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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2021‒03‒08
seventeen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Hugues Champeaux (CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne); Francesca Marchetta (CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne) |
| Abstract: | Stay-at-home policies due to the Covid-19 pandemic have drastically increased housework and childcare. During the lockdown, couples were harshly challenged by this novel situation which could notably redistribute roles and/or could also lead to intrahousehold conflicts. In this paper, we use individual data collected from an online survey on French partnered women during the confinement of the 2020 Spring to investigate the lockdown's effects on the household chores allocation and tensions in the couple. We show that the lockdown did not offer an opportunity to strongly renegotiate the housework and childcare division between the partners, as women still did the lion's share during this period. Men only changed their participation in household chores when they became a "quasi-leisure" because of the pandemic (as for shopping or playing with child). We also document that an unbalanced division of the increased household chores during the lockdown, in particular on cleaning and childcare, is directly linked to an increase of the intrahousehold conflicts. To conclude, this period did not structurally affect gender roles and stereotypes at home, despite minor intrahousehold changes. |
| Keywords: | Covid 19,Housework,Childcare,Gender role |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03149087&r=all |
| By: | Alger, Ingela; Laslier, Jean-François |
| Abstract: | Why do voters incur costs to participate in large elections? This paper proposes an exploratory analysis of the implications of evolutionary Kantian morality for this classical problem in the economic theory of voting: the costly participation problem. |
| Keywords: | voter turnout; voting, ethical voter; homo moralis; Kantian morality |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:iastwp:125343&r=all |
| By: | Sabogal Camargo, A.M. |
| Abstract: | Cultural and Creative Industries is a growing sector that has been characterised to offer precarious working conditions. Nevertheless, as cultural work operates under the complex dilemma of passion and precarity, there is no clear understanding of how social policy can effectively support the increasing number of workers to overcome these circumstances. Therefore, any social policy that aims to provide protection needs to question how labour precarity is interpreted and managed, and what are the specific demands of the workers. By using a life history research and intersectional sensitivity, I analysed the working conditions of urban dancers in Bogotá from their subjective perspective. Seven participants of a different class, age, race, and gender were interviewed using online means, and a digital ethnography exploration of their social networks (Instagram, YouTube and Facebook) was conducted. With this research, I will argue that it is necessary to problematize the negative connotation of labour precarity because dancers experience their work circumstances according to their positionalities and context. The interconnection of different identity markers influences their perception of precarity and the strategies they used to manage it. Moreover, this diversity of experiences has revealed an enrooted problem of cultural work inequality. Regarding their demands, social policy should acknowledge their double facet of artist and worker when listening to their need. This is a process that includes addressing issues both for redistribution and recognition. |
| Keywords: | urban dance, Colombia, cultural work, cultural and creative industries, precarity, cultural justice, life history, intersectionality |
| Date: | 2021–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ems:euriss:135150&r=all |
| By: | Sindzingre, Alice |
| Abstract: | The differences between mainstream and 'heterodox' theories and policies have become increasingly blurred, and this dynamic has also affected heterodox analyses of development. Being trapped by the primacy of the statistics-based methodological imperative, much heterodox thinking on development does not distinguish itself from the mainstream and its abandonment of reflection on the theoretical causalities that underlie policies. In this context, a conceptual framework is elaborated that focuses on the relationships between theory and policy, which allows for the argument that differences exist between heterodox and mainstream stances. Indeed, there is no direct translation between theory and policy. The criterion of validity of theory is truth. In contrast, a policymaker's domain is action, and the criterion of validity is the efficiency of the policy given its goals, as well as that of justification. The fact that a policymaker is indifferent to the truth (or falsehood) of a theoretical assumption is shown via the example of the austerity reform programmes of international financial institutions implemented in SubSaharan Africa. The 2020 pandemic is a 'natural experiment' showing that governments and international agencies can discard overnight the theories that have previously demonstrated the truth of the causalities underlying austerity policies and devise huge financial support, hence simultaneously showing that policymakers do not believe that these theories are true. If rich economies are threatened by a massive shock, policies manifest their disconnection from theories that have been previously imposed as 'true', notably upon developing economies, this 'truth' being the justification for conditional lending and an element of policy efficiency. This example delineates the specificity of heterodox reflections on development. Attitudes vis-à-vis truth and the relationships between theory and policy are in fact ethical attitudes: deontological attitudes (as opposed to utilitarianism) characterise heterodox stances, i.e., the consequences of policies are evaluated in terms of norms. |
