|
on Heterodox Microeconomics |
|
Issue of 2025–07–14
twelve papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Engelbert Stockhammer |
| Abstract: | Comparative Political Economy (CPE) is a field in the social sciences that explores the interaction of economic dynamics and political institutions in a comparative cross-country fashion. Recently, the growth models approach (GMA), which builds on post-Keynesian economics (PKE), has challenged the more supply-side oriented varieties of capitalism approach. This paper gives an overview of the debate around GMA, with a focus on macroeconomic issues. It first, discusses the fragmentation of the 19th century political economy approach into heterodox economics and the subsequent formation of CPE and International Political Economy in the social sciences. Second, it clarifies the relations between VoC, GMA and PKE. Third, it reviews debates on identifying growth models empirically; the interpretations of finance-led growth; and the application of GMA to emerging economies, which requires extending and possible reconsidering the analytical framework of GMA. It concludes by discussing similarities and differences between the growth models approach and the French Regulation Theory and Social Structures of Accumulation. It argues that GMA’s analytical framework has been shaped by the experience of the pre-GFC boom and current debates are about building a more general analytical framework. |
| Keywords: | Post-Keynesian Economics, Comparative Political Economy, growth models, economic growth |
| JEL: | B20 B50 E12 O43 P51 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pke:wpaper:pkwp2515 |
| By: | Eissler, Sarah; Rubin, Deborah; de Anda, Victoria |
| Abstract: | This study presents findings from a qualitative research study conducted in Chiapas, Mexico that is one component of a larger activity funded by the Walmart Foundation and implemented by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), titled Applying New Evidence for Women’s Empowerment (ANEW). ANEW seeks to generate evidence from mixed-methods evaluations of women’s empowerment in production and other entrepreneurial efforts at different nodes of agricultural value chains and aims to develop and validate measures of women’s empowerment that focus on agricultural marketing and collective empowerment at the group level, both of which build upon the project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index for Market Inclusion (pro-WEAI+MI). In this report, we present findings of a qualitative study of coffee cooperatives supported by Root Capital in Chiapas, Mexico and how Root Capital engages with them to advance women’s economic empowerment, among other objectives. As part of this study, we aimed to describe the gender dynamics and roles and responsibilities of men and women in the coffee value chain in Chiapas, and the opportunities and barriers faced as a result of these dynamics. This study employed qualitative methods to collect primary data from types of respondents using individual and group interviews. Two coffee cooperatives in Chiapas that work with Root Capital were selected to participate in this study. From June to July 2023, 21 individual interviews and 9 group interviews were conducted with market actors, men and women coffee cooperative leaders, men and women cooperative members and their wives, and Root Capital staff from two municipalities in Chiapas. The data were transcribed into Spanish and then translated into English. These transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis in NVivo software. A codebook inclusive of inductive and deductive themes was developed to guide the thematic analysis. This study design adhered to best practices for ethical research and received approval from IFPRI’s IRB. Several limitations should be considered when reviewing the findings and conclusions of this study. There exist defined gender roles and divisions of labor at each node of the coffee value chain in Chiapas, and participants often described these roles as expected given social norms or perceived gender-specific limitations of natural abilities that would shape how men or women could engage in different activities. Men and women indicated that while men are in charge of coffee production activities, women do spend time contributing to cleaning and management activities, and that women are heavily involved in the coffee harvest. Both men and women explained that women are responsible for processing activities, which can be time consuming and laborious, but often occur close to the home. Although the coffee harvest activities require physical labor in picking and carrying the baskets of ripened cherries, there is a perception that women cannot participate in other post-harvesting activities, such as transporting bags of coffee, because the lifting is too physically heavy of a task for women. Men are responsible for managing the sale of coffee and directly negotiating with the buyer to the extent that a negotiation happens. In instances when buyers travel to the household as the point of sale, women can participate in sales, typically facilitating the sale under the direction of her husband. However, women still do not lift the coffee bags nor transport the bags for sale. And many coffee producing households prefer to or sometimes need to hire labor to help with coffee harvest activities; they tend to hire men as laborers more out of preference or their availability compared to women. Men and women interviewed for this study also described their perceptions and understanding of empowerment and elements of an empowered person with relation to engaging in the coffee value chain. Overall, while the concept of an empowered person was difficult for both men and women to