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on History and Philosophy of Economics |
| By: | Jérôme Blanc (LEFI - Laboratoire d'économie de la firme et des institutions - [Université Lumière - Lyon II]) |
| Abstract: | Silvio Gesell (1862-1930) proposed a system of stamped money in order to accelerate monetary circulation and to free money from interest. This was part of a global socialist system intended to free economy from rent and interest. In the 1930s, Irving Fisher, who proposed the system to President Roosevelt, and John Maynard Keynes rendered homage to Gesell's monetary proposals in the context of the economic depression. Among the experiments that took place, several were based on his ideas, notably in the Austrian town of Wörgl and in the United States. These experiments were always local and never lasted more than a few months. This article shows that trust is the main issue of this kind of monetary organization; and therefore, that such experiments can only take place successfully on a small scale. |
| Keywords: | Gesell. History of economic ideas, monetary utopia, local currencies. |
| Date: | 2006–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00119192_v1&r=hpe |
| By: | Ron A. Boschma; Koen Frenken |
| Abstract: | This paper is written as the first chapter of an edited volume on evolutionary economics and economic geography (Frenken, K., editor, Applied Evolutionary Economics and Economic Geography, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, expected publication date February 2007). The paper reviews empirical applications of evolutionary economics in the field of economic geography. The review is divided in four parts: the micro-level of the firm, the meso-levels of industry and network, and the macro-level of spatial system. Some remarks on evolutionary policy in regional development are added as well as a short discussion of empirical problems that remain. |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aal:abbswp:06-26&r=hpe |
| By: | Michel, DE VROEY (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to give an account of the unfolding of macroeconomic from Keynes to the present day. To this end I shall use a grid of analyses resulting from the combination of two distinctions. The first is the Marshall-Walras divide, the second is the distinction between Keynesianism viewed as a conceptual apparatus and Keynesianism viewed as a policy cause. On the basis of these distinctions, I construct two box diagrams. Box diagram No.1 has complex general equilibrium and simple general equilibrium (I.e. macroeconomics) models as its columns, and the Marshallian and Walrasian approaches as its rows. Box diagram No.2 has the Keynesian policy cause (justifying demand activation) and the anti-Keynesian policy cause (a defence of laissez-faire) as its columns, and the Marshallian and Walrasian conceptual apparatuses as it rows. This framework allows me to recount the history of macroeconomics as if it were a matter of filling in, step by step, the different slots in my two box diagrams. One of the claims made in the paper is that the rise of new classical macroeconomics can be encapsulated as the replacement of Marshallian by Walrasian macroeconomics, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, as the emergence of models that are anti-Keynesian on the score of both their analytical apparatus and their policy cause. |
| Date: | 2006–10–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvec:2006051&r=hpe |
| By: | Ansgar Belke; Thorsten Polleit; Kai Geisslreither |
| Abstract: | Am 9. Oktober dieses Jahres gab die Königlich Schwedische Akademie der Wissenschaften (KVA) bekannt, dass der Ökonom Edmund S. Phelps mit dem Wirtschaftsnobelpreis ausgezeichnet wird. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt die wissenschaftlichen Leistungen von Phelps vor und ordnet sie in den makroökonomischen Gesamtkontext ein. Phelps’ Arbeiten haben signifikant zur Verbesserung der Theorie des makroökonomischen Politik-Designs beigetragen. Von ihm ging die Idee einer um Erwartungen modifizierten Phillips-Kurve aus; diese trug dazu bei, den Konflikt zwischen Inflation und Beschäftigung als „Scheinkonflikt“ zu entlarven. Phelps lieferte somit einen bedeutenden Beitrag für die Mikrofundierung der Makroökonomik. Phelps’ zweite bedeutende makroökonomische Innovation war die Entdeckung der goldenen Regel der Kapitalakkumulation. Auch sie birgt wichtige Politikimplikationen. Die Auszeichnung von Edmund S. Phelps ist ein folgerichtiger Schritt zur Würdigung eines Ökonomen, der die moderne Makroökonomik in umfassender Weise geprägt hat. |
| JEL: | A11 B22 B31 E22 E31 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hoh:hohdip:278&r=hpe |
| By: | Horst Hanusch (University of Augsburg, Department of Economics); Andreas Pyka (University of Augsburg, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Within the last 25 years large progress has been made in Neo-Schumpeterian Economics, this branch of economic science which deals with dynamic processes causing qualitative transformation of economies basically driven by the introduction of novelties. By its very nature, technological innovation is the most exponent and visible form of novelty. However, Neo-Schumpeterian Economics should be concerned with all facets of open and uncertain developments. A Comprehensive Neo-Schumpeterian approach has to consider not only transformation processes going on on the industry level of an economy, but also those on the public and monetary realms. Our manifesto introduces these extensions and complements towards a Comprehensive Neo-Schumpeterian economic theory, and develops some guideposts in the sense of a roadmap for necessary strands of analysis in the future. |
| Keywords: | Neo-Schumpeterian economics, industrial dynamics, public finance, financial markets |
| JEL: | O30 O40 L2 P0 G10 B52 |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aug:augsbe:0289&r=hpe |
