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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2024–12–02
fourteen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Alicia Vidler; Toby Walsh |
| Abstract: | We introduce a novel hybrid approach that augments Agent-Based Models (ABMs) with behaviors generated by Large Language Models (LLMs) to simulate human trading interactions. We call our model TraderTalk. Leveraging LLMs trained on extensive human-authored text, we capture detailed and nuanced representations of bilateral conversations in financial trading. Applying this Generative Agent-Based Model (GABM) to government bond markets, we replicate trading decisions between two stylised virtual humans. Our method addresses both structural challenges, such as coordinating turn-taking between realistic LLM-based agents, and design challenges, including the interpretation of LLM outputs by the agent model. By exploring prompt design opportunistically rather than systematically, we enhance the realism of agent interactions without exhaustive overfitting or model reliance. Our approach successfully replicates trade-to-order volume ratios observed in related asset markets, demonstrating the potential of LLM-augmented ABMs in financial simulations |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2410.21280 |
| By: | Gene Yu; Ce Guo; Wayne Luk |
| Abstract: | Agent-Based Model (ABM) validation is crucial as it helps ensuring the reliability of simulations, and causal discovery has become a powerful tool in this context. However, current causal discovery methods often face accuracy and robustness challenges when applied to complex and noisy time series data, which is typical in ABM scenarios. This study addresses these issues by proposing a Robust Cross-Validation (RCV) approach to enhance causal structure learning for ABM validation. We develop RCV-VarLiNGAM and RCV-PCMCI, novel extensions of two prominent causal discovery algorithms. These aim to reduce the impact of noise better and give more reliable causal relation results, even with high-dimensional, time-dependent data. The proposed approach is then integrated into an enhanced ABM validation framework, which is designed to handle diverse data and model structures. The approach is evaluated using synthetic datasets and a complex simulated fMRI dataset. The results demonstrate greater reliability in causal structure identification. The study examines how various characteristics of datasets affect the performance of established causal discovery methods. These characteristics include linearity, noise distribution, stationarity, and causal structure density. This analysis is then extended to the RCV method to see how it compares in these different situations. This examination helps confirm whether the results are consistent with existing literature and also reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the novel approaches. By tackling key methodological challenges, the study aims to enhance ABM validation with a more resilient valuation framework presented. These improvements increase the reliability of model-driven decision making processes in complex systems analysis. |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2410.19412 |
| By: | Di Carlo, Donato; Ciarini, Andrea; Villa, Anna |
| Abstract: | Comparative political economy scholarship struggles to categorize Italy's model of capitalism between a mixed-market economy and a hybrid, stagnant economic system. To enhance our understanding of the Italian political economy, this paper employs the analytical framework of growth regimes to study Italy's regional economic systems. Our analysis indicates that Italy can hardly be defined as a "national growth regime" due to the presence of two diametrically opposed regional growth regimes: northern regions conform to a manufacturing-based, export-led growth regime supported by competitiveness-enhancing territorial institutions; southern regions conform to a particular variety of the consumption-led growth regime, that is, an administrative Keynesianism regime, which we theorize to typify a regime where growth and employment are systematically dependent on the state's role as employer of last resort, the state's consumption-enhancing social policies, and economic forbearance of labor and corporate tax regulations. The paper suggests that studying regional growth regimes is desirable when marked internal diversity in economic outcomes or productive structures exists across regions within (generally larger) countries, and when subnational governments have powers to develop their own major institutions/policies in support of regional growth regimes. |
| Abstract: | Die Vergleichende Politische Ökonomie tut sich schwer mit einer Kategorisierung des italienischen Kapitalismusmodells, das irgendwo zwischen einer gemischten Marktwirtschaft und einem hybriden, stagnierenden Wirtschaftssystem anzusiedeln ist. Um unser Verständnis der Politischen Ökonomie Italiens auszubauen, untersucht das Papier basierend auf der Wachstumsmodelltheorie Italiens regionale Wirtschaftssysteme. Die Analyse zeigt, dass Italien über zwei diametral entgegengesetzte Wachstumsmodelle verfügt: die nördlichen Regionen mit ihrer umfangreichen Industrieproduktion weisen die Charakteristika eines exportorientierten Wachstumsregimes auf, unterstützt durch wettbewerbsfördernde Institutionen; die südlichen Regionen hingegen entsprechen einer besonderen Variante eines konsumorientierten Wachstumsregimes, die wir administrativen Keynesianismus nennen, in dem Wachstum und Beschäftigung systematisch von der Rolle des Staates als Arbeitgeber letzter Instanz, von den konsumfördernden Effekten von Sozialpolitik und von arbeits- und unternehmenssteuerlichen Begünstigungen abhängen. Die Ergebnisse der Studie legen eine Analyse regionaler Wachstumsmodelle nahe, wenn Regionen (in generell größeren Ländern) eine ausgeprägte Vielfalt im Hinblick auf Wirtschaftskraft und Produktionsstrukturen aufweisen und wenn subnationale Regierungen in der Lage sind, eigene wichtige Institutionen und Regelungen durchzusetzen, um regionale Wachstumsregime zu stärken. |