relate to, they shared perceptions of how relations between men and women had changed over the years. Respecting women’s rights or the perception of respecting women’s rights was more acknowledged at the time of the interviews than in previous years, and it was more common to see men and women both generating incomes for the household. Men and women shared different perspectives regarding attitudes toward intimate partner violence, whereas both acknowledged men often mistreated their wives, but women discussed it as a private matter where men shared concerns over women’s reaction to the mistreatment rather than the mistreatment itself. Varying access to resources limited both men and women farmer’s ability to advance in the coffee value chain, particularly access to credit, which was limited for both men and women in the study areas. Limited access to credit with favorable or reasonable terms limited men’s and women’s ability to hire additional labor on their coffee farm or to purchase machines that would reduce specifically women’s time burdens within the household. Women’s time use is constrained by expectations and normative tasks in ways that men are not constrained. Future research is needed and discussed to better understand these dynamics of gendered roles and relations and elements of empowerment in the coffee value chain in Chiapas. Men and women members of the two respective cooperatives shared differences in how they were able to participate in and benefit from their participation in each cooperative. One cooperative provided more opportunities for members to directly engage in meetings, social activities, and capacity building opportunities whereas the other operated through a more decentralized structure and did not offer opportunities for members to directly participate in decision-making or meetings beyond the representation of their delegate. Members of both cooperatives perceived their cooperatives to be consistent and reliable coffee buyers offering stable prices. The former cooperative was also perceived as a source of support and community for members to advance their coffee production and post-harvesting activities. Both cooperatives also addressed key barriers faced by members, such as providing consistent and reliable pricing. Some members reported that cooperatives offered higher prices than those offered by non-cooperative buyers. Cooperatives also provided transportation options for producers to sell their coffee, which also enables women to have more engagement in coffee sales. However, normative barriers, such as women’s existing time burdens and their need for their husbands’ permission, limits women’s full participation in the cooperatives. Finally, we explored the extent to which Root Capital’s engagement with the cooperatives had supported activities or changes that strengthen women’s empowerment by understanding members and leaders’ perceptions of this engagement. Overall, cooperative members were generally unaware of Root Capital and its engagement with the cooperative. Since Root Capital does not provide direct services to farmers or cooperative members, it was not surprising that many cooperative members were generally unaware of Root Capital and its engagement with the cooperative. However, a few were aware of Root Capital, knowing it had provided their cooperative a loan to purchase and maintain a truck, which was used to reduce barriers faced by producers to bring their coffee to the point of sale and had implications for shifting gender roles to manage coffee sales. Cooperative leaders reflected on the loan that facilitated increased transportation capacity, as well as other benefits from working with Root Capital. However, as Root Capital operates with a client-driven approach, adoption of the Gender Equity Advisory services was limited as these services only became recently available in 2021 and cooperatives opted not to prioritize these until 2023. Therefore, there was limited data to understand how these activities may be influencing cooperative operations, gender dynamics and roles, and perception of women engaged in the coffee value chain at the time of this study. We present several recommendations for areas of future research and considerations for Root Capital to strengthen its approach to gender equity programming. |
| Keywords: | coffee; cooperatives; research methods; value chains; women’s empowerment; gender; collective behaviour; qualitative analysis; Mexico; Americas; Northern America |
| Date: | 2024–03–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:140749 |
| By: | Bhanjdeo, Arundhita |
| Abstract: | Over the last decade in India, farmer producer organizations (FPOs) have emerged as a means of collectivizing smallholder farmers and providing them access to extension, innovation, and market services. FPOs that center women farmers, traditionally at a disadvantage vis-à-vis their male counterparts in access to resources and extension, can serve to enhance women’s agency and collective action in agricultural value chains. We used 59 key informant interviews and nine focus group discussions to examine the constraints to, and facilitators of, women’s and men’s participation in three women-only FPOs in Jharkhand, an eastern Indian state. Additionally, we study the gender and power dynamics in such FPOs and the potential of collective efficacy to enhance agricultural and empowerment outcomes. The FPO intervention we evaluated was supported by an NGO that provides FPO members with both agricultural and gender-based inputs to improve agronomic practices, market linkages, agricultural yields and profits, and the role of women both within the FPO and within their households and communities. In this paper, we provide contextual insights on ‘what works’ to empower women in this context. Women’s perceptions of the benefits from FPO membership were heterogeneous. Our qualitative analysis suggests a nuanced picture of women’s autonomy and decision-making within and outside their household, further shaped by women’s and men’s perception of shifts in women’s access to resources and services. The emerging lessons provide inputs for development implementers and policymakers to recognize diverse contextual barriers in designing FPO interventions to enable and enhance women empowerment outcomes. The research also contributes to the body of knowledge on local gender norms and understanding of empowerment. |
