nep-hpe New Economics Papers
on History and Philosophy of Economics
Issue of 2015‒01‒26
25 papers chosen by
Erik Thomson
University of Manitoba

  1. The Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand in Harrod’s Trade Cycle (1936) By Michaël Assous; Olivier Bruno; Muriel Dal-Pont Legrand
  2. Hans Apel, Samuelson's Economics and Academic Freedom, 1950-57 By Roger Backhouse
  3. "Minsky on Banking: Early Work on Endogenous Money and the Prudent Banker" By L. Randall Wray
  4. The review of theories of mainstream economics on the example of economic models By Grazyna Wolska
  5. Five Paragraphs on the Common Political Economy of Abrahamic Religions; Shorter version: Three Paragraphs on the Common Economics of Abrahamic Religions, Contribuciones a la Economía, 2015, Jan. issue; www.eumed.net/ce/2015/1/abrahamic-religions.html By Soldatos, Gerasimos T.
  6. Philanthrophy in Islam: A promise to Welfare Economics System By Ismail, Abdul Ghafar; Zaenal, Muhammad Hasbi; Shafiai, Hakimi
  7. Between Free Market and State Capitalism: How Islamic Economics System Shape the Future Global Economy? By Ismail, Abdul Ghafar
  8. Rise and Demise of Nehruvian Consensus: A Historical Review By Sharma, Chanchal Kumar
  9. Financial Thought as a Shield: Bogotá’s Stock Exchange and the Financial Ideas during its Foundation and Consolidation By Ramos-Toro, Diego
  10. The Short Arm of Guilt: Does it only hit who is close? By Alexander Morell
  11. Non-cooperative games By van Damme, E.E.C.
  12. Existence of SPE in Discounted Stochastic Games; Revisited and Simplified By Yehuda Levy
  13. The European crisis in the context of the history of previous financial crises By Michael Bordo; Harold James
  14. After communism: 25 years of revolution By Peter Boone
  15. Ethics in Relation to Islamic Finance Activities By Ismail, Abdul Ghafar; Zali, Nor Azmidah
  16. The Polish Transition in a Comparative Perspective / Polska transformacja ustrojowa w perspektywie porównawczej By Anders Aslund; Witold Or³owski
  17. Complexity: A Review of The Classics By Bernardo Alves Furtado; Patrícia Alessandra Morita Sakowski
  18. On the External Validity of Social- Preference Games: A Systematic Lab-Field Study By Matteo M. Galizzi; Daniel Navarro-Martínez
  19. The Limits of Bimetallism By Christopher M. Meissner
  20. Would I Care if I Knew? Image Concerns and Social Confirmation in Giving By Alexander S. Kritikos; Jonathan H. W. Tan
  21. Is white-collar crime a form of entrepreneurship? By José Neves Cruz;
  22. Verdient de triple a-econoom dat predikaat? [Review of the book De Triple-A Econoom. Voorbij Cijfers en Cynisme, M. Canoy, 2013] By van Damme, E.E.C.
  23. Playing the game the others want to play: Keynes’ beauty contest revisited. By Camille Cornand; Rodolphe Dos Santos Ferreira
  24. The Swedish industrial relations transformation during the 1970s – abolishing neutrality and affecting the deep structure By Malm Lindberg, Henrik
  25. Feedback and Emotions in the Trust Game By Ivo Bischoff; Özcan Ihtiyar

  1. By: Michaël Assous (PHARE; University of Paris 1); Olivier Bruno (GREDEG CNRS; University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France; SKEMA Business School; OFCE DRIC); Muriel Dal-Pont Legrand (Clersé CNRS; University of Lille 1)
    Abstract: In The Trade Cycle, Roy Harrod [1936a] propounded the Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand. The present paper tries to clarify the precise role Harrod assigned to this law in order to understand his trade cycle theory. We discuss the micro and macro foundations of the Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand and how, according to Harrod, it explains one of the main mechanisms that stabilize the economy during the trade cycle. In addition, we show how the Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand allowed Harrod to micro-found a non-linear saving function that can give rise to an endogenous countercyclical value of the multiplier. The paper concludes by reviewing the main arguments related to the Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand proposed in the late 1930s.