| Keywords: | comparative economic systems, comparative political economy, growth models, Italy, regional economies, Italien, regionale Ökonomien, vergleichende politische Ökonomie, vergleichende Wirtschaftssysteme, Wachstumsmodelle |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:mpifgd:305294 |
| By: | Vitale, Tommaso Prof (Sciences Po) |
| Abstract: | This chapter commences with the presentation of three questions. Firstly, what are the strengths of political and social science research work on associationism? Secondly, which areas have been treated with a greater degree of ideological bias and would therefore benefit from a more critical realist approach (Pratschke, 2003)? Thirdly, what insights have been gained? In responding to these queries, the chapter considers the ways in which research has frequently examined associationism with a view to elucidating broader dynamics, including those pertaining to politics, professionalisation, organisation, community, elites, cooperation, and categories of stratification. As we examine the ways in which cities engage with associations, we observe a multiplicity of modes of governance, a diversity of instruments of public action, and a structure of associational opportunities. This allows us to investigate the mechanisms and processes involved, adopting a historical and comparative approach that aligns with Weberian principles. |
| Date: | 2024–10–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:udbew |
| By: | Xu, Tao |
| Abstract: | This research constructs the duality-oriented political settlements framework through structuration theory. With immense conflicts and inequality of global development, the underlying power distribution and institutional evolution in the South, however, are not fully elucidated due to the dualism-driven disagreements. With the duality of structure, our research investigates the dialectical structure-agency relationship in socio-political interaction, mediating dualism into the power structuration process, followed by a case examination of the Peiyang Republic of China 1912–1928. The results illustrate that the duality-oriented framework settles the limitations on account of static power structure and convoluted agency. The findings reveal the evolving nature of political settlements, whereby institutions are used and reconstituted by the praxes of agents. Analysing the interaction between power agents and structures, this research reinterprets political settlements as dynamic reproduction of power systems for broader development and conflict studies. |
| Keywords: | political settlements framework; structuration theory; duality of structure; power distribution; institution |
| JEL: | B5 B52 O1 P5 Z1 |
| Date: | 2024–10–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:122491 |
| By: | Katherine A. Moos; Pilar Gonalons-Pons |
| Abstract: | Drawing on both gender regime theory and social reproduction theory, this paper compares the socioeconomic and gendered organization of social reproduction in the United States and United Kingdom from 1973 to 2013. Integrating data from the Luxembourg Income Study, the Multinational Time-Use Study, and additional sources, we examine how men and women of different socioeconomic groups contribute to social reproduction through household production, paid work, and government social benefits. Our results demonstrate that household social reproduction has not been universally refamilialized, marketized, or desocialized in either country. While there is some evidence of degendering, questions remain about its feminist implications. |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lis:liswps:888 |
| By: | Ward, Charley |
| Abstract: | In 1703, the Methuen Treaty removed duties on the exchange of English cloth for Portuguese wine, the trade later immortalised by David Ricardo’s use of it to explain his theory of comparative advantage. While Ricardo described Portugal as productively superior in both goods, he showed how specialisation and trade could still produce a higher level of output and mutual benefits. Ever since, Ricardo’s theory has been used by neoclassical economists as a theoretical tool to assert the logic of free trade. However, a subset of political economists, including Friedrich List, deny that trade liberalisation is always good for growth. These scholars have re-historicised the exchange of English cloth for Portuguese wine, finding that the Methuen Treaty ruined Portugal’s domestic textile industry and left them with a “slow-growing export market for wine.”1 This paper examines historical accounts of the Methuen Treaty and Anglo-Portuguese trade to assess the accuracy of the mainstream and heterodox characterisations of Ricardo’s classic example. It uses articles from prominent 19th and 20th century British, Portuguese, and Brazilian historians to develop a coherent narrative of the circumstances that produced the Methuen Treaty. Ultimately, this paper finds that the treaty was one event in a series that impeded the growth of Portuguese domestic industry, inflated their trade deficit, and produced wealth for the English. This reveals how Ricardo’s theory obscures a very simple insight: that some specialisations are better than others. |
| JEL: | F10 |
| Date: | 2024–02–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:125859 |
