|
on History and Philosophy of Economics |
| By: | Anderaos de Araujo, Fabio |
| Abstract: | An analysis of the invariable measure of prices proposed by the eminent Italian economist Piero Sraffa, who laid the foundations for a new approach in modern economics. Two mathematical appendices are also provided. The first one shows step by step the construction of the Standard Commodity, which is a consistent solution to the transformation of labour values into prices of production. In Appendix II there is a general numerical example of a price system with two industries which makes the understanding of the distribution of income between wages and profits easier. Using a software spreadsheet, for example, it is possible to make numerical simulations and make comparisons between the results obtained from the Sraffa price system with that obtained from Marx's. This is revised version of the original paper written few years ago. |
| Keywords: | Sraffa, labour theory of value, Standard Commodity |
| JEL: | A10 |
| Date: | 2015–07–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:65426&r=hpe |
| By: | Enrico G. De Giorgi; Ola Mahmoud |
| Abstract: | Diversification represents the idea of choosing variety over uniformity. Within the theory of choice, desirability of diversification is axiomatized as preference for a convex combination of choices that are equivalently ranked. This corresponds to the notion of risk aversion when one assumes the von-Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility model, but the equivalence fails to hold in other models. This paper reviews axiomatizations of the concept of diversification and their relationship to the related notions of risk aversion and convex preferences within different choice theoretic models. The survey covers model-independent diversification preferences, preferences within models of choice under risk, including expected utility theory and the more general rank-dependent expected utility theory, as well as models of choice under uncertainty axiomatized via Choquet expected utility theory. Remarks on interpretations of diversification preferences within models of behavioral choice are given in the conclusion. |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1507.02025&r=hpe |
| By: | Arina Nikandrova (Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics, Birkbeck); Romans Pancs (University of Rochester) |
| Abstract: | We consider a single-item, independent private value auction environment with two bidders: the leader, who knows his valuation, and the follower, who exerts an effort that affects the probability distribution of his valuation, which he then learns. We provide sufficient conditions under which an ex-post efficient revenue-maximizing auction solicits bids sequentially and partially discloses the leader’s bid to the follower, thereby influencing the follower’s effort. This disclosure rule, which is novel, is non-monotone and prescribes sometimes revealing only a pair to which the leader’s bid belongs and sometimes revealing the bid itself. The induced effort distortion relative to the first-best is discussed. |
| Keywords: | Information Disclosure, Conjugate Disclosure, Optimal Auction, Moral Hazard. |
| JEL: | D82 D83 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbk:bbkefp:1504&r=hpe |
| By: | David Ricardo Andrade Martínez; Carlos Eduardo Güisa Díaz |
| Abstract: | Este trabajo es una aproximación al análisis de la estructura del comercio internacional desde un enfoque basado en la teoría de redes. Se estimaron los principales elementos de las redes de comercio internacional para el intervalo de tiempo de 1970 al 2011. Las propiedades extraídas para las redes muestran ser congruentes con la historia geopolítica y económica, y a su vez, dan luces para entender la evolución del comportamiento de los patrones de comercio internacional. |
| Keywords: | Comercio internacional, Teoría de Redes Sociales, Teoría de Grafos, red social, red de comercio internacional. |
| JEL: | F00 F01 F02 F15 F31 F47 |
| Date: | 2014–06–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000176:013131&r=hpe |
| By: | Sudhölter, Peter (Department of Business and Economics); Zarzuelo, José M. (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | A highway problem is a cost sharing problem that arises if the common resource is an ordered set of sections with fixed costs such that each agent demands consecutive sections. We show that the core, the prenucleolus, and the Shapley value on the class of TU games associated with highway problems possess characterizations related to traditional axiomatizations of the solutions on certain classes of games. However, in the formulation of the employed simple and intuitive properties the associated games do not occur. The main axioms for the core and the nucleolus are consistency properties based on the reduced highway problem that arises from the original highway problem by eliminating any agent of a specific type and using her charge to maintain a certain part of her sections. The Shapley value is characterized with the help of individual independence of outside changes, a property that requires the fee of an agent only depending on the highway problem when truncated to the sections she demands. An alternative characterization is based on the new contraction property. Finally it is shown that the games that are associated with generalized highway problems in which agents may demand non-connected parts are the positive cost games, i.e., nonnegative linear combinations of dual unanimity games. |
