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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2023‒05‒29
fourteen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Cesaratto, Sergio (University of Siena) |
| Abstract: | Relying on anthropological and archaeological research based on the notion of social surplus, and on the lessons of Marx, Polanyi, Sraffa and Garegnani, the paper argues that the classical surplus approach is naturally associated with institutional and historical analysis. The concept of social surplus is a skeleton which is given muscles by institutional analysis while the latter would be enervated if not anchored to a base of ultimate material interests. Institutions should be looked at in relation to the extraction and distribution of the social surplus and the resulting inequality and social conflict. The paper offers a novel Post Keynesian view of institutions in an interdisciplinary perspective. |
| Keywords: | Surplus; Economic History; Institutions; Marx; Sraffa; Polanyi |
| JEL: | A12 B51 B52 |
| Date: | 2023–04–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:sraffa:0061&r=hme |
| By: | Marco Ranaldi; Elisa Palagi |
| Abstract: | This work presents a framework to jointly study individuals’ heterogeneity in terms of their capital and labor endowments (endowment heterogeneity) and of their saving and consumption behaviors (behavioral heterogeneity), from an empirical perspective. By adopting a newly developed synthetic measure of compositional inequality, this work classifies more than 20 economies across over two decades on the basis of their heterogeneity characteristics. Modern economies are far from being characterized by agents with same propensities to save and consume and same endowments (Representative Agent systems), or by the existence of rich capital-abundant savers and poor hand-to-mouth consumers (Kaldorian systems). Our framework and results are discussed in light of the heterogeneity assumptions underlying several types of macroeconomic models with heterogeneous agents (Kaldorian, TANK & HANK, OLG, and ABM models). A negative relationship between behavioral heterogeneity and the economy’s saving rate is also documented. |
| JEL: | D31 P10 O43 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lis:liswps:848&r=hme |
| By: | Sachin Sharma (CRSU - Department of Economics, Chaudhary Ranbir Singh University); Vijay Kumar (CRSU - Department of Economics, Chaudhary Ranbir Singh University); Babloo Jakhar (Department of Economics, Central University of Rajasthan) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the evolution of "Economy at Technological Singularity" (EaTS) and its implications on the concept of natural liberty and welfare in an economic system. The study begins by discussing Keynes' prophetic ideas of an economic utopia and then delves into the role of technological advancement, particularly Artificial Intelligence, in the EaTS system. The study contrasts the ideas of Karl Marx and Adam Smith in defining natural liberty and the individual incentive mechanism. Giddens' structuration theory highlights the central role of "authoritative resources" in determining the dominion of mankind over "allocative resources". Further, Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory is employed to understand the nature of true natural liberty and the idea of transcendence. The paper also explores the notion of utopia and the "End of History" and concludes with the idea that the holy grail of economics is a mechanism design problem, constrained by technology that dynamically alters the economic world order. Thus, economists must rethink outside the conventional spectrum of economic thought and design new ways to structure incentives and distribution mechanisms for future human civilization. |
| Keywords: | economic convergence, economic bliss, technological singularity, artificial intelligence, end of history, natural liberty, transcendence |
| Date: | 2023–04–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04078104&r=hme |
