase of restructuring of globalization. This article explores the relationship between the emerging radical readjustment of the world hegemony equilibrium with the past and future dynamics of the global socioeconomic system. It examines the relation of the ongoing institutionalization by the BRICS with the established international institutions and the relation of BRICS to the promotion of global economic development. After presenting a structured interpretation of the actual emergence of a “new globalization,” the article focuses on the aspects of BRICS evolution and dynamics that contribute to the discussion of the rise of a more balanced and more democratic multipolar global regime. It notices that multipolar cooperation at the international level should be more democratic as the BRICS claim, although these countries (China and Russia, in particular) face increasing concerns for their liberal rights and democratization domestically. In conclusion, it seems that a new and relatively stable global system now requires a repositioned conception of capitalism as an evolutionary socioeconomic phenomenon, in which innovation is the central and predominant organic process within all organizations. |
| Keywords: | BRICS; Global restructuring; Multipolarity; Innovational capitalism; New globalization |
| JEL: | B52 F53 F63 F69 |
| Date: | 2020–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:duthrp:2020_008&r=all |
| By: | Lorenzo Napolitano; Angelica Sbardella; Davide Consoli; Nicolo Barbieri; Francois Perruchas |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to analyse the relationship between income inequality and environmental innovation. We use a complexity-based algorithm to compute an index of green inventive capacity in a panel of 57 countries over the period 1970–2010. The empirical analysis reveals that, on average, inequality is detrimental to countries’ capacity to engage complex green technologies knowledge bases. Using non-parametric methods allows us to further articulate this general finding and to uncover interesting non-linearities in the relationship between innovation and inequality |
| Keywords: | Complexity; Environmental Innovation; Inequality |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sru:ssewps:2020-11&r=all |
| By: | Ozili, Peterson K |
| Abstract: | This article presents some criticisms of financial inclusion. It notes that (i) financial inclusion is an invitation to live by finance and leads to the financialisation of poverty; (ii) some of the benefits of financial inclusion disappears after a few years; (iii) financial inclusion ignores how poverty affects financial decision making, (iv) it promotes digital money which is difficult to understand, (v) financial inclusion promotes the use of transaction accounts; (vi) digital money is difficult to understand; and that (vii) some financial inclusion efforts bear a resemblance to a campaign against having cash-in-hand. This study will help policymakers in their assessment of the economic, social, political and cultural factors that hinder financial inclusion as well as the consequence of financial inclusion for society. For academics, this study will provide a critical perspective to on-going financial inclusion debates in the large positivist literature on financial inclusion |
| Keywords: | : financial inclusion, criticism, poverty, digital money, digital finance, financial literacy, financial education. |
| JEL: | O1 O17 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:101813&r=all |
| By: | Katharina Längle (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Université Paris 1 panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris School of Economics; https://centredeconomiesorbonne.univ-paris1.fr) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the question which aspects of offshoring harm low skilled workers using data from the WIOD for 14 manufacturing industries in 16 countries between 1995 and 2008. By considering the use of foreign production factors in domestic production, the paper shows that low skilled workers are directly and negatively affected by offshoring of low skilled tasks. Importantly, the paper determines a further indirect channel highlighting the role of growing foreign competition in domestic markets for intermediate goods. Accordingly, wage shares of low skilled workers decline when competition in domestic downstream value chains increases. Interpreting this channel in the light of the litterature on defensive skill-biased innovation, the shift in wage shares away from low skilled workers might be provoked by skill intensive investments in response to tougher foreign competition in domestic markets for intermediate goods |
| Keywords: | Global value chains; Input-Output Tables and Analysis; Organization of Production; Empirical Studies of Trade |
| JEL: | F23 L23 L24 M11 |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:20005&r=all |
| By: | Lambrecht, Isabel; Sproule, Katie; Synt, Nang Lun Kham; Ei Win, Hnin; Win, Khin Zin |
| Abstract: | When designing and evaluating policies and projects for women’s empowerment, appropriate indicators are needed. This paper reports on the lessons learned from two rounds of pretesting and cognitive testing of the project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) in a total of five States/Regions in Myanmar. We assess if respondents understand the modules as intended and which questions require modification based on the cultural context. We find that the questions also present in the abbreviated WEAI are generally well understood, particularly on instrumental and group agency. The challenge to respond to hypothetical and abstract questions did become apparent in the domains representing intrinsic agency, and was problematic for questions on autonomy and self-efficacy. Also, the internationally validated questions on attitudes towards domestic violence were too abstract, and responses depend on the scenario envisioned. We also suggest including an adapted version of the module on speaking up in public, to reinforce the domain on collective agency. Our findings provide an encouraging message to those aspiring to use pro-WEAI, but emphasize the need for continued attention for context-specific adjustments and critical testing of even those instruments that are widely used and deemed validated. |