| Keywords: | TU game; airport problem; highway problem; core; nucleolus; Shapley value |
| JEL: | C71 |
| Date: | 2015–07–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sdueko:2015_013&r=hpe |
| By: | Henri Sterdyniak (OFCE) |
| Abstract: | La grande réforme fiscale est l’arlésienne du débat économique en France, souvent évoquée sans que son contenu et ses objectifs soient clairement explicités. Elle peut d’autant plus faire l'unanimité que chacun lui donne un contenu différent, entre réduire les impôts (ce qui suppose de réduire encore plus les dépenses publiques) et les rendre plus progressifs. La fiscalité française prélève 46 % du PIB ; les dépenses publiques primaires représentent 50 % du PIB potentiel. Ce haut niveau constitue un choix de société qu'il faut maintenir ; le système fiscal français est déjà fortement redistributif ; les revenus du capital sont taxés comme ceux du travail ; la France est l’un des rares pays où les inégalités de revenus ne se sont pas fortement accrues dans la période récente. L’article analyse, impôt par impôt, les réformes possibles et discute leur opportunité. Il montre, en particulier, qu'il est vain de remplacer des cotisations sociales employeurs par de la TVA ; qu’il est souhaitable mais délicat d'augmenter la fiscalité écologique. La fiscalité française doit rester familiale, la fusion IR-CSG n'est pas nécessaire, il faut repenser les dépenses fiscales et surtout supprimer tous les mécanismes permettant l'optimisation fiscale des ménages et des entreprises. La fusion PPE-RSA activité est délicate. Un éventuel choc de compétitivité (une forte réduction des cotisations et impôts des entreprises financée par une hausse de la CSG) ne doit être entrepris que dans un cadre européen. |
| Keywords: | Réforme fiscale; Fiscalité française |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4j2uvf1h5p8n6p1cutvri35m1s&r=hpe |
| By: | O'Connor, Fergal; Lucey, Brian; Batten, Jonathan; Baur, Dirk |
| Abstract: | We review the literature on gold as an investment. We summarize a wide variety of literature. We begin with a review of how the gold markets operate, including the under researched leasing market; we proceed to examine research on physical gold demand and supply, gold mine economics and move onto analyses of gold as an investment. Additional sections provide context on gold market efficiency, the issue of gold market bubbles, gold’s relation to inflation and interest rates, and the very nascent literature on the behavioural aspects of gold. |
| Keywords: | Gold, survey, review |
| JEL: | E44 F33 G15 L72 Q31 |
| Date: | 2015–07–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:65484&r=hpe |
| By: | Yannis Tsirbas; Dimitri Sotiropoulos |
| Abstract: | In this paper the views of a sample of 74 Greek Members of Parliament (MPs) on European integration and the handling of the economic crisis by the EU are discussed and interpreted. The survey of MPs, which was conducted in 2014, is a replication of a comparable study conducted in 2007. Greek MPs continue to be attached to Europe, but evaluate negatively EU’s institutions’ role during the economic crisis. Overall, three groups of parliamentarians, namely pro-government MPs, parliamentarians self-placed at the centre of the left-right spectrum and more experienced MPs, tended to have more pro-European views and attitudes than MPs of the opposition, left-wing MPs and less experienced MPs. The dominant dimension of conflict for Greek political elites is the issue of the Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs). The SYRIZA-ANEL government that was formed after the January 2015 elections was not a surprise given the close proximity of these two parties on their stance towards the MoUs and the EU. |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hel:greese:93&r=hpe |
| By: | Johanna Mollerstrom (Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science and Department of Economics, George Mason University); Bjørn-Atle Reme (Telenor Research and NHH Norwegian School of Economics); Erik Ø. Sørensen (NHH Norwegian School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We conduct a laboratory experiment where third-party spectators can re- distribute resources between two agents, thereby offsetting the consequences of controllable and uncontrollable luck. Some spectators go to the limits and equalize all or no inequalities, but many follow an interior allocation rule previously unaccounted for by the fairness views in the literature. These interior allocators regard an agent’s choice as more important than the cause of her low income and do not always compensate bad un- controllable luck. Instead, they condition such compensation on the agent’s decision regarding controllable luck exposure, even though the two types of luck are independent. Length: 33 |
| Keywords: | fairness, responsibility, option luck, brute luck, experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D63 D81 H23 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gms:wpaper:1051&r=hpe |