| By: | Giovanni Dosi; Davide Usula; Maria Enrica Virgillito |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this work is to study the joint interaction of three founding elements of modern capitalism, namely endogenous technical change, income distribution and labour markets, within a low-dimensional nonlinear dynamic setup extending the Goodwin model. By going beyond the conservative structure typical of the predator-prey model, we insert an endogenous source of energy, namely a Kaldor-Verdoon increasing returns specification, that feeds the dynamics of the system over the long run and in that incorporates a transition to an (anti) dissipative framework. The qualitatively dynamics and ample array of topological structures reflect a wide range of Kaldorian stylised facts, as steady productivity growth and constant income distribution shares. The intensity of learning regimes and wage sensitivity to unemployment allow to mimic some typical traits of both Competitive and Fordist regimes of accumulation, showing the relevance of the demand-side engine, represented by the KV law, within an overall supply-side framework. High degrees of learning regimes stabilise the system and bring it out of an oscillatory trap. Even under regimes characterised by low degrees of learning, wage rigidity is able to stabilise the business cycle fluctuations and exert a positive effect on productivity growth. |
| Keywords: | Capitalist system; Kaldor-Verdoon law; wage rigidity; dissipative complex systems. |
| Date: | 2023–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2023/21&r=hme |
| By: | Luca Fontanelli |
| Abstract: | We provide a survey of the main mechanisms of market selection used in economics. We gather them in three theoretical paradigms (rational equilibrium, Simonesque and evolutionary), that we try to reconcile in terms of underlying laws of selection. We show that the three paradigms have been converging in their focus on firm heterogeneity and increasing returns. These selec- tion mechanisms are however fostered by theories which differ in terms of sources of increasing returns, generating mechanisms of firm heterogeneity, firm rationality and emphasis on equilibrium states vis-a-vis out-of-equilibrium dynamics. Our discussion suggests that the convergence between the three theoretical paradigms is taking place in the direction of research, which is aimed at the replication of empirical patterns related to firm heterogeneity, rather than in the theory underlying selection mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | Selection; competition; monopolistic competition; quasi-replicator; Gibrat's Law. |
| Date: | 2023–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2023/22&r=hme |
| By: | Henry Wai-chung; ; |
| Abstract: | This paper builds common grounds for a future research agenda in the regional studies of evolutionary economic geography and global production networks. I put forward two “troubling themes†of (geo)politics and heightened risks as the most disruptive forces in today’s increasingly fragmented global economy and argue for their significance in regional studies throughout the post-pandemic 2020s. Massive global change through the reconfiguration of and strategic (de/re)coupling with global production networks will engender new path formation in regional transformation. In this analytical move from the global “back again†to the regional, there are common questions on epistemology (causal explanations) and substantive issues (network/regional resilience; institutions/the state; inequalities/uneven development; new forms of regional policies) for both communities of researchers. |
| Keywords: | evolutionary economic geography; global production networks; geopolitics; risks; regional economies; research agenda |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2312&r=hme |
| By: | Annina Kaltenbrunner; Elif Karaçimen; Joel Rabinovich |
| Abstract: | This article investigates the changing financial behavior of non-financial corporations (NFCs) in emerging markets (EMs) with a particular focus on Brazil and Turkey. Studies analysing new financial operations of EM NFCs have been cursory and few in number, focusing either on aggregate balance sheet analysis or single case study countries. Additionally, these studies have paid little attention to what underlying motives are and how structural pressures facing the EM NFCs mediate financial behaviours of NFCs. This lacuna is significant as specific manifestations of NFCs changing interaction with financial markets are highly variegated and shaped by the hierarchic world economy. Undertaking a comparative