| Keywords: | agricultural value chains; collectivization; extension; gender; innovation; women’s empowerment; India; Asia; Southern Asia |
| Date: | 2024–06–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:145187 |
| By: | Banerjee, Archis; Kumar, Neha; Quisumbing, Agnes R. |
| Abstract: | There is growing evidence that gender disparities in the distribution of paid and unpaid work impose constraints on women’s well-being and livelihoods, reducing access to paid employment, and time for education, leisure, and social activities. Yet, gender disparities in unpaid work often go undiagnosed by traditional household surveys. While time-use surveys are well-suited for measuring unpaid work, they are often expensive to administer and take substantial amounts of survey time, leading to respondent fatigue, particularly in multi-topic surveys where other outcomes are also being collected. In this paper, we compare data collected using the task allocation module in the Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA) integrated household survey and the time-use module in the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) survey. We begin by describing the methods used to collect the data in each of the surveys. We present an overview of the characteristics of the study sites in the TAFSSA integrated survey and sites in the same countries where the WEAI data were collected. We then present comparable data from each of the two methods. The findings confirm the gendered patterns in involvement in different activities as measured by both survey modules. While women’s participation in agricultural activities is high across Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, the amount of time they spend on agricultural activities is less than that spent by men. Both survey tools confirm that women undertake most of the food preparation-related activities, and men contribute through shopping/purchasing food. |
| Keywords: | time use patterns; households; gender; unpaid work; women's empowerment; surveys; gender norms; Bangladesh; India; Nepal; Southern Asia; Asia |
| Date: | 2024–09–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:152347 |
| By: | Ray, Soumyajit; Raghunathan, Kalyani; Bhanjdeo, Arundhita; Heckert, Jessica |
| Abstract: | Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)—farmer collectives, often legally registered - can mitigate some of the constraints smallholder farmers face by improving their access to extension, services, and markets, especially for women. We evaluate the effects of a set of interventions delivered through women-only FPOs in Jharkhand, India, using a panel of 1200 households and a difference-in-difference model with nearest neighbor matching. A complementary qualitative study in the same areas helps triangulate and interpret our findings. The interventions aimed to improve agricultural productivity by coordinating production and improving access to services, while also providing gender sensitization trainings to FPO leaders and members. We collect household data on asset ownership and agricultural outcomes and individual data on women’s and men’s empowerment using the project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index for Market Inclusion (pro-WEAI+MI). Our results for asset ownership, land cultivated, cropping intensity, and per acre yields, revenues or costs are statistically insignificant. Effects on men’s and women's empowerment are mixed. While we see positive effects on women’s decisionmaking, asset ownership, control over income and attitudes towards intimate partner violence, the program is associated with an increase in workload and a reduction in active group membership for both men and women. Men appear to cede control over resources and decisionmaking to other household members. Additional analyses suggest that while some effects can occur in the short-term, others take time to accrue. FPO based interventions that aim to empower women or other marginalized groups likely require sustained investments over multiple years and will need to go beyond improving FPO functioning and increasing women’s participation to transforming social norms. |
| Keywords: | agriculture; farmers organizations; cooperatives; markets; prices; yields; empowerment; smallholders; women; gender; India; Asia |
| Date: | 2024–08–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:151877 |
| By: | Aurore Fransolet; Jönne Huhnt; Alexandre Désaubry; Julien Vastenaekels; Amy Phillips; Deborah Lambert |