    Keywords: Trade cycle, Imperfect competition, Law of Diminishing Elasticity of Demand, Roy Harrod
    JEL: B22 E32
    Date: 2015–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2015-02&r=hpe
  2. By: Roger Backhouse
    Abstract: This paper presents the story of the attempts made by Hans Apel, after a Professor at Bridgeport University, to defend academic freedom through strengthening the right of instructors to choose their own textbooks. The story began when his university was attacked and threatened with losing donations as a result of its use of Paul Samuelson's introductory textbook and that culminated in an article in the AAUP Bulletin.
    Keywords: Economics, textbooks, academic freedom, Apel, Samuelson
    JEL: B2 B3
    Date: 2014–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bir:birmec:14-12&r=hpe
  3. By: L. Randall Wray
    Abstract: In this paper, I examine whether Hyman P. Minsky adopted an endogenous money approach in his early work--at the time that he was first developing his financial instability approach. In an earlier piece (Wray 1992), I closely examined Minsky's published writings to support the argument that, from his earliest articles in 1957 to his 1986 book (as well as a handout he wrote in 1987 on "securitization"), he consistently held an endogenous money view. I'll refer briefly to that published work. However, I will devote most of the discussion here to unpublished early manuscripts in the Minsky archive (Minsky 1959, 1960, 1970). These manuscripts demonstrate that in his early career Minsky had already developed a deep understanding of the nature of banking. In some respects, these unpublished pieces are better than his published work from that period (or even later periods) because he had stripped away some institutional details to focus more directly on the fundamentals. It will be clear from what follows that Minsky's approach deviated substantially from the postwar "Keynesian" and "monetarist" viewpoints that started from a "deposit multiplier." The 1970 paper, in particular, delineates how Minsky's approach differs from the "Keynesian" view as presented in mainstream textbooks. Further, Minsky's understanding of banking in those years appears to be much deeper than that displayed three or four decades later by much of the post-Keynesian endogenous-money literature.
    Keywords: Banks; Deposit Multiplier; Endogenous Money; Financial Innovation; Financial Instability Hypothesis; Horizontalists; Minsky; Originate to Distribute; Prudent Banking; Say’s Law; Securitization
    JEL: B3 B50 B52 E2 E4 E5
    Date: 2015–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_827&r=hpe
  4. By: Grazyna Wolska (University of Szczecin, Poland)
    Abstract: Regardless of the fact that economics distinguishes itself from other social sciences by a high level of formal deductive modelling, it is a social science due to the essence of the economic process where a human is subject and object at the same time. In the recent years this issue has been more frequently emphasized by economists in ongoing discussions. In the discussions a good deal of time is devoted to economic models and, mainly, their relations with the socioeconomic reality and coherence of empirical evidence. The article presents a thesis that some mainstream economic theories have not always constituted the background to their practical applications, which led - and still can - to the dogmatic and inflexible use of model solutions for economic phenomena which are difficult to forecast in a non-variant rigid model. The aim is to critically analyse beliefs about usefulness of universal economic models in the economic reality advocated by mainstream economists and to prove that not all economic models have constituted the background to their practical applications.
    Keywords: economic model; economics; economic theories; economy
    JEL: E10
    Date: 2014–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pes:wpaper:2014:no53&r=hpe
  5. By: Soldatos, Gerasimos T.
    Abstract: The idea is that the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism-Christianity-Islam, all predispose microeconomics-wise for a social-welfare liberal state safeguarding against the violation of efficiency (not to waste resources and goods), equity (fair wealth distribution), and envy-freeness prefer own modus vivendi relative to neighbor’s) through voluntary action. Macroeconomics-wise, all of them are comfortably compatible with managing the overall economy in line with the four rules of the non-Monetarist Chicago School of Thought given that none of them approves profitable lending: No open-market-operations, cyclically-balanced-budget, k-percent money-growth, and zero-bank-money or full-reserve rules. A Rousseauesque social contract complementing the Lockean one is claimed to be the only état des choses compatible with all three Abrahamic religions.