| By: | Cinthia de Souza |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the financial mechanisms that reflect and entrench the financial subordination of the Eurozone periphery within the monetary union. It argues that the exacerbation of financial asymmetries during the debt crisis and their relative softening during the pandemic are closely linked to the evolving Eurozone approach to government securities. It proposes a new framework centred on what is here termed the "Eurozone's contradiction", a concept that encapsulates the potential tension between the uneven discipline of finance and the monetary union`s perpetuation. When this tension becomes unsustainable, institutional changes and shifts in economic policy are required to preserve the common currency area. These developments, in turn, influence regional government debt hierarchies and shape the variegated financial subordination of the Eurozone periphery |
| Keywords: | Financial Subordination, Periphery, Eurozone, Public Debt. |
| JEL: | F33 E44 H63 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:916 |
| By: | Catherine Esnard (CeRCA [Poitiers, Tours] - Centre de recherches sur la cognition et l'apprentissage [UMR 7295] - UP - Université de Poitiers = University of Poitiers - UT - Université de Tours - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Rebeca da Rocha Grangeiro (UPN SSA - Université Paris Nanterre - UFR Sciences sociales et administration - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre, LAPPS - Laboratoire Parisien de Psychologie Sociale - UP8 - Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre) |
| Abstract: | Despite significant improvements, women are still underrepresented at high levels in academia. Most research on these inequalities is conducted within a specific national academic system, without taking into account its cultural roots. The aim of the present study was to analyze the extent to which the cultural context acts as a barrier on women's career progression. Specifically, we focused on psychological processes described under the metaphor of Queen Bee Phenomenon that may reflect the ways in which female academics conform to male-gender roles encoded in androcentric social and academic culture. Two samples of women academic, one French (N = 73), the other Brazilian (N = 88), were compared through the lens of two dimension of the Queen Bee Phenomena: self-group distancing and gender hierarchy legitimation. Brazilian women identify more with their female peer group than their French counterparts. French women are more hostile to quotas and more inclined to adhere to meritocratic discourses than their Brazilian counterparts. Both academic contexts tend to perpetuate gender inequalities, but in different ways: by maintaining gender-stereotypical expectations in Brazil and meritocratic ideology in France. The implications for policies to promote a more egalitarian university context are discussed herein. |
| Keywords: | academic carrier, culture, gender, inequality, queen bee phenomena |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04750608 |
| By: | Bulfone, Fabio; Ergen, Timur; Maggor, Erez |
| Abstract: | Conditionality was a central concern in the development literature of the 1990s. With the massive expansion of targeted public support to private firms since the Great Financial Crisis, the question of conditionality is once again at the center of industrial policy debates. Despite the growing interest in the concept, the existing literature does not provide a systematic conceptualization of conditionality in the context of industrial policy, nor does it outline the political factors that facilitate the introduction of conditionality by state actors. This paper addresses this gap by offering a systematic political economy of conditionality. We provide an overview of the literature on conditionality, focusing on different industries, historical periods, and national contexts. In doing so, we make three contributions to the debate on industrial policy. First, we distinguish between two broad instruments of conditionality: performance standards and corporate control devices. Next, we map the coalitional, institutional, ideational, and global contextual factors that facilitate conditionality. Finally, we offer two vignettes of recent industrial policy initiatives in the EU and the US as illustrative cases. We make two arguments. First, the presence of conditionality is not primarily a technical matter of political design, but is shaped by combinations of political economy factors. Second, industrial policy conditionality provides an important theoretical lens for assessing how and where the recent revival of state activism represents a substantive break from the neoliberal order. |
| Abstract: | Konditionalität war ein zentrales Thema der Literatur zur wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung der 1990er-Jahre. Mit der massiven Ausweitung der gezielten öffentlichen Unterstützung für Privatunternehmen seit der Finanzkrise 2008 steht die Frage der Konditionalität wieder im Mittelpunkt industriepolitischer Debatten. Trotz des wachsenden Interesses am Problem der Konditionalität bietet die vorhandene Literatur weder eine systematische Konzeptualisierung im Kontext der Industriepolitik noch beschreibt sie die politischen Faktoren, die die Einführung von Konditionalitäten durch staatliche Akteure begünstigen. Dieser Aufsatz schließt diese Lücke, indem er eine systematische politische Ökonomie industriepolitischer Konditionalität entwickelt. Wir geben einen Überblick über die Literatur zur Konditionalität und decken dabei verschiedene Branchen, historische Zeiträume und nationale Kontexte ab. Wir leisten drei Beiträge zur Debatte zur Industriepolitik: Erstens unterscheiden wir zwischen zwei umfassenden Instrumenten der Konditionalität: Leistungsstandards und Bedingungen zur Unternehmenskontrolle. Zweitens arbeiten wir die koalitionellen, institutionellen, ideellen und globalen Kontextfaktoren heraus, die Konditionalität begünstigen. Drittens illustrieren wir die Nützlichkeit unserer konzeptuellen Überlegungen am Beispiel von zwei gegenwärtigen industriepolitischen Initiativen in der EU und den USA. Unser Aufsatz entwickelt zwei übergreifende Argumente. Erstens ist das Vorhandensein von Konditionalität nicht in erster Linie eine technische Frage der politischen Gestaltung, sondern wird durch eine Kombination von politisch-ökonomischen Faktoren bedingt. Zweitens bieten industriepolitische Konditionalitäten eine wichtige theoretische Grundlage, um zu beurteilen, wie und wo die viel diskutierte Wiederbelebung staatlicher Interventionen in die Wirtschaft einen substanziellen Bruch mit der neoliberalen Ordnung darstellt. |