| By: | Jaume Ventura; Hans-Joachim Voth |
| Abstract: | Why did the country that borrowed the most industrialize first? Earlier research has viewed the explosion of debt in 18th century Britain as either detrimental, or as neutral for economic growth. In this paper, we argue instead that Britain’s borrowing boom was beneficial. The massive issuance of liquidly traded bonds allowed the nobility to switch out of low-return investments such as agricultural improvements. This switch lowered factor demand by old sectors and increased profits in new, rising ones such as textiles and iron. Because external financing contributed little to the Industrial Revolution, this boost in profits in new industries accelerated structural change, making Britain more industrial more quickly. The absence of an effective transfer of financial resources from old to new sectors also helps to explain why the Industrial Revolution led to massive social change – because the rich nobility did not lend to or invest in the revolutionizing industries, it failed to capture the high returns to capital in these sectors, leading to relative economic decline. |
| Keywords: | crowding out, debt crises, Industrial Revolution, Ricardian equivalence, mis-allocation, financial repression, structural change, productivity |
| JEL: | E22 E25 E62 H56 H60 N13 N23 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:830&r=hpe |
| By: | Guillaume Allegre (OFCE) |
| Abstract: | Les économistes ne sont pas d’accord entre eux. Ils ne sont pas d’accord sur cette absence de consensus et ils ne sont pas d’accord sur les raisons de ce désaccord. Certains pensent que leur désaccord provient principalement de différences sur les valeurs, mais des études montrent également une absence de consensus sur les faits. Les économistes apparaissent excessivement confiants dans leurs estimations, un biais classique d’expertise. En s’appuyant sur l’exemple de la fiscalité, l’article souligne que la distinction faits/valeurs est trop réductrice. Concernant les questions distributives, il n’y a pas de mesures neutres du point de vue des valeurs. Ce qui est mesuré dépend souvent de l’écart à une norme. La mesure est ainsi la différence entre les faits et les valeurs. Elle n’est donc ni entièrement normative, ni simplement descriptive. De plus, les paramètres estimés par les économistes n’ont de sens qu’au sein d’un modèle donné. Or, le désaccord porte non pas seulement sur les paramètres mais sur le modèle lui-même, ou le paradigme, c’est-à-dire sur le choix d’hypothèses simplificatrices pertinentes. Il existe aussi un enchevêtrement de questions normatives et positives dans le choix d’un modèle. |
| Keywords: | Consensus; Fiscalité; Economie normative; Economie positive |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/1dh5rfs1428k6ohfvlq0egfmoj&r=hpe |
| By: | Holger Strulik (University of Goettingen) |
| Abstract: | We present a multi-country theory of economic growth in which countries are connected by a network of mutual knowledge exchange. Knowledge in any country depends on the human capital of the countries it exchanges knowledge with. The diffusion of knowledge throughout the world explains a period of increasing world inequality after the take-off of the forerunners of the industrial revolution, followed by decreasing relative inequality. Knowledge diffusion through a Small World network explains the 'New Kaldor facts' and produces an extraordinary diversity of country growth performances, including the overtaking of individual countries in the course of world development. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed015:59&r=hpe |
| By: | Gabrielle Poeschl (Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto); Raquel Esteves (Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto); Marta Ferreira (Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto) |
| Abstract: | In order to compare expert with lay theories about corruption we asked 388 Portuguese adults, 204 men and 184 women, to fill out one of three questionnaires, which had a common part and were made up of one task of word association and several opinion scales. The main results show that lay people (a) strongly associate politics to corruption; (b) view some behaviors as more condemnable than others and as deserving of different types of punishment; (c) are aware of the different consequences of corruption; however, only the negative effect of corruption on social organization predicts the degree to which corrupt practices are considered as condemnable; (d) view Angola as presenting higher levels of corruption, namely of petty corruption, than Portugal, and as suffering more from its consequences; however, contrary to what was expected, the experience of living in a country with higher levels of corruption leads to the formation of less negative, rather than more negative, opinions about the consequences of corruption. These different aspects of lay people’s theories about corruption are discussed and synthesized. |
| Keywords: | corruption, lay theories, condemnability, punishment, consequences |
| JEL: | Z19 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:obegef:037&r=hpe |