    Keywords: Abrahamic religions, Efficiency-equity-envy-freeness, Democracy, non-Monetarist Chicago School of Thought
    JEL: A12 A13 Z12
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:59445&r=hpe
  6. By: Ismail, Abdul Ghafar (The Islamic Research and Teaching Institute (IRTI)); Zaenal, Muhammad Hasbi (The Islamic Research and Teaching Institute (IRTI)); Shafiai, Hakimi (The Islamic Research and Teaching Institute (IRTI))
    Abstract: Islamic presence is intended to meet all the demands of life (shumūl al-hayāh). In the economic sphere, Islam set rules comprehensively about the relationship between religion and economy, both should go hand in hand, such as philanthropy actions. Since the early days, philanthropy has become the basic Islamic economy, where philanthropy which means "love of people" had been successfully practiced by the Prophet and the companions accompanied by moral motivation to achieve the glory of Islam, social justice and remove economic oppression. Philanthropy in Islam has been based on a clear legal, either from the al-Qur'an also al-Hadith. However, the current discussion on the economics of philanthropy is very much clouded by conventional view which argues that the form of charitable gifts are motivated by government tax policy. Our view which is derived from Islamic law theory may deviate from such view in the sense that the motives, causes and influences of philanthropic behaviour are different. Therefore, this study this study will explore the economics of philanthropy which is adapted from the Islamic law. The end result, it might us to readjust the impact of philanthropic behavior on inter-generational transfers and the provisions of public and private goods.
    Keywords: philanthropy; altruism; welfare programs; economics of philanthropy; government policy;
    Date: 2015–01–19
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:irtiwp:1435_003&r=hpe
  7. By: Ismail, Abdul Ghafar (The Islamic Research and Teaching Institute (IRTI))
    Abstract: Free market economy is proposed to deliver on the promises of improving the standards of living of most citizens. However, the economic crisis that happen repeatedly failed to produce what was promised. Then, state capitalism has to step in. The state capitalism also fails in the sense that the free market economy with rules/policy in favour of rich countries or state capitalism provide more people worst-off than benefits. The question arises on how the Islamic economic system could shape the free markets and the future of the global economy. Therefore, our aim in this paper is to find out the answer(s) on how Islamic economics system shape the future global economy could. Our analysis shows that Islam has its own economic system. The free market could be developed by taking the free market of Rasulullah (saw) and free market in holding wealth. The government policy directed towards no interest and creating a welfare system is welcome.
    Keywords: free market; state capitalism; economic thought; economic system
    Date: 2015–01–19
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:irtiwp:1435_008&r=hpe
  8. By: Sharma, Chanchal Kumar
    Abstract: The scholarly terrain of this article charts a course from the making of Nehruvian consensus to the present times. In the true spirit of a social conciliator, Nehru created a system of governance that eschewed left and right extremism. It is this system that is popularly known as Nehruvian Consensus. The mainstream argument is that the old Nehruvian consensus has collapsed but there is no consensus capable of replacing it. This may be true of Nehruvian secularism on which there was a weak consensus right from the beginning, but we must not commit the fallacy of confusing what is true of a part with what is true of the whole. There exists alternative consensus in case of economic policy and conduct of centre-state relations whereas in the case of foreign policy the form may have changed but the substance remains the same. Surprisingly, democracy in India remains resilient in spite of the crisis.
    Keywords: Nehruvian Consensus, Nation building, Democracy, Party system, Economic Planning, Socialism, Industrialization, Modernization, Secularism, Economic Reforms, Foreign Policy, Non-Alignment
    JEL: B3 B31 Z0 Z00
    Date: 2013
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61356&r=hpe
  9. By: Ramos-Toro, Diego
    Abstract: The document uses a historical approach to unveil the political nature of financial ideas generated by functionaries of Bogotá’s Stock Exchange in the years following its foundation. Particularly, it demonstrates how these ideas constituted interpretations that aimed at the consolidation of the entity in a dynamic historical and economic context that posed varying challenges to the institution. The interpretative discourse produced and transmitted by said Stock Exchange constituted an adaptive mechanism, which gradually refined so as to placate both existing and emerging social concerns regarding the role and the effects of an entity of the like.
    Keywords: Financial Ideas, Bogotá’s Stock Exchange, Social and Economic Realities, History of Economic Thought
    JEL: B0 B00 B26 N00 N2 N26
    Date: 2014–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61320&r=hpe
  10. By: Alexander Morell (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods)
    Abstract: In a laboratory experiment, I test whether guilt aversion, i.e., a preference to fulfill other people’s expectations, plays out stronger if agents are socially close. I induce two different minimal group identities in participants and randomly assign participants to one of two treatments. Senders either play a dictator game with a receiver from their own group (ingroup treatment) or from the other group (outgroup treatment). I let senders condition their amount sent on second-order beliefs. I find that, in the realm of realistic beliefs (i.e., the sender expects the receiver to expect the sender to send no more than half of the pie), the positive influence of second-order beliefs on how much the sender sends is stronger in the ingroup treatment. In both treatments, about half of the senders remain unaffected by second-order beliefs. In the ingroup treatment, unaffected senders identify less with their group than affected senders do. This is not true for the outgroup treatment.