| Keywords: | economic development,heterodox economy theory,truth,economic policy,austerity |
| JEL: | A13 B40 B50 O10 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ipewps:1552021&r=all |
| By: | Bonomi Bezzo, Franco |
| Abstract: | In this paper we want to provide an utopian attempt to tackle inequality and to tackle, most specifically, what we consider the cultural and ethical origin of inequality: paid work. We believe that a globalised world, structured around the asymmetry between an increasingly small number of employers and an increasing, almost unlimited, supply of always available employees, leads to increasing inequalities. Under our perspective, in the post-industrialised economies of all major developed countries, paid work cannot be seen anymore as an instrument of self-determination (Marx, 1844) but becomes the main generator of exploitation and poverty. For this reason, we try to develop a benefit with attached strong disincentives to paid work that should provide people with an exit strategy and higher bargaining power. After presenting the main typologies of income benefits that are normally in use or discussed we provide a theoretical explanation of the Universal Independence Income (UII) benefit we want to introduce. We simulate the introduction of our preferred version of UII, two variations of UII and five forms of Universal Basic Income (UBI) to be compared with the tax and benefit system currently in place in the UK. Our main findings suggest that UII has a positive effect on inequality an almost null effect on poverty and strong positive effects on work disincentives. |
| Date: | 2021–02–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:emodwp:em3-21&r=all |
| By: | Ingela Alger (Department of economics, Tilburg University - Tilburg University [Netherlands]); Boris van Leeuwen (TSE - Toulouse School of Economics - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Recent theoretical work suggests that a form of Kantian morality has evolutionary foundations. To investigate the relative importance of Kantian morality and social preferences, we run laboratory experiments on strategic interaction in social dilemmas. Using a structural model, we estimate social preferences and morality concerns both at the individual level and the aggregate level. We observe considerable heterogeneity in social preferences and Kantian morality. A finite mixture analysis shows that the subject pool is well described as consisting of two types. One exhibits a combination of inequity aversion and Kantian morality, while the other combines spite and Kantian morality. |
| Date: | 2021–02–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03142431&r=all |
| By: | Francesco Lamperti; Valentina Bosetti; Andrea Roventini; Massimo Tavoni; Tania Treibich |
| Abstract: | Which policies can increase the resilience of the financial system to climate risks? Recent evidence on the significant impacts of climate change and natural disasters on firms, banks and other financial institutions call for a prompt policy response. In this paper, we employ a macro-financial agent- based model to study the interaction between climate change, credit and economic dynamics and test a mix of policy interventions. We first show that financial constraints exacerbate the impact of climate shocks on the economy while, at the same time, climate damages to firms make the banking sector more prone to crises. We find that credit provision can both increase firms' productivity and their financial fragility, with such a trade-off being exacerbated by the effects of climate change. We then test a set of 'green' finance policies addressing these risks, while fostering climate change mitigation: i) green Basel-type capital requirements, ii) green public guarantees to credit, and iii) carbon-risk adjustment in credit ratings. All the three policies reduce carbon emissions and the resulting climate impacts, though moderately. However, their effects on financial and real dynamics is not straightforwardly positive. Some combinations of policies fuel credit booms, exacerbating financial instability and increasing public debt. We show that the combination of all three policies leads to a virtuous cycle of (mild) emission reductions, stable financial sector and high economic growth. Additional tools would be needed to fully adapt to climate change. Hence, our results point to the need to complement financial policies cooling down climate-related risks with mitigation policies curbing emissions from real economic activities. |
| Keywords: | Climate change; endogenous growth; financial stability; macroprudential policy; agent-based model. |
| Date: | 2021–02–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2021/05&r=all |
| By: | Andrea Loi; Stefano Matta |
| Abstract: | We introduce uncertainty into a pure exchange economy and establish a connection between Shannon's differential entropy and uniqueness of price equilibria. The following conjecture is proposed under the assumption of a uniform probability distribution: entropy is minimal if and only if the price is unique for every economy. We show the validity of this conjecture for an arbitrary number of goods and two consumers and, under certain conditions, for an arbitrary number of consumers and two goods. |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2102.09827&r=all |
| By: | , AISDL |
