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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2026–01–05
sixteen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Davis, John B. (Department of Economics Marquette University); (Department of Economics Marquette University) |
| Abstract: | The Ramsey-Keynes exchange regarding the nature of probability is investigated in connection with the development of interwar Cambridge economics and Ramsey and Sraffa’s influences on Keynes and Wittgenstein. First discussed are Ramsey’s criticisms of Keynes and Wittgenstein; then Sraffa’s criticisms of Marshall and Wittgenstein. Ramsey was influenced by Peirce and pragmatism and Sraffa by Gramsci and the theory of cultural hegemony. Ramsey died in 1930 but Sraffa continued to interact with both Keynes and Wittgenstein. After his critique of Marshall he participated in the ‘Cambridge circus’ and turned to recovering the Classical economics of Ricardo. Keynes’s General Theory statement of what the essence of his theory was and Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations distinction between rules of language and language-games both parallel Sraffa’s Classical outside forces operating in the economic field argument and Gramsci’s state power and non-state institutions view. Keynes and Wittgenstein determined the nature of interwar Cambridge economics and philosophy. Ramsey and Sraffa were instigators of this change. |
| Keywords: | Ramsey, Keynes, Sraffa, Wittgenstein, Peirce, General Theory, Philosophical Investigations |
| JEL: | A12 B20 B30 B40 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrq:wpaper:2025-06 |
| By: | Bernd Bonfert (Aarhus University [Aarhus]) |
| Abstract: | The increasingly obvious unsustainability of neoliberal capitalism creates an urgent need to understand how societies can meet their needs in a just and sustainable fashion. The new theoretical framework of the "Foundational Economy" may provide answers, as it explores a holistic transformation of essential reliance systems, such as food provision, energy, care, and housing. However, its conceptualization of democratic agency needs to be strengthened.This article addresses this need by expanding the Foundational Economy framework with insights from the literature on social reproduction theory (SRT) and the solidarity economy (SE). SRT highlights the gendered and racialized hierarchies of essential reliance systems as key targets for transformation, while the SE encompasses participatory and non-capitalist practices that can democratize those systems. This expanded framework is applied to the UK agroecology movement, which aims to build democratic, sustainable, and non-capitalist alternatives to the food system, while subverting its classed, gendered, and racialized inequalities. |
| Keywords: | Solidarity economy, Social reproduction, Foundational economy, Essential systems, Economic democracy, Agroecology |
| Date: | 2024–06–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05394960 |
| By: | Jansson, Fredrik |
| Abstract: | Formal modelling provides a toolkit for understanding cultural dynamics, from individual decisions to recurring patterns of change. This chapter explains what models are and why they matter. Using a precise, shared language, they aid thinking and communication by turning fuzzy assumptions into clear, comparable, testable claims. The chapter describes the modelling process, trading explanatory clarity against predictive specificity. Four families of models are surveyed, from the micro-level with optimising agents to macro-level dynamics with heuristic or even implicit agents, covering reasoning (Bayesian inference, game theory), adaptive updating (reinforcement learning, evolutionary games), mean-field approaches (compartmental models, population dynamics), and complex systems (agent-based models, social networks). Building on these, a general template for modelling cultural evolution is outlined that connects system states, cognitive processes, behaviour, and macro-level outcomes in dynamic loops, linking individuals, groups, institutions, and their environments. Taken together, these tools support a pluralist but coherent understanding of cultural change. |
| Date: | 2026–01–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:h4xjs_v1 |
| By: | Zoltan Elekes; Emelie Hane-Weijman |
| Abstract: | Labour mobility plays a central role in shaping local economies. Substantial contributions have been made in the Evolutionary Economic Geography (EEG) literature to understand the dynamics and geographies of local economies. A key contribution of EEG research has been the emphasis on both the supply of work and the demand for workers, raising questions about skill matching. Building on this tradition, the aim of this chapter is twofold. First, we aim to summarize the contributions on labour mobilities and skill relatedness made by EEG. Second, we argue that the micro perspective in EEG could be enriched by focusing more on the heterogeneity of workers with respect to, for instance, gender, age or ethnicity. We then outline a future research agenda within EEG that is more attentive to the diversity of workers by exploring (1) the assortativity of skill relatedness networks, (2) the bounded mobilities of workers and (3) dimensions of proximity beyond the cognitive. |