    Date: 2014–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpg:wpaper:2014_19&r=hpe
  11. By: van Damme, E.E.C. (Tilburg University, Center For Economic Research)
    Abstract: We describe non-cooperative game models and discuss game theoretic solution concepts. Some applications are also noted. Conventional theory focuses on the question ‘how will rational players play?’, and has the Nash equilibrium at its core. We discuss this concept and its interpretations, as well as refinements (perfect and stable equilibria) and relaxations (rationalizability and correlated equilibria). Motivated by experiments that show systematic theory violations, behavioral game theory aims to integrate insights from psychology to get better answers to the question ‘how do humans play?’. We provide an overview of the observed regularities and briefly sketch (beginnings of) theories of boundedly rational play.
    Keywords: Backward induction; behavioral economics; correlated equilibrium; decision; experimental economics; game; game theory; incomplete information; noncooperative,; perfect equilibrium; rationality; rationalizability; sequential equilibrium; stable equilibrium
    JEL: C72 D03
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiucen:de642e17-c01e-4069-b8b2-2bad0026655d&r=hpe
  12. By: Yehuda Levy
    Abstract: Mertens and Parthasarathy (1987) proved the existence of sub-game perfect equilibria in discounted stochastic games.  Their method involved new techniques in dynamic programming, which were presented in a very general framework, with no expense spared in highlighting versatility and scope.  This paper presents the fundamentals of their technique which are necessary, as well as identifies and elaborates on the components of their method, hence giving the core of the proof in a much more concise, direct, and illuminating manner.
    Keywords: Stochastic Games, Equilibrium Existence, Subgame-Perfect Equilibrium
    JEL: C62 C65 C73
    Date: 2015–01–14
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:739&r=hpe
  13. By: Michael Bordo (Rutgers University); Harold James (Princeton University)
    Abstract: There are some striking similarities between the pre 1914 gold standard and EMU today. Both arrangements are based on fixed exchange rates, monetary and fiscal orthodoxy. Each regime gave easy access by financially underdeveloped peripheral countries to capital from the core countries. But the gold standard was a contingent rule—in the case of an emergency like a major war or a serious financial crisis --a country could temporarily devalue its currency. The EMU has no such safety valve. Capital flows in both regimes fueled asset price booms via the banking system ending in major crises in the peripheral countries. But not having the escape clause has meant that present day Greece and other peripheral European countries have suffered much greater economic harm than did Argentina in the Baring Crisis of 1890.
    Keywords: Gold Standard; Gold Exchange Standard; Debt Crisis; Euro
    JEL: F33
    Date: 2013–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bog:spaper:18&r=hpe
  14. By: Peter Boone
    Abstract: A quarter of a century after the transition to a capitalist economy began, how are the nations of the former Soviet bloc faring? Peter Boone charts the failures of communism, the chaos that followed its collapse, the period of liberalisation and growth - and today's unhealthy combination of economic stagnation and political repression.
    Keywords: economic history, Soviet Empire, economic reform, economic growth
    Date: 2015–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:435&r=hpe
  15. By: Ismail, Abdul Ghafar (The Islamic Research and Teaching Institute (IRTI)); Zali, Nor Azmidah (The Islamic Research and Teaching Institute (IRTI))
    Abstract: Ethics has been fundamental in organizations and in specific, Islamic financial institutions have selected ethics as their core competencies. Islam accepts ethics as a good value in enhancing company performance since ethics is grounded by Shariah rules. The ethical issues have been raised steadily in business and they do not seem to settle as a lot of companies have not been aware of its importance. There are a lot of theories of ethics that have been introduced but the number of unethical business activities does not seem to be reduced. This paper seeks to explain the conventional ethical theory and how Islamic ethical philosophy generates the ethical business activities. Later on, the study will produce an ethical model which is in accordance to the Islamic intellectual discourse , that will explain the relationship between ethics and Islamic finance activities and also discuss the screening criteria of financial activities . This study has the intention to contribute to the current knowledge of the business ethic’s field and to contribute its findings for further research in business ethics. This study will also bridge the gaps about how ethics can be a corporate identity to the Islamic financial institutions.