| By: | Kalina Koleva (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - [CNRS : UMR8174] - [Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I]); Jean-Marie Monnier (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - [CNRS : UMR8174] - [Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I]) |
| Abstract: | Après avoir spécifié la nature juridique du droit fiscal comme application d'un pouvoir de contrainte et expression d'une autorité étatique par les pouvoirs publics, l'objectif du présent article est d'examiner comment les théories économiques contemporaines de l'impôt prennent en compte cette dimension essentielle des prélèvements obligatoires. La contrainte induit en effet une modification des comportements de sorte que les règles juridiques produisent des conséquences dans l'ordre économique. Pour ce faire, on rappelle, dans un premier temps, la position originale de l'ancienne économie financière publique française, et on souligne les défaillances de l'économie publique et particulièrement de la théorie de la taxation optimale. Elles concernent non seulement les spécifications économiques des modèles, mais surtout leurs spécifications institutionnelles et fiscales. On présente, dans un deuxième temps, le cadre d'analyse de la nouvelle économie du droit fiscal qui prétend précisément prendre en compte la complexité du droit fiscal et des institutions dévolues à la collecte de l'impôt. La troisième partie permettra d'en tirer un premier bilan critique et de proposer un programme de recherche qui seront argumentés selon trois axes principaux. Outre qu'elle privilège essentiellement l'analyse en termes de coûts d'efficience, la nouvelle économie du droit fiscal sous-estime les conséquences de la fraude en termes d'équité. La nouvelle économie du droit fiscal ne traite pas non plus la question de résolution des conflits. Cette question conduit plus généralement à s'interroger sur une question essentielle pour toute institution, celle de son évolution. Dès lors, un véritable renouvellement méthodologique s'impose. |
| Keywords: | Droit fiscal, coûts d'efficience, économie du droit. |
| Date: | 2006–12–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00118878_v1&r=hpe |
| By: | Dennis C. Mueller |
| Abstract: | The fundamental, underlying assumption in economics, public choice, and increasingly in political science and other branches of the social sciences is that individuals are rational actors. Many people have questioned the realism of this assumption, however, and considerable experimental evidence seems to refute it. This paper builds on recent findings from the field of evolutionary psychology to discuss the evolution of rational behavior in humans. It then goes on to relate this evolutionary process to the evolution of political institutions and in particular of democratic institutions. Length 58 pages |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esi:evopap:2006-15&r=hpe |
| By: | Furio Elies (Nº 19 ECONOMIA, TREBALL I TERRITORI - Grup d'investigació Nº 19 ECONOMIA, TREBALL I TERRITORI Economía Aplicada - [Universitat de Valencia]) |
| Abstract: | Dans l'utilisation de la langue, les économistes emploient une terminologie technique spécifique, un vocabulaire et un lexique économique, donnant lieu à des discours. Parmi les différents discours, on peut établir quatre catégories des textes économiques : a) le texte économique descriptif ; b) le texte économique narratif ; c) le texte économique explicatif ; d) le texte économique téléologique. <br />Ce travail étudie la narration de la conjoncture économique à partir des concepts d'équilibre et des anticipations, ainsi que de certaines notions de l'école française de la régulation. L'équilibre économique traduit les rapports entre les mouvements de l'économie et le temps. La conjoncture et les différentes notions d'anticipations obligent à introduire le mode indicatif présent, le passé récent et le futur. En outre, l'approche de l'école de la régulation choisit une expression en passé pour décrire et expliquer le présent. |
| Keywords: | Langage ; économie ; grammaire ; approches |
| Date: | 2006–12–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00119634_v1&r=hpe |
| By: | Alvin E. Roth |
| Date: | 2006–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cla:levrem:321307000000000629&r=hpe |
| By: | François R. Velde |
| Abstract: | Suppose the nominal money supply could be cut literally overnight by, say, 20%. What would happen to prices, wages, output? The answer can be found in 1720s France, where just such an experiment was carried out, repeatedly. Prices adjusted instantaneously and fully on one market only, that for foreign exchange. Prices on other markets (such as commodities) as well as prices of manufactured goods and industrial wages fell slowly, over many months, and not by the full amount of the nominal reduction. Coincidentally or not, the industrial sector (as represented by manufacturing of woolen cloths) experienced a contraction of 30%. When the government changed course and increased the nominal money supply overnight by 20%, prices responded much more, and the woolen industry rebounded. |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-06-12&r=hpe |
| By: | Bergh, Andreas (Ratio); Erlingsson, Gissur (Ratio) |