| Abstract: | In recent years, the concept of ‘just transition’ has evolved from a narrow social project, aimed at protecting workers in industries affected by environmental regulations, to a comprehensive social-ecological project aimed at addressing social inequalities and environmental degradation in an integrated way. This integrated pursuit of social justice and environmental sustainability objectives is particularly relevant for the urban context, where social and ecological issues concentrate and intertwine. Despite the growing prominence of just transition imperatives in urban agendas, questions of what a just and sustainable city could and should look like remain under-investigated. Against that background, the main objective of the present research is to explore urban visions that explicitly combine social justice and environmental sustainability objectives. More specifically, this research aims at 1) outlining contrasting visions of a just and sustainable city in the Brussels Capital Region, 2) identifying the actors who support these visions, and 3) highlighting the areas of consensus and debate on the issue. With that aim in mind, we conducted a survey of Brussels’ stakeholders based on a Q-methodology, i.e. a statistically supported survey method for understanding the plurality of perspectives on a topic within a group. This survey was carried out between December 2023 and January 2024, and 32 representatives of administrations and other public institutions, NGOs and associations, business federations, trade unions and citizen movements took part. The statistical analysis of survey data and the interpretation of its results led to the definition of three contrasted urban visions bridging social justice and environmental sustainability objectives: The ‘Smart City’, the ‘Foundational City’ and the ‘Exnovation City’. The main distinguishing characteristics of these visions of the just and sustainable city reflecting the different perspectives of Brussels' stakeholders are presented in the summary figure. By identifying and exploring three original visions of Brussels bridging social justice and environmental sustainability objectives, this research contributes to understanding the contours of the future(s) towards which just urban transitions could orient, alongside the main disagreements and consensus on this issue. It thus provides fruitful ground for open debate and further research on just transitions in Brussels-Capital Region and other metropolitan areas. |
| Keywords: | Just transition; Just sustainabilities |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/391572 |
| By: | Aurore Fransolet; Amy Phillips; Deborah Lambert; Julien Vastenaekels; Tao An Tung |
| Abstract: | This report introduces the main results from the first phase of the COGITO project, a prospective research project that explores scenarios for a just transition to carbon neutrality and climate resilience in the Brussels Capital region (BCR) at horizon 2050. More specifically, it presents the prospective diagnosis of social-ecological inequalities in the BCR in the three interlinked domains considered as part of COGITO: green infrastructure, housing and mobility. The main objective of such diagnosis is to “understand, in a systemic and dynamic way, the present and past evolutions both of the system itself and of its environment” (Goux-Baudiment 2013, p. 16, personal translation). This work is based on an original social-ecological justice framework that combines perspectives of the (social-)environmental and the ecological justice models. It considers five types of social-ecological inequalities in relation with intergenerational, intragenerational and interspecies justice: 1) the unequal contribution to environmental degradation, 2) the unequal distribution of environmental goods and burdens, 3) the unequal impacts of environmental policies, 4) the unequal participation in environmental policy- and decision-making processes, and 5) the unequal recognition of the needs of vulnerable/vulnerabilized groups.The prospective diagnosis has involved the development of a retrospective analysis of social-ecological inequalities in the BCR based on documentary research, exploratory interviews, and thematic workshops. In this context, the past evolution and current state of social-ecological inequalities in green infrastructure, housing and mobility in the region, as well as the factors that have influenced these inequalities has been explored. This analysis has highlighted the complex and multidimensional nature of social-ecological inequalities in these different domains, alongside their many interrelated influencing factors. |
| Keywords: | Just transition; Social-ecological inequalities |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/391574 |
| By: | Kane, Papa Abdoulaye; Barry, Mamadou Bobo; Eissler, Sarah; Tall, Thiané; Camara, Astou Diao; Sall, Moussa; Fass, Simone; Bryan, Elizabeth; Ringler, Claudia |
| Abstract: | Goats are an important source of income, nutrition and resilience in Senegal. This study assesses opportunities to strengthen women’s agency, increase resilience to climate change, and improve nutrition along the various stages of goat value chains from the acquisition of feed resources and other inputs to processing, marketing and consumption of various goat products. The qualitative study finds that even though goats are more climate resilient than other livestock, climate change impacts on goat production and productivity are increasingly felt, particularly through impacts on feed resources. The study identified opportunities to strengthen women’s roles along the goat value chain, particularly in goat production and, to a lesser extent, in processing of goat products. Women and their families also benefit from the consumption of goat milk and women have some degree of control over income from the sale of goat products. Strengthening women’s agency in these nutrient-rich and relatively climate-resilient value chains will require improving their access to land resources and better animal feeds, supporting women’s groups and building women’s capacity for processing and marketing goat products, improving access to electricity for cold storage of goat products, and raising awareness regarding the nutritional benefits of goat products, especially for women and children. |