    Keywords: Ethics; Philosophy of Ethics; Ethical Theory; Business Ethics; Islamic Ethics
    Date: 2015–01–19
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:irtiwp:1435_007&r=hpe
  16. By: Anders Aslund; Witold Or³owski
    Abstract: What a difference a quarter of a century can make! In 1989, Poland stood out as a country in chronic political and economic crisis.1 It had been ravaged by strikes, economic decline and default since 1976. A popular view both in Poland and abroad was that Poland was incurable. Germans talked about the polnische Wirtschaft (Polish economy), meaning dysfunctional economy, while the Swedes used the term polsk riksdag (Polish Parliament) for political disorder. Norman Davies, the great historian of Poland, called his monumental history of Poland God’s Playground because of all the disasters it has faced. He said these words “can be aptly used as an epithet for a country where fate has frequently played mischievous tricks” (Davies 1982, xvi). Today, Poland stands out as possibly the greatest economic success among the thirty post-communist countries.
    Date: 2014–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sec:bresem:0133&r=hpe
  17. By: Bernardo Alves Furtado; Patrícia Alessandra Morita Sakowski
    Abstract: This text was written as part of the project Modelling of Complex Systems for Public Policy. It reviews the classical authors who jointly contributed to establish the elements of what could constitute a “science of complexity”. Based on the original writings of these authors, the text discusses the central concepts of complex systems: i) the interaction between (homogeneous or heterogeneous) agents and the environment; ii) emergence and self-organization; iii) the importance of nonlinearity and scales; iv) the determinism of rules; v) the emphasis on dynamics and feedback; and vi) the notions of adaptation, learning and evolution. Finally, contemporary criticisms are presented. They suggest that the arguments of complex systems do not support the epistemological establishment of a supposedly new science, but they do not reject the advances proposed by complexity studies.
    Keywords: complexity; emergence; dynamical systems; non-linearity; cellular automata; modelling; information theory; neural networks; evolution. Este texto está inserido no projeto Modelagem de Sistemas Complexos para Políticas Públicas e faz uma resenha dos autores clássicos que, em conjunto, contribuíram com os elementos do que seria uma “ciência da complexidade”. Com base no pensamento original destes autores, os conceitos centrais de sistemas complexos são discutidos, a saber: i) a interação entre agentes (homogêneos ou heterogêneos) e o ambiente; ii) as propriedades emergentes e a auto-organização; iii) a importância da não linearidade e das escalas; iv) as regras e seu determinismo; v) a ênfase na dinâmica e retroalimentação; e vi) as noções de adaptação, aprendizado e evolução. Por fim, críticas contemporâneas são apresentadas. Elas sugerem que os argumentos de sistemas complexos não sustentam epistemologicamente a constituição de suposta nova ciência, mas não rejeitam os avanços propostos nos estudos de complexidade.
    Date: 2014–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:2019a&r=hpe
  18. By: Matteo M. Galizzi; Daniel Navarro-Martínez
    Abstract: We present a lab-field experiment designed to assess systematically the external validity of social preferences elicited in a variety of experimental games. We do this by comparing behavior in the different games with a number of behaviors elicited in the field and with self-reported behaviors exhibited in the past, using the same sample of participants. Our results show that the experimental social-preference games do a poor job in explaining both social behaviors in the field and social behaviors from the past.
    Keywords: social preferences, experimental games, external validity, field behavior
    JEL: C92 C93 D03
    Date: 2015–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:802&r=hpe
  19. By: Christopher M. Meissner
    Abstract: Bimetallism disappeared as a monetary regime in the 1870s. Flandreau (1996) clearly demonstrates that French bimetallism would have been able to withstand the German de-monetization of silver. Could it have withstood if many other countries in the world moved to the gold standard following in the footsteps of Bismarck? The answer is no. By 1875 bimetallism would have been unviable, and the US return to convertibility in 1879 would have made it impossible to sustain true bimetallism. It is difficult to understand the end of the bimetallic strategy as the outcome of a repeated game between rational actors. Rather, it would appear that very few actors had a good model of how the international monetary system worked in practice as of 1873. An attempt to resuscitate bimetallism, with France and the US both bimetallic at the mint ratio of 15.5 to one, would have been tenuous. No wonder then that there were few countries enthusiastic about reviving bimetallism at the International Monetary Conference of 1878. A similar lack of cooperation risks sending the European Monetary Union-as currently constituted-the way of bimetallism.