| Keywords: | labour mobility, skill relatedness, local labour markets, spatial division of labour, skill mismatch, worker heterogeneity |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2541 |
| By: | Nenovsky, Nikolay; Marinova, Tsvetelina |
| Abstract: | The article presents the Bulgarian economist Georgi Petrov and his importance for the political economy of socialism. The debates surrounding the economic reform in Bulgaria in the 1960s. A general view of Georgi Petrov's creative project and its logic. The basis of prices – not value and cost price, but production prices (production prices). Theoretical problems of the planned economy and property. Planning, economic levers and economic growth. Summary notes. Bibliography. |
| Keywords: | political economy of socialism, market economy, economic reforms, Bulgaria |
| JEL: | B20 B24 B31 N0 N00 P2 |
| Date: | 2025–11–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126683 |
| By: | Perrings, Charles |
| Abstract: | Recent work on the ecology and economics of biodiversity loss has indicated that the main ecpnpmic _costs _of species deletion to.the present generation are likely to be found ituhe lo, ss_pf resilience pf ecosystems providing basic life support services. This paper considers how ecological resilience relates to the sustainability of economic development. It is argued that maintenance of ecosystem stability is necessary to satisfy the basic criterion of sustainable economic development - that the value of the capital stock should be non-declining. Since ecological resilience is a measure of ecosystem stability, loss of resilience implies reduced ecosystem stability. Loss of resilience does not necessarily mean that economic development will be unsustainable, but itincreases_the.probability_that this mill be so. It also, increases.the burden on environmental management. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uyoarc:263925 |
| By: | Stern, David I. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uyoarc:263941 |
| By: | Pavlina R. Tcherneva |
| Abstract: | The following remarks were delivered as the keynote at the joint Global Forum for Social and Solidarity Economy (GSEF) and International Centre of Research and Information on the Public, Social and Cooperative Economy (CIRIEC) conferences in Bordeaux, France, on October 29, 2025. We are living through a moment of deep division across our politics, economies, and environment, a division that stems from a deliberate forgetting--a self-induced amnesia, if you will. For decades, political parties have treated the working family as a slogan rather than the foundation of a healthy society. This amnesia was aided and abetted by mainstream economic theory that treated the economy as a financial machine, not a social ecosystem. The abandonment of family wellbeing, and working people in particular, created a void now being filled by authoritarians. I would like to propose a project of democratic renewal capable of mending our social fabric while addressing the defining challenge of our age: the climate crisis. This project begins with a simple, radical, and fundamentally democratic idea: guaranteeing the right to a decent, living-wage job to everyone who seeks one. |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:levypn:25-9 |
| By: | Bopp, Judith |
| Abstract: | In times of exacerbating agro-food crises, understanding farming through its constituting interrelated factors is a key element of crisis mitigation. The mostly linear approaches such as represented in the current agricultural discourses and by the agricultural sciences fall short in explaining the real-life complexities and overlapping crises experienced by small-scale farmers. Based on my recent qualitative fieldwork in Thailand, this paper aims to picture the complexities within which households' farming practices operate, and how these arise from a web of socio-cultural, political, economic, and ecological factors. By pleading for relational approaches to farming such as those acknowledging its immanent human-ecology interaction, this paper suggests a novel "health-nutrition-ecology" nexus to guide enquiry into the intimate relations between ecology, livelihoods, and health and well-being. It is employed to gain understanding of small-farming households' situations, deep-rooted causes of these, and their resilience in facing crises. The paper further pleads for a shift in existing technocratic agricultural discourses towards their inclusiveness of real-world narratives by small-scale farmers. These narratives can deliver insights for policies that aim at actual transformations of crisis-prone agro-food systems and could benefit both farmer livelihoods and farm ecologies. |
| Date: | 2025–12–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:njktf_v1 |
| By: | Cheang, Bryan; Pennington, Mark |