analysis of financial behaviours of NFCs in Brazil and Turkey based on balance sheet analysis and semi structured interviews, this paper shows how EM firms behaviour differs from that of their developed counterpart due their subordinate integration into the world economy. It departs from explanations focusing on carry-trading in order to account for high levels of debt and liquid resources. On the contrary, this article argues that firm financial behaviour in EMs takes a dualistic and heterogenous nature manifested in the type of firm engaged with financial markets and its sectoral belonging. The paper also shows not only the crucial but also the contradictory role state play in mediating the behaviours of EMs firms. |
| Keywords: | financialization, subordination, firm strategy, market-based finance |
| JEL: | F36 G30 L20 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pke:wpaper:pkwp2306&r=hme |
| By: | Aslihan Akdeniz (University of Amsterdam); Christopher Graser (University of Amsterdam); Matthijs van Veelen (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Alger and Weibull (2013) ask the question whether a combination of assortative matching and incomplete information leads to the evolution of moral or altruistic preferences. Their central result states that Homo Hamiltonenis – a type that has moral preferences with a morality parameter equal to the level of assortment – is evolutionarily stable, while preferences that lead to different behaviour are unstable. Together with their claim that altruistic and moral preferences differ sharply, this suggests that moral preferences tend to beat altruistic ones in evolutionary competition. We show that this is not true. First of all, we show that there is a loophole in the definition of evolutionary stability, allowing for Homo Hamiltonensis to satisfy the definition when the set of equilibria is empty, and their equilibrium behaviour is not determined. If we try to close this loophole, by allowing for mixing, or by allowing for asymmetric equilibria, we find that there are two options. With the first approach, the differences in behaviour between Homo Hamiltonensis and regular altruists can be substantial, but as soon as the difference appears, Homo Hamiltonensis can be invaded, and regular altruists win in direct competition. With the second way of allowing for mixing, or coordination on asymmetric equilibria, Homo Hamiltonensis cannot be invaded, but then the difference in behaviour all but disappears, as all equilibria between Homo Hamiltonensis are also equilibria between regular altruists. Classification-JEL: |
| Keywords: | Altruism, morality, evolution, assortment, incomplete information. |
| Date: | 2023–05–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20230025&r=hme |
| By: | Damien Bazin (Université Côte d'Azur; GREDEG CNRS); Thierry Pouch (Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, REGARDS) |
| Abstract: | La figure d'Henri Denis est indissociable de l'enseignement universitaire d'Histoire de la pensée économique en France durant les années 1960-1990 et de l'implantation du marxisme. A ce titre, il a pu être considéré comme un économiste sulfureux, notamment de la part de ses collègues les plus libéraux. Henri Denis n'a toutefois été qu'un marxiste tardif. Durant les années 1940, il est proche du courant corporatiste, qui fut l'un des axes du régime de Vichy. Cet article entend reconstituer le parcours sulfureux de cet économiste français. |
| Keywords: | Crise, économie, guerre, histoire de la pensée économique, politique française |
| JEL: | B24 B41 B50 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2022-10&r=hme |
| By: | 市川, 類; ICHIKAWA, Tagui |
| Abstract: | 近年、人工知能（AI）技術の進展と普及が世界的に急速に進んでおり、今後、世界各国の経済成長、国民生活の向上、社会課題の解決への寄与などが大きく期待されている。一方、AI 技術の利用は、人類・地域社会の共有する社会規範に対しリスクを生じさせ得るものであり、そのリスクを受容可能な範囲に低減すべくAI ガバナンス制度の在り方への関心が高まっている。特にAI 技術は、いわゆる人の知的能力の一部を代替し、あるいはそれを超える能力をコンピュータ上で実現可能とするものであり、人類社会全体の在り方にも大きな影響を与え得ることから、今後、世界におけるAI ガバナンス制度をどのような方向に進めて行くかは、人類にとっても大きな課題である。このAI ガバナンス制度については、現在、世界各国・地域において検討されており、原則として、利害関係者等との議論を通じて自ら最適と考えるものが提案されてきているものと考えられる。しかしながら、実際には、それぞれの地域的状況を背景に、多様な制度が提案されており、その多様性の中で、世界全体のAI ガバナンス制度がどのように形成され、進化していくのかについては、ほとんど分析・考察がなされていないのが現状である。このような問題意識の下、本ワーキングペーパーにおいては、「技術と制度の共進化」との枠組みの下で、世界におけるAI ガバナンス制度の進化のメカニズムを明らかにすることによって、今後の世界のAI ガバナンスの在り方の議論に資することを目的とする。具体的には、まずは、「技術と制度の共進化」という視点から、AI ガバナンス制度に係る検討の枠組みを設定し、このうち、特に「制度」としての技術ガバナンスに関しては、その国・地域において共有される社会規範に応じて、当該国家統治システムの中で形成されるという枠組みを設定する。その上で、このような枠組みの下で、特に社会規範や国家統治システムなどに係る地域差が、世界のAI ガバナンス制度の進化を引き起こすメカニズムを実証的に明らかにする。具体的には、欧州、北米、日本などの先進民主主義国を対象にして、世界的において多様に構築されつつあるAI ガバナンス制度を比較分析し、その要因を抽出するとともに、それぞれの制度が提案された経緯を時系列に分析することにより、各国・地域のAI ガバナンス制度が、それそれの多様な地域的要因に基づきつつも、欧州AI 法を中心に互いに影響を受け、改善工夫や新機軸の検討がなされることにより、「制度イノベーション」が生じつつあるというメカニズムを明らかにする。このようなメカニズムを明らかにすることによって、この「技術と制度の共進化」という枠組みを踏まえつつ、世界のAI ガバナンス制度の今後の方向について考察を行う。 |