    JEL: E42 N10 N40
    Date: 2015–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20852&r=hpe
  20. By: Alexander S. Kritikos; Jonathan H. W. Tan
    Abstract: This paper experimentally investigates the nature of image concerns in gift giving. For this, we test variants of dictator and impunity games where the influences of social preferences on behavior are kept constant across all games. Givers maximize material payoffs by pretending to be fair when receivers do not know the actual surplus size, implying that portraying an outward appearance of norm compliance matters more than actual compliance. In impunity games, receivers can reject gifts with no payoff consequence to givers. In the face of receivers’ feedback, some givers ensure positive feedback by donating more while some avoid negative feedback by not giving at all. Removing feedback reduces the incentive to give altogether. Differing behavior in the four games implies that social confirmation plays a crucial role in the transmission of image concerns in giving.
    Keywords: Dictator, impunity, experiment, image, social confirmation
    JEL: C78 C92
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1439&r=hpe
  21. By: José Neves Cruz (CIJE – Centre for Legal and Economic Research and School of Criminology of the Faculty of Law of the University of Porto);
    Abstract: According to Baumol (1990), entrepreneurship does not always create social value but, depending on contextual factors (rules of the game), entrepreneurial talent may be directed towards unproductive and destructive activities, including white-collar crime. Following Baumol’s hypothesis we propose a theoretical framework for the integration of the empirical study of entrepreneurship and white-collar crime designed with intelligence and innovation, based on the combination of two competing approaches hitherto used separately for both issues: the personality traits model and the theory of planned behaviour.
    Keywords: white-collar crime; entrepreneurship; personality traits; intentions; theory of planned behaviour
    Date: 2013–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:obegef:022&r=hpe
  22. By: van Damme, E.E.C. (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management)
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:802e9843-a7ba-4e89-9721-3e4cad66555e&r=hpe
  23. By: Camille Cornand; Rodolphe Dos Santos Ferreira
    Abstract: In Keynes’ beauty contest, agents have to choose actions in accordance with an expected fundamental value and with the conventional value expected to be set by the market. In doing so, agents respond to a fundamental and to a coordination motive respectively, the prevalence of either motive being set exogenously. Our contribution is to consider whether agents favor the fundamental or the coordination motive as the result of a strategic choice that generates a strong strategic complementarity of agents’ actions. We show that the coordination motive tends to prevail over the fundamental one, which yields a disconnection of activity away from the fundamental. A valuation game and a competition game are provided as illustrations of this general Framework.
    Keywords: beauty contest, financial markets, indeterminacy, oligopolistic competition, strategic complementarities.
    JEL: D84 E12 E44 L13
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2015-01&r=hpe
  24. By: Malm Lindberg, Henrik (The Ratio institute)
    Abstract: Industrial Relations systems are essentially a nexus of contracts between different actors: Government, employer’s organizations and unions first and foremost. The Swedish labour market model was based on the concept of Government neutrality ie: non-partisanship and non-intervention from the early 20th century. Did the interventionist state during the 1970s change the fundamentals of the Swedish model? I argue that it did. The argument is based on an empirical investigation that comes from the concept “Frontier of Control”. If we take five dimensions: Occupational safety, Determination in work-place issues, Employment and dismissals, Strikes and industrial conflicts and lastly Determination in company issues, the power relations changed fundamentally in the 1970s with the labour law legislation and was ultimately part of a paradigmatic change in Swedish IR.
    Keywords: Industrial Relations; labour law legislation; Government neutrality; political radicalization
    JEL: J53 J58 K31 N34
    Date: 2014–12–31
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0249&r=hpe
  25. By: Ivo Bischoff (University of Kassel); Özcan Ihtiyar (University of Kassel)
    Abstract: We conduct an experiment on the impact of feedback in the Trust Game. In our treatment group, the Trustee has the opportunity to give feedback to the Investor (free in choice of wording and contents). The feedback option is found to reduce the share of Investors who sent no resources to the Trustee, while the impact on average behavior is less pronounced. The notion proposed by Xiao and Houser (2005, PNAS) according to which verbal feedback and monetary sanctions are substitutes is not supported. We use the PANAS-scale (Mackinnon et al., 1999) to capture change in subjects’ short-run affective state during the experiment. Receiving feedback has an impact on the Investors’ short-run affective state but giving feedback is not found to have an effect on Trustees’ short-run affective state.
    Keywords: Trust Game, Feedback, Short-run affect, Emotions
    JEL: C91 D03 D63
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201503&r=hpe

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