| Abstract: | Proponents of “new industrial policy” claim that systemic directionality can be imparted to market economies in ways recognising the epistemic challenges of complexity and uncertainty. This paper evaluates these efforts to reformulate industrial policy on a more epistemically modest, evolutionary footing and argues that they fail. We contend that the focus on “systemic directionality” undercuts the emphasis placed on evolutionary learning and the epistemic limitations of centralised authority. Proper attention to these problems implies neither a laissez-faire/market fundamentalist position nor one that favours “systemic directionality.” Rather, it points towards a largely directionless environment where market-state entanglements arise through a polycentric evolutionism at multiple different scales. |
| Keywords: | industrial policy; uncertainty; evolutionary economics; entrepreneurial state; complexity; structural transformation |
| JEL: | R14 J01 J1 |
| Date: | 2025–12–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:130602 |
| By: | Mohite, Manasi Sandeep; Gaikwad, Rahul Shashikant (Investments Key Limited, Canary Wharf, UK) |
| Abstract: | This research critically examines the Khoti system in the Konkan region of western India as a historical manifestation of agrarian exploitation, wherein intermediary landlords imposed exorbitant rents upon cultivators – predominantly from marginalized castes – systematically depriving them of land ownership, rights, and dignity. Situating this feudal framework within the broader socio-economic discourse, the study investigates how entrenched hierarchies sustained structural inequality and economic disenfranchisement. Central to the analysis is Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s constitutional vision, which redefined Indian democracy through the inseparable pursuit of social and economic justice. His transformative legal architecture not only dismantled exploitative land relations but also facilitated the emergence of an inclusive middle class across diverse sectors. Employing a historical-analytical methodology, this paper interrogates the transition from feudal dependency to constitutional empowerment by engaging with economic theory, constitutional provisions on equality, abolition of untouchability, and land reforms. By juxtaposing pre- and post-Constitutional realities, the research elucidates how juridical reform can function as an instrument of social emancipation and equitable redistribution. Ultimately, this study contributes to global discourses on agrarian justice by positioning India’s constitutional experience as a replicable model for reform, capable of addressing similar socio-economic inequities in other parts of the world. Keywords: Khoti system; Agrarian exploitation; Marginalized castes; Agrarian justice JEL Classification: Q15; N55; O13; D63; P48; J43 |
| Date: | 2026–01–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:k5edn_v1 |
| By: | Nenovsky, Nikolay; Marinova, Tsvetelina |
| Abstract: | We provide brief information about the context of the 1963 reform. This is followed by a presentation of the main themes and ideas in Georgi Petrov's life research project, which systematically and logically derives the need for decentralisation of the economy, a transition from directive planning to economic levers, granting full autonomy to enterprises included in market mechanisms and profit incentives. |
| Keywords: | Socialist market reform, socialist economy, socialist and marxist theory, socialist Bulgaria, Georgi Petrov |
| JEL: | B24 B31 B40 N14 P2 |
| Date: | 2025–11–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:127034 |
| By: | Oatley, Scott (University of Manchester); Kapadia, Dharmi |
| Abstract: | Social class analysis has been a vital component of sociologists’ research agenda for many decades, informing our understanding of social inequalities. However, current measures of social class are, by their neo-Weberian design determined by employment status and occupation. Consequently, measures of social class that are determined by employment relations restrict sociological understandings of social class to concepts related to working life. The study of later life – research that focuses upon the study of ageing and its impacts – typically focuses on individuals that have left the world of work and have entered a retired or semi-retired portion of their lives. To apply current measures of social class to the study of later life presents several challenges. Sociologists are often forced to use a ‘legacy’ class measure that uses an individual’s last recorded occupation prior to retiring. This is problematic, as legacy occupation may not reflect an individual’s current social class location. This paper seeks to remedy these problems by adopting a Bourdieusian inspired framework based on Capitals, Assets, and Resources (CAR) to construct a relevant social class measure for the study of later life. First, we set a theoretical foundation for the construction of this new measure of social class in later life. Then, using multiple correspondence analysis and latent profile analysis, we identified a five-class model of social class for use in later life. Our five-class model constitutes a small but very privileged