| Abstract: | This short article represents the first attempt to define a new core cultural value that will enable engaging the business sector in humankind’s mission to heal nature. First, I start with defining the problem of the current business culture and the extant thinking on how to solve environmental problems, which I called “the eco-deficit culture.” Then, I present a solution to this problem by formulating the “semiconducting principle” of monetary and environmental values exchange, which I believe can generate “an eco-surplus business culture.” This work adds one new element, the eleventh cultural value, to the ten core values of progressive cultures postulated by Harrison (2000). |
| Date: | 2021–01–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:ry4v2&r=all |
| By: | Philippe Larrue (OECD) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses ‘mission-oriented innovation policies’ (MOIPs), a new type of systemic intervention that a growing number of countries has implemented in order to tackle mounting societal challenges. These policies aim to alleviate some of the most prevalent weaknesses within many national systems of innovation, notably the lack of holistic strategic orientation and policy co-ordination, and fragmented policy mixes. This paper leverages a dedicated analytical framework to systematically explore the challenges and opportunities that these policies present at initiative and country levels. In doing so, it provides a better understanding of the different ways in which governments design, fund and coordinate MOIPs, and contributes to broadening the range of options available to either improve or initiate this policy approach. This paper complements the MOIP Online Toolkit (https://stip.oecd.org/stip/moip), the OECD knowledge platform on MOIPs. |
| Date: | 2021–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaac:100-en&r=all |
| By: | Rania Béji (UM - Université de Montpellier, MRM - Montpellier Research in Management - UM - Université de Montpellier - Groupe Sup de Co Montpellier (GSCM) - Montpellier Business School - UM1 - Université Montpellier 1 - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - UM2 - Université Montpellier 2 - Sciences et Techniques - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3); Ouidad Yousfi (UM - Université de Montpellier, MRM - Montpellier Research in Management - UM - Université de Montpellier - Groupe Sup de Co Montpellier (GSCM) - Montpellier Business School - UM1 - Université Montpellier 1 - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - UM2 - Université Montpellier 2 - Sciences et Techniques - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3); Abdelwahed Omri (Université de Tunis) |
| Abstract: | This chapter aims to critically review the existing literature on the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate governance features. Drawn on management and corporate governance theories, we develop a theoretical model that makes explicit the links between board diversity, CSR committees' attributes, CSR and financial performance. Particularly, we show that focusing on the cognitive and demographic characteristics of board members could provide more insights on the link between corporate governance and CSR. We also highlight how the functioning and the composition of CSR committees, could be valuable to better understand the relationship between corporate governance and CSR. |
| Keywords: | Corporate Social Responsibility,Corporate Governance,Diversity,CSR committees,Corporate Social Responsibility Performance,Financial Performance |
| Date: | 2020–10–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03144756&r=all |
| By: | Fix, Blair |
| Abstract: | Humanity's most pressing need is to learn how to live within our planet's boundaries - something that likely means doing without economic growth. How, then, can we create a non-growth society that is both just and equitable? I attempt to address this question by looking at an aspect of sustainability (and equity) that is not often discussed: the growth of hierarchy. As societies consume more energy, they tend to become more hierarchical. At the same time, the growth of hierarchy also seems to be a key driver of income/resource inequality. In this essay, I review the evidence for the joint relation between energy, hierarchy and inequality. I then speculate about what it implies for achieving a sustainable and equitable future. NOTE: This essay was written for and supported by the Seoul Platform for Initiating Discourses on an Equitable and Resilient Society. |
| Keywords: | hierarchy,energy,inequality,power,sustainability,wellbeing |
| JEL: | P16 Q4 D3 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:capwps:202102&r=all |
| By: | Adrian Bruhin; Lorenz Goette; Simon Haenni; Lingqing Jiang |
| Abstract: | We test whether asking individuals to donate blood leads to a persistent change in behavior, and examine the underlying mechanism. In a field experiment, we randomize a phone call, asking blood donors to turn out, and follow them over up to 18 months. We observe significant behavioral persistence for at least one year. We use naturally occurring rainfall as a second instrument for donor turnout to test whether behavioral persistence is due to habit formation (Stigler and Becker, 1977) or a persistent increase in motivation independent of past donation. Our results strongly favor habit formation as the underlying mechanism. |
| Keywords: | Prosocial behavior, Habit formation, Field experiment, Natural experiment |
| JEL: | C93 D04 D91 C36 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lau:crdeep:21.01&r=all |
| By: | Vladimír Peciar (Masaryk University, Czech Republic, Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic) |