| Keywords: | climate change; goats; nutrition; climate resilience; value chains; women’s empowerment; gender; Senegal; Africa; Western Africa |
| Date: | 2024–09–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:152294 |
| By: | Waltl, Judith |
| Abstract: | Labour market discrimination based on gender identity remains a significant yet understudied phenomenon. This paper examines the labour market experiences of trans and nonbinary individuals, focusing on how gender transition intersects with career development, institutional support, and labour market access. While traditional labour market research has largely centred on gendered outcomes for cisgender women, this study extends the scope to include gender-diverse individuals, drawing parallels and identifying unique discriminatory mechanisms. Using qualitative interviews, the research explores how participants navigate their gender identity within educational and work environments shaped by cisnormative and binary expectations. The analysis engages with Human Capital Theory, Gender Socialisation Theory, and Discrimination Theory to contextualise the ways in which structural barriers, stigma, and identity-based exclusion impact professional trajectories. Findings indicate that participants often feel forced to prioritise either their gender affirmation or their vocational development, with nonbinary individuals facing particularly severe forms of institutional invisibility and marginalisation. |
| Keywords: | Labour market discrimination, queer economics, trans and nonbinary gender identities, cis-normativity, gender norms |
| JEL: | B54 J71 M54 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ipewps:320432 |
| By: | James K. Galbraith; Ravi Kanbur; Kunal Sen; Andy Sumner |
| Abstract: | Seven decades ago, Simon Kuznets put forward the hypothesis that as economies developed, national inequality would first increase and then decrease—an inverted U-shape. He provided preliminary evidence for the hypothesis on the basis of the limited data available at the time, and theorized the genesis of the curve as arising from the twin forces of structural transformation of the economy and political economy pressures. |
| Keywords: | Kuznets, Inequality, Structural transformation, Political economy |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2025-46 |
| By: | Martin Bordon Lesme (Department of Applied Economics, Autonomous University of Barcelona.); Gerardo Blanco (Escuela de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso.); Jaume Freire-Gonzalez (Institute for Economic Analysis (CSIC) and Barcelona School of Economics.); Emilio Padilla Rosa (Department of Applied Economics, Autonomous University of Barcelona.) |
| Abstract: | Energy efficiency is critical for decarbonization, yet its benefits are often undermined by the rebound effect, particularly in emerging economies where pent-up demand is high. Traditional static models fail to capture the temporal dynamics, behavioral feedbacks, and systemic instabilities that shape policy outcomes. This study addresses these gaps by developing a novel system dynamics model to serve as a ’policy sandbox.’ We analyze the dynamic consequences of policy interventions, moving beyond conventional metrics to assess household welfare trajectories. Our findings reveal that while isolated efficiency gains can backfire, conventional corrective taxes, when interacting with realistic household financial behaviors, can engineer a devastating energy poverty trap—a state where vulnerable households pay more for a reduced level of essential energy service. This research unmasks a fundamental tension not just between sustainability and equity, but between a policy’s intended equilibrium and the survivability of its transient path. We provide a robust analytical tool for designing adaptive, justice-centered policies capable of navigating this complex landscape and avoiding the most severe, unintended consequences of the energy transition. |
| Keywords: | Rebound effect, Energy justice, System dynamics modeling, Time-varying policy, Emerging economies, Energy affordability |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uab:wprdea:wpdea2505 |
| By: | Ozili, Peterson K |
| Abstract: | Sustainability is a buzzword that has gained traction around the world. It is linked to, or synonymous with, environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. The advocacy for sustainability has led many individuals, corporations and governments to incorporate ESG principles into their operations and processes, and communicate to stakeholders how they are meeting sustainability expectations and its role in the value creation process in society. Despite these strides, a critical mind would ask some important philosophical questions: Does “society” need sustainability? The answer is yes. Is the sustainability agenda good for the world? The answer is yes. But is sustainability the only way to conserve environmental, social and governance resources to make it available for the present and future generations? The answer is, no? This article discusses sustainability and argues that sustainability is a way to achieve the goal of resource preservation and continuity for the present and future generations, but it is not the only way. It critique attempts to present sustainability as the only way to achieve the goal of resource preservation. While this study does not offer an alternative way to achieve the goal of resource preservation for the present and future generations, it call on scholars to explore alternative ways to achieve the goal of resource preservation for the present and future generations. |
| Keywords: | sustainability, sustainable development, renewable energy, fossil fuels, ESG, information |
| JEL: | Q01 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:125035 |