| Keywords: | MYANMAR; BURMA; SOUTHEAST ASIA; ASIA; empowerment; gender; women; women's empowerment; indicators; households; income; domestic violence; violence; agriculture; Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index; cognitive testing; intimate partner violence against women; violence against women |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1945&r=all |
| By: | Jerome De Henau; Susan Himmelweit |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses new methods of combined macro-micro analysis of labor demand and supply to investigate the gender impacts of public policy. In particular it examines how studies have used input-output analysis together with more or less sophisticated methods of allocating people to jobs to model the impact of public investment in care on the gender employment gap and other inequality measures. It presents some results of a cross-country comparison of investment in the care and construction industries, suggesting methodological refinements to take account of the labor supply effects of such investment policies in order to enable a more detailed analysis of who gets the jobs generated and under what conditions of employment to achieve a more accurate assessment of a policy's full impact on employment inequalities. We argue that such a microsimulation of who is likely to get any newly created jobs should be able to take account of the (child)care "tax" paid by those with caring responsibilities on time spent in employment (as well as the formal tax and benefit system). |
| Keywords: | Care; Microsimulation; Public Investment; Labor Demand; Gender |
| JEL: | E17 J16 J21 R15 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_966&r=all |
| By: | Jackson, Emerson Abraham |
| Abstract: | In a more skillful parlance, sustainable livelihood thinking can be likened to the reality of sustainability agenda, which according to Mores et al. (2009) incorporate: (i) A set of guiding principles for development intervention within communities or directed at individuals, which should be evidence-based through meaningful involvement of those directly affected; and (ii) An appreciation of available assets and their vulnerability, and the role of institutions in regulating access to assets, capable of helping thought stimulation on what ‘is’ and what ‘can’ be done in pursuit of livelihood needs analysis. As the incidence of COVID-19 unveil itself in the world economy, there is a need to focus attention in deconstructing discourses pertaining to the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in a bid to address ways of minimising human vulnerabilities in the world economy. The concept of sustainable livelihoods has dominated developmental efforts in under-developed economies, typically in Africa, Latin America and some parts of Asia (Cline-Cole and Robson, 2016; Clarke and Carney, 2008; Amalric, 1998; Cline-Cole, 1998). Decent living condition has been a challenge for people in the under-developed economies; this is partly due to the peculiarity of structural bottlenecks experienced by individual economies, which include poor management of state owned enterprises and institutionalized corruption that impede citizens’ access to essential livelihood assets (Jackson and Jabbie, 2020; Jean, 2002; Thompson and Porter, 1997). In cognisance of these issues, poor people are mostly left to settle in shanty locations, usually associated with poverty, while the means of access to livelihood assets like arable land and social capital are almost nonexistent for the poor to utilise (DFID, 2000). |
| Keywords: | Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF), Global Crisis, Deconstruction |
| JEL: | I00 I31 I38 O1 |
| Date: | 2020–04–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:101977&r=all |
| By: | Cian O’Donovan (Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex); Aleksandra Michalec (Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex); Joshua R. Moon (Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex) |
| Abstract: | Research framed to address global, grand and societal challenges has brought fresh impetus to calls by funding agencies for transdisciplinary research. Yet the urgency of such calls is not matched by sufficient knowledge of how to foster and maintain the capabilities to do transdisciplinary work. Significant gaps exist in how to cultivate and maintain transdisciplinary methods, practices and the underlying capabilities required to support them. This paper employs a capability approach to construct a realist evaluative framework with which to assess such capabilities. The framework is operationalised through a novel three-stage mixed method procedure which seeks to evaluate transdisciplinary capabilities as they are valued and experienced by researchers themselves. The procedure is tested on a portfolio of five ‘pump-priming’ projects funded by the ESRC Nexus Network. The paper reports a set of transdisciplinary capabilities valued by nexus research participants and found to varying degrees within eeach of the research projects. We find that pump-priming investments are sites of research capability development in three ways; through convening cognitive capabilities; cultivating transgressive capabilities; and maintaining backstage capabilities over durations that extend beyond the beginning and end of individual projects. Furthermore, for researchers, it is the transgressive quality of these capabilities that is most salient. Directing greater attention to these different modes of capability development in pump-priming research programmes may be useful in growing and steering research system capacity towards contemporary and future societal needs. |
| Keywords: | Transdisciplinary research, research evaluation, grand challenges, sustainability, capability approach, bibliometrics |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sru:ssewps:2020-12&r=all |