| Abstract: | In this paper I use the production function approach popularized by De Loecker et al. (2020) to analyze the evolution of market power in Slovakia and some of its micro and macro implications. In contrast to other studies, I calculate markups from both value added and sales and empirically test whether some of the global trends in market power can be seen in Slovak firm level data as well. I find that the markups in Slovakia in fact declined since 2010, both in terms of value added and sales. Although the decrease in sales markups is negligible, the value added aggregate markup declined by 25% from 2.35 in 2012 to 1.78 in 2018. Value added markups tend to be higher for relatively value-added larger firms and they are also higher in larger sectors. Smaller firms (size indicated by number of employees) tend to have higher markups. It seems that a typical high markup firm is relatively small (in terms of number of employees) but produces relatively larger output. Correlations between markups and various measures of profitabality show that there is indeed a relationship between markups and market power. Markups strongly correlate with profits and they do not significantly react to changes in costs. Markups in Slovakia evolve in excess of marginal costs. Slovak firm data shows that markups are also inversely associated to labor shares. Correlation is statistically strong and empirically well established. |
| Keywords: | markups, market power, firm data |
| JEL: | D22 L11 |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mub:wpaper:2021-03&r=all |
| By: | Ötsch, Walter |
| Abstract: | Hayek benötigt für sein Marktmodell (in dem "der Wettbewerb" als Entdeckungsverfahren konzipiert wird) einen zweifachen Politikauftrag: (1) aktiv "die Ordnung" herzustellen (die sich selbst nicht herstellen kann) - und (2) (wenn sie hergestellt ist) sich machtlos zu stellen und nicht "in sie" zu "intervenieren". Dieser Widerspruch im Handlungsauftrag folgt aus der Intention von Hayek, die Gesellschaft nicht nur theoretisch zu erfassen, sondern auch gezielt zu verändern. Im Hintergrund steht seine Sicht des Menschen als "konstitutionell ignorant" (das gilt für ihn auch für PolitikerInnen) im Gegensatz und in Kontrast zu einem behaupteten überbordenden Wissen "des Marktes" bzw. seiner "Ordnung". Hayeks Bilder vom Menschen, vom "Markt" und von der Politik haben sich - so die These - in der aktuellen ökonomisierten Gesellschaft in hohem Maße durchgesetzt. Ihre Folgen waren nicht nur eine Abwertung der Politik, sondern auch der Wissenschaft selbst - eine Tendenz, die auch an manchen Think Tanks erkennbar ist, die sich auf Hayek berufen, und aus politischen Gründen dazu übergangen sind, falsches Wissen mit scheinbar wissenschaftlichen Mitteln zu produzieren. |
| Keywords: | Friedrich Hayek,Markt,Ordnung,Politikkonzept,Wissen,Nichtwissen,Epistemologie,Ignoranz,Fake News,Epistemologie |
| JEL: | A11 B13 B25 E65 H11 P10 Z13 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cuswps:66&r=all |
| By: | Lina Moros; Maria Alejandra Vélez; Alexander Pfaff; Daniela Quintero |
| Abstract: | We implemented a decision experiment in the field with rural peasants in Colombia to test the effects of introducing then partially or totally removing Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). We consider individual and collective payments and different rules for removal. We find that there is clearly no behavioral ‘crowding-out’ when a PES is created then ended. Even a simple pre-versus-post-PES comparison finds ‘crowding in’, if anything, with contributions higher after PES was removed than before PES was introduced. Comparing to a control, without PES, strengthens that conclusion. We discuss four possible mechanisms explaining these findings: recognition or gratitude; lack of negative emotions; pre-existing and persistent intrinsic motivations, and evocation of pro-environmental behavior. |
| Keywords: | lab in the field experiment, pro-environmental behavior, payment for ecosystem services, incentives, Colombia. |
| JEL: | Q Q Q57 Q |
| Date: | 2020–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:018590&r=all |
| By: | Rocío del Pilar Moreno-Sánchez; Jorge Higinio Maldonado |
| Abstract: | El pago por servicios ambientales (PSA) es un instrumento económico diseñado para promover la conservación de ecosistemas y la provisión de sus servicios. Durante casi dos décadas, el concepto, el diseño y la implementación de esta herramienta ha evolucionado y ha brindado lecciones sobre aspectos que se deben considerar para su exitosa ejecución. En ese documento se hace una revisión de la evolución del concepto mismo de servicios ambientales y del instrumento de pago por servicios ambientales, así como de las características, precondiciones y condiciones necesarias para su adecuada implementación. También se revisan las bases teóricas que sustentan su aplicación y cómo estas bases definen condiciones básicas para la decisión sobre si el PSA es la herramienta adecuada en un escenario determinado. Una revisión extensa de estudios muestra como las preferencias de los participantes definen las características de los contratos y la importancia de considerar estas preferencias en el diseño de los mismos. Las principales lecciones de esta revisión son: (i) el PSA es el instrumento económico más directo para alcanzar la conservación; (ii) sin embargo, no es la única herramienta ni está diseñada para resolver todos los problemas ambientales; (iii) el éxito de la implementación de un esquema de PSA depende de considerar las condiciones específicas y de contexto que rodean cada situación, así como las preferencias y restricciones de los potenciales participantes. |
| Keywords: | instrumentos económicos, conservación, servicios ecosistémicos, América Latina, externalidades. |
| JEL: | D04 H23 O13 Q01 Q2 Q56 Q57 |
| Date: | 2021–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:018728&r=all |