| Keywords: | conditionality, developmental state, EU, geopolitics, industrial policy, political economy, US, EU, Geopolitik, Industriepolitik, Konditionalität, Politische Ökonomie, US |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:mpifgd:305292 |
| By: | Verónica Amarante (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Marisa Bucheli (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Sociales); Tatiana Pérez (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Sociales) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the link between the ideological profile of Uruguayan economists and their opinions regarding inequality and discrimination. Drawing on data from an online survey of Uruguayan economists, we explore the links between their economic opinions and three dimensions of ideology: political orientation, sexist attitudes (benevolent and hostile sexism), and pro-market views. Economists' opinions encompass diagnostic assessments of inequality and discrimination, as well as views on specific policies designed to address these issues. Using ordered probit models, we find that right-wing political ideology, hostile sexism, and pro-market attitudes are associated with a lower likelihood of agreeing that income distribution in Uruguay should be more equitable and that women face barriers to full-time employment. These ideological factors are also linked to a higher likelihood of believing that there are equal gender and race opportunities in Uruguay. Benevolent sexism exhibits a more mixed relationship with opinions on inequality and discrimination. Furthermore, we show that economists' diagnoses of inequality and discrimination mediate the relationship between ideological variables and their policy preferences. Our results point to the need for greater introspection within the discipline regarding the influence of personal values and beliefs on economic analysis and policy recommendations. Our findings challenge the notion of economics as a purely objective and unbiased discipline, revealing significant associations between ideological factors, economists' perceptions of inequality and discrimination, and their support for specific policies. |
| Keywords: | Ideology, Discrimination, Sexism, Inequality |
| JEL: | A13 D63 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-07-24 |
| By: | Victor Le Coz; Michael Benzaquen; Damien Challet |
| Abstract: | We propose a minimal model of the secured interbank network able to shed light on recent money markets puzzles. We find that excess liquidity emerges due to the interactions between the reserves and liquidity ratio constraints; the appearance of evergreen repurchase agreements and collateral re-use emerges as a simple answer to banks' counterparty risk and liquidity ratio regulation. In line with prevailing theories, re-use increases with collateral scarcity. In our agent-based model, banks create money endogenously to meet the funding requests of economic agents. The latter generate payment shocks to the banking system by reallocating their deposits. Banks absorbs these shocks thanks to repurchase agreements, while respecting reserves, liquidity, and leverage constraints. The resulting network is denser and more robust to stress scenarios than an unsecured one; in addition, the stable bank trading relationships network exhibits a core-periphery structure. Finally, we show how this model can be used as a tool for stress testing and monetary policy design. |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2410.18145 |
| By: | Vanberg, Viktor |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:aluord:305290 |
| By: | Obregon, Carlos |
| Abstract: | The main thesis in this manuscript is that a social choice theory based on aggregating individual preferences and values is insufficient to confront the social choices that today’s world is facing. It is defended in here that institutions play a critical role in any social choice, and that the solutions required for today’s global problems necessarily require strengthening the international institutions. In part one of the book, it is shown that socio-economic choices can never be only the consequence of aggregating individuals’ preferences + values and that institutions play a decisive role. Part two of the book extends the results of part one to socio-political choices, and it is shown that they also include the critical role of institutions. It is shown that the design of the international institutional arrangement will be critical for the solutions for global poverty, underdevelopment, financial stability, global health issues, global climate, international crime, and global peace. |
| Keywords: | social choice, theory, individual preferences, values, institutions, global problems, socio-economic, political choices, poverty, underdevelopment, financial stability, global health, global climate, international crime, global peace |
| JEL: | F0 F00 F01 F02 F2 F20 F22 F3 F30 F31 F33 F36 F37 F50 F51 F53 G0 G00 G01 G02 G1 G10 G15 G19 G20 H00 H30 I00 I10 I11 I12 I13 I15 M00 |
| Date: | 2023–03–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:122458 |