Elite; followed by an established middle and culturally engaged high earners which make up a decently sized middle class; most respondents fall into a traditional working class with the rest making up a sizeable precariat class. We find a stark composition of social class membership characterised by a sizeable Traditional Working Class and a large Precariat population with a small middle class and tiny but exceptionally privileged Elite. Our findings from formal statistical modelling on determinants of security, stability, and prospects in later life demonstrate that CAR based approaches present clear points of stratification across social classes. This clarity is possible without having to rely on legacy based measures that are tied to forms of employment relations. We also find evidence to support the use of both legacy and CAR based measures of social class in the analysis of later life. |
| Date: | 2025–12–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:c7sra_v1 |
| By: | Lorenzo Esposito; Giuseppe Mastromatteo |
| Abstract: | Capitalism's defining feature--profit maximization without limits--drives instability, inequality, and environmental degradation. Traditional policies such as taxation and regulation have failed to curb this dynamic because they do not alter firms' core incentives. This paper proposes a simple yet structural solution: a "maximum allowed profitability" (MAP) rule that caps a firm's return on equity at twice the median ROE of its peers. Profits exceeding this threshold would be fully taxed, creating a hard limit on excessive profit-seeking and reducing systemic risk. Using ORBIS data for major European economies (2002-2021), we show that profitability distribution is stable, making MAP feasible and easy to implement. Unlike conventional fiscal or monetary tools, MAP directly addresses the prisoner's dilemma inherent in capitalism, fostering a more balanced economic system. While global coordination is essential, MAP could complement initiatives like the OECD global minimum tax, reshaping incentives toward sustainable growth. |
| Keywords: | profit maximization; income inequality; fiscal policy |
| JEL: | E60 E61 E62 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_1102 |
| By: | Loïc Fourot (Ascencia business school) |
| Abstract: | The continued attention given to corporate elites since the early 1980s has led scholars to focus on many of the personal characteristics of leaders in organizations. Despite its important place in the social sciences, however, social class as a factor in diversity at the top of the organizational hierarchy has not been well studied. Adopting a qualitative method, this study combines Bourdieusian and sociocognitive approaches to social class with insights from upper echelon theory to examine the ways in which social origins influence the mechanisms of behavioral integration of the executive team. By interpreting the life stories of nineteen managers from a variety of social classes, we can characterize the practices of leaders according to their social origins in an unprecedented way and with the support of quotes. This research also elucidates how these practices, in the presence of a variety of social origins within the management body, lead to a perfectible collaboration in which exchanges are limited and decision-making is limited in scope. While empirically clarifying how habitus evolves in the event of social mobility for managers from modest backgrounds, these results also demonstrate how each member of a management body, regardless of his or her social background, can become aware of the impact on the collective of his or her perceptions and ways of operating on a day-to-day basis. |
| Keywords: | Top management team behavioral integration, Top management team, Social origin, Habitus |
| Date: | 2024–06–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05396628 |
| By: | Jansson, Fredrik |
| Abstract: | Culture is not just traits but a dynamic system of interdependent beliefs, practices and artefacts embedded in cognitive, social and material structures. Culture evolves as these entities interact, generating path dependence, attractor states and tension, with long-term stability punctuated by rapid systemic transformations. Cultural learning and creativity is modelled as coherence-seeking information processing: individuals filter, transform and recombine input in light of prior acquisitions and dissonance reduction, thereby creating increasingly structured worldviews. Higher-order traits such as goals, skills, norms and cognitive gadgets act as emergent metafilters that regulate subsequent selection by defining what counts as coherent. Together, these filtering processes self-organise into epistemic niches, echo chambers, polarised groups and institutions that channel information flows and constrain future evolution. In this view, LLMs and recommender algorithms are products of cultural embeddings that now act back on cultural systems by automated filtering and recombination of information, reshaping future dynamics of cultural systems. |
| Date: | 2026–01–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:drmkw_v1 |