| Keywords: | 人工知能, AI ガバナンス, イノベーション政策, 規制 |
| Date: | 2023–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:iirwps:23-01&r=hme |
| By: | Akhmadiyeva, Zarema |
| Keywords: | Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iamost:334356&r=hme |
| By: | Lasierra-Asun, Diana |
| Abstract: | With data from survey 3178 of the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas on Social Mobility and Inequality, we analyze the explanatory factors of mobility. Mobility is measured by comparing the interviewee's occupation with that of the father when he was 16 years old. We classify individuals into three groups, those who ascend, those who descend, and those who remain in the same social class. We incorporate variables related to four kinds of capital: economic, social, cultural, and human capital. In the survey, social class is determined by socioeconomic status, which relates Occupation and Socioeconomic conditions of the individual. Social class appears as the most influential variable in mobility, both downward and upward. Our results seem to reaffirm Bourdieu's theories of social reproduction against meritocratic theories, which reflects a scenario in which social inequality, far from being reduced, is widening. These results are considered to contribute to both theory and practice. |
| Keywords: | Socioeconomics, Social structure, Inequality, Family, Social values |
| JEL: | A14 I24 J17 J18 Z13 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:117093&r=hme |
| By: | Juskowiak, Piotr |
| Abstract: | In this article, I ask how Henri Lefebvre’s oeuvre can contribute to the foundations for a metromarxist theory of urban commoning. To provide an answer to this question I discuss three main areas in which his thinking about the common emerges – his anthropology, philosophy of the urban, and politics of autogestion. This allows me to emphasize the multidimensionality of the Lefebvre-minded commoning, which manifests itself not only at the level of local activism but also touches the dimensions of the production of subjectivity and the constitution of the urban. Read in this way, Lefebvre’s theory of urban commoning helps us to move beyond some of the limitations of the existing discussion of urban commons, as well as to make room for a more fruitful dialogue between urban scholars and autonomist Marxists. It also equips us with an alternative conceptual framework that potentially enhances post-Lefebvrian projects of direct urban democracy. |
| Date: | 2023–04–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:5gwbk&r=hme |
| By: | Bazzana, Davide; Rizzati, Massimiliano; Ciola, Emanuele; Turco, Enrico; Vergalli, Sergio |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the potential impacts of climate change and mitigation policies on the Euro Area, considering the uncertainty and heterogeneity in both climate and economic systems. Using the MATRIX model, a multi-sector and multi-agent macroeconomic model, we simulate various climate scenarios by employing different carbon cycle models, damage functions, and marginal abatement curves found in the literature. We find that heterogeneous climate damages amplify both the magnitude and the volatility of GDP losses associated with global warming. By the end of the century, we estimate that assuming homogeneous shocks may underestimate the effects of climate change on aggregate output by up to one-third. Moreover, we find that the speed and feasibility of a low-carbon transition crucially depend on (i) the stringency of emission reduction targets, which determine the level of a carbon tax, and (ii) the rate of technological progress, which influences the shape of the abatement cost curve. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2023–05–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemwp:334607&r=hme |