| Abstract: | In 1980, Sweden was a highly regulated economy with several state monopolies and low levels of economic freedom. Less than 20 years later, liberal reforms have turned Sweden into one of the worlds most open economies with a remarkable increase in economic freedom. While taxes and expenditure shares of GDP remain high, there has been a profound restructuring of Sweden’s economy in the 1980s and 1990s. Furthermore, the degree of political consensus is striking, both regarding the policies that characterized Sweden up to 1980, as well as the subsequent liberalizations. Since established theories have difficulties explaining institutional change in heavily institutionalized settings, we seek to understand how the Swedish style of policy-making produced this surprising political consensus on liberal reforms. Building on previous research, we underscore the importance of three complementary factors: (i) Policy-making in Sweden has always been influenced by, and intimately connected to, social science. (ii) Government commissions have functioned as ‘early warning systems’, pointing out future challenges and creating a common way to perceive problems. (iii) As a consequence from social science influence and the role of public investigations, political consensus has evolved as a specific feature of Swedish style of policy-making. The approach to policy-making has been rationalistic, technocratic and pragmatic. Thus, the political consensus in Sweden on substantial liberalizations is no more surprising than the political consensus on the development of the welfare state. |
| Keywords: | Sweden; Welfare state; institutional change; globalization; policy-making; policy-style |
| JEL: | H10 H11 H83 |
| Date: | 2006–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0110&r=hpe |
| By: | Jean-Pierre Galavielle (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - [CNRS : UMR8174] - [Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I]) |
| Abstract: | S'agissant de responsabilité des entreprises, les uns évoquent la seule Responsabilité sociale, d'autres la distinguent de la Responsabilité Sociétale. Le Sociétal étant : «Ce qui se rapporte à la structure, à l'organisation, au fonctionnement de la société». Cette distinction est la traduction, par l'économiste, d'un débat de philosophie politique : de quelle légitimité des organisations privées jouissent-elles pour prétendre réguler la société ? L'histoire récente a enfanté, à l'occasion de la crise du fordisme, l'idée d'ingouvernabilité selon laquelle les puissancess publiques ne seraient plus capables d'assumer leurs responsabilités. Elle leur a substitué le gouvernement des choses, posant la question : «Comment gouverner sans gouvernement» ? «Pourquoi pas la Société Civile», répondent certains. Ils oublient qu'elle fonde souvent sa légitimité sur l'auto-proclamation de son expertise. L'expert, initialement instrument du pouvoir, deviendrait-t-il pouvoir lui-même au détriment du politique démocratiquement élu ? Le cas de la B. C. E. est exemplaire de ce point de vue. |
| Keywords: | Responsabilité sociale et sociétale, ingouvernabilité, Société civile, gouvernement des choses, expert, démocratie, légitimité. |
| Date: | 2006–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:papers:halshs-00119132_v1&r=hpe |
| By: | Christine MacLeod; Alessandro Nuvolari |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of recent research on the role of patent systems in the early phases of industrialization. Perhaps surprisingly, no consensus has been reached yet as to whether the emergence of modern patent systems exerted a favourable impact on inventive activities. However, the recent literature has shed light on a number of fundamental factors which affect the links between inventive activities and the patent system. The concluding section of the paper outlines some "history lessons" for the current debate on the role of Intellectual Property Rights in economic development. |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aal:abbswp:06-28&r=hpe |
| By: | Franke Wilmer |
| Abstract: | The connection between nation and state is far from settled, and though naturalized in ordinary political discourse, it is often regarded with circumspection by many social scientists. Can Charles Tilly’s application of Nettl’s idea of stateness to European state formation illuminate the nation/state relationship and if so, what does this reveal about the tension between national majorities and national minorities that produces civil strife, conflict, and even violence within states? This article explores the implications of the interplay between the international normative framework produced by European state formation that inevitably creates minorities in states on the one hand, and Tilly’s notion of stateness, on the other. How does the existence of minorities and the de facto privileging of national majorities within the state affect its ability to develop and sustain politically stable authoritative institutions? |
| Keywords: | minorities; nationality; Nation-state; pluralism; state building |
| Date: | 2006–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:conweb:p0025&r=hpe |
| By: | Gerben van der Panne; Cees van Beers |
| Abstract: | The literature is inconclusive as to whether Marshallian specialization or Jacobian diversification externalities favour regional innovativeness. The specialization argument poses that regional specialization towards a particular industry improves innovativeness in that industry. Regional specialization allows for knowledge to spill over among similar firms. By contrast, the diversification thesis asserts that knowledge spills over between firms in different industries, causing diversified production structures to be more innovative. Building on an original database, we address this controversy for the Netherlands. We thereby advance on the literature by providing a two-level approach, at the region’s and the firm’s level. At the regional level, we compare specialized with diversified regions on numbers of accommodated innovators. At the firm level, we establish causalities between externalities and degree of innovativeness. The results suggest Marshallian externalities: specialized regions accommodate increased numbers of innovating firms and, consistently, incumbent firms’ innovativeness increase with regional specialization. Once the product has been launched, innovators in diversified Jacobian regions prove more successful in commercial terms than innovators in specialized Marshallian regions. |
| Keywords: | Industrial clusters; innovation; knowledge externalities |
| JEL: | O18 O31 R10 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aal:abbswp:06-23&r=hpe |