| By: | Vlados, Charis (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics); Chatzinikolaou, Dimos (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Competitiveness and industrial policy seem to play a critical role in the development and mutation of different spatialized socio-economic systems. This article aims to review the literature on these two concepts and suggest a novel theoretical framework. First, we identify that, in the relevant literature, industrial policy acquires progressively a repositioned content, described as a new, holistic, multidimensional, or integrated policy that can help create and sustain the competitiveness of the firms, industries, localities, nations, or other socio-economic agglomerations. In this context, we explore the form of an actual integrated industrial policy and propose the theoretical framework of the competitiveness web, in which the co-evolution of micro-meso-macro levels are explored, by placing the dynamics of business innovation at the dialectic center of the overall developmental process. This integrated industrial policy to strengthen competitiveness must also be able to promote innovation in the different local and regional ecosystems and, therefore, we conceive a policy mechanism in the form of the Institutes of Local Development and Innovation (ILDI). The primary purpose of these institutes is to diagnose and strengthen the Stra.Tech.Man physiology (strategy-technology-management synthesis) of the local socio-economic organizations. We believe that this new approach to the integrated industrial policy to strengthen the local competitiveness can contribute to facilitating the adaptation of the socio-economic systems, and especially the less dynamic and developed, to the new emerging challenges of the crisis and restructuring of globalization in the pandemic era. |
| Keywords: | Competitiveness and Industrial Policy; Multilevel Competitiveness; Integrated Industrial Policy; Socio-Economic Development; Competitiveness Web; Institutes of Local Development and Innovation |
| JEL: | B52 F63 L52 |
| Date: | 2020–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:duthrp:2020_010&r=all |
| By: | Vlados, Charis (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics); Chatzinikolaou, Dimos (Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This article aims to critically review the advancements in the study of contemporary dynamics of local development under the prism of the analytical perspectives of growth poles and clusters. We proceed to a literature review of clusters and growth poles and attempt an analytical synthesis. The analysis of growth poles appears to remain within the interpretive limits of traditional economic geography, focusing mainly on the dimension of regional agglomerations. At the same time, the broader literature on clusters deals more with interdisciplinary issues in their global perspective by starting increasingly its analysis from the micro-dynamics articulated at the firm level. This article proposes a conceptual extension to the analysis of the current dynamics of local development in the framework of the “competitiveness web” that takes into account all the interdependent levels of space and actors. |
| Keywords: | Local development; Growth poles; Clusters; Helix theory; Competitiveness web |
| JEL: | F63 O19 O39 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2020–01–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:duthrp:2020_002&r=all |
| By: | Raghibi, Abdessamad; Oubdi, Lahsen |
| Abstract: | Stock markets have always provided countries with a practical and flexible way to finance their economies. Hence, Islamic finance has embraced the stock market since the early 90s adopting the same framework as an ethical investment. Accordingly, Islamic investors in emerging countries shall have a range of choices when constructing a financial portfolio. However, existing screening methodologies lack flexibility as they are mainly based on rigid ratios and irrelevant thresholds. Consequently, these methodologies lead to an inefficient stock index as they completely ignore the features of each stock market along with the specificities of each industry. Thus, our study will try to propose a new screening methodology based on the optimal financial structure of each industry. The main objective of our study is to propose a methodology that will overcome different loopholes addressed in the literature. The present paper is an explanatory study which needs an empirical confirmation of the proposed methodology in order to measure its performance and efficiency against existing shari’ah-compliant indices. Hence, the main preliminary finding of our research is to enrich the academic debate on shari’ah-compliant screening methodologies through appealing to conventional corporate finance framework to enhance current methodologies. |
| Keywords: | Screening methodology, stock markets, Stock Index. |
| JEL: | D53 G11 G15 |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:101845&r=all |
| By: | Michele Loi; Eleonora Vigan\`o; Lonneke van der Plas |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we provide a philosophical account of the value of creative systems for individuals and society. We characterize creativity in very broad philosophical terms, encompassing natural, existential, and social creative processes, such as natural evolution and entrepreneurship, and explain why creativity understood in this way is instrumental for advancing human well-being in the long term. We then explain why current mainstream AI tends to be anti-creative, which means that there are moral costs of employing this type of AI in human endeavors, although computational systems that involve creativity are on the rise. In conclusion, there is an argument for ethics to be more hospitable to creativity-enabling AI, which can also be in a trade-off with other values promoted in AI ethics, such as its explainability and accuracy. |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2007.11973&r=all |
| By: | Eric V. Edmonds; Benjamin Feigenberg; Jessica Leight |
| Abstract: | Can life skills be taught in early adolescence? Using a clustered randomized control trial, this study analyzes the impact of a school-based life skills intervention in grades six and seven within a sample of 2,459 girls in Rajasthan, India. Our evidence suggests that the intervention is successful in developing stronger life skills including increased agency, more equitable gender norms, and stronger socio-emotional support. Girls also drop out of school at a lower rate: we observe an approximately 25 percent decline in dropout that persists from seventh grade through the transition to high school. |
| JEL: | I25 J16 O15 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27513&r=all |