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on History and Philosophy of Economics |
| By: | Richard G. Lipsey (Simon Fraser University) |
| Abstract: | This valuable discussion of LSE economics runs from the School’s inception in 1895 to the present. I review the whole, including where relevant, observations and criticisms based on personal knowledge from the my time as a graduate student, then a staff member of the LSE, from 1953 to 1963. Part I contains excellent essays on what the editor says are “…the contributions made by a centre [LSE in this case] where these contributions are considered to be especially important…†. These cover econometrics, economic history, accounting, business history, social policy, and the LSE’s house journal Economica. The notable absence is economic theory despite the LSE having had notable theorists throughout its entire history. For an early example, in the 1930s the School had Lionel Robbins, Friedrich Hayek, John Hicks, R. D. G. Allen, James Meade, Ronald Coase, Abba Lerner, and Nicky Kaldor. Also absent is an essay on methodology in spite of the LSE having had Carl Popper, Irme Lakatos and Joseph Agassi, all of whom had a major influence on economics at the LSE and worldwide. Part II presents essays on 29 economists who had been or still are on the School’s staff. It is organised in chronological order of birth dates, from 1861 for Canaan to 1948 for Pissarides. The coverage is quite comprehensive, although a few important staff members are omitted. The essays are excellent and mostly honour the important work of these staff members. The one exception is James Forder’s rather critical essay on Bill Phillips, on which I offer some criticisms. |
| Keywords: | LSE, Review Essay |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sfu:sfudps:dp20-05&r=all |
| By: | Franz Dietrich (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Antonios Staras (Cardiff University); Robert Sugden (UEA - University of East Anglia [Norwich]) |
| Abstract: | Leonard Savage famously contravened his own theory when first confronting the Allais Paradox, but then convinced himself that the had made an error. We examine the formal structure of Savage's ‘error-correcting' reasoning in the light of (i) behavioural economists' claims to identify the latent preferences of individuals who violate conventional rationality requirements and (ii) John Broome's critique of arguments which presuppose that rationality requirements can be achieved through reasoning. We argue that Savage's reasoning is not vulnerable to Broome's critique, but does not provide support for the view that behavioural scientists can identify and counteract errors in people's choices. |
| Keywords: | Savage,Allais Paradox,Broome,rationality,reasoning,behavioural economics |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-02905466&r=all |
| By: | Jonas Rama (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UP1 UFR02 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - UFR d'Économie - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne); John Hall (PSU - Portland State University [Portland]) |
| Abstract: | In The Romantic Economist (2009), Richard Bronk laments that Enlightenment thinking dominated Economics during its formation as a science. As counterpoint, the 'Romantic Movement' had much to offer but remained peripheral. Consequently Economics embraced the centrality of rationality and other Enlightenment precepts, leading to a 'socialphysics'. Meanwhile human characteristics such; as sentiments, imagination and creativity were eschewed. While Bronk fails to identify an in-the-flesh 'Romantic Economist', our inquiry seeks to establish that indeed Celso Furtado qualifies. Profoundly influenced by his sensitivities and attachment to place, Furtado relies upon an organic metaphor - o sertão nordestino - for insights into complex developmental processes. |
| Abstract: | Em The Romantic Economist (2009), Richard Bronk lamenta que o pensamento iluminista tenha dominado a economia durante sua formação como ciência. O "Movimen-to Romântico" seria um contraponto, mas foi mantido distante. A economia abraçou a cen-tralidade da racionalidade e preceitos iluministas, tornando-se uma "física-social". Desde então, as características humanas como sentimento, imaginação e criatividade são evitadas. Embora Bronk não identifique um economista "romântico" de carne e osso, nossa pesquisa busca estabelecer Celso Furtado como um. Profundamente influenciado por sua sensibili-dade e raízes, Furtado fez uso de uma metáfora orgânica-o sertão nordestino-em seu entendimento de complexos processos de desenvolvimento. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Brasil; Celso Furtado; Richard Bronk; movimento romântico; sertão. |
| Keywords: | Brazil,Celso Furtado,Richard Bronk,romantic movement |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02866791&r=all |
| By: | Sabiou M. Inoua (Economic Science Institute, Chapman University); Vernon L. Smith (Economic Science Institute, Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | "The 1870s marginal revolution in economics culminated a century later in a failure. The core utility maximization principle of this school of thought was shown to have no interesting implication for aggregate market behavior in general (Sonnenschein, 1972, 1973a, 1973b; Debreu, 1974; Mantel, 1974; Kirman, 1989; Shafer & Sonnenschein, 1993; Rizvi, 2006). We argue that neoclassical price theory was flawed from the beginning, owing to the more basic and more serious logical problem inherent to the axiom of price taking behavior, under which market price formation is left unexplained." |
| Keywords: | History of Economic Thought; Methodology of Economics; Microeconomic Theory; Experimental Economics |
| JEL: | B C D |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:20-19&r=all |
| By: | Kenneth J. McLaughlin (Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a critical survey of Sherwin Rosen’s contributions to economics. I identify the ideas that influenced him and the themes—diversity and inequality—that connect his papers. The model of compensating price differentials (Rosen 1974) is his greatest hit. The more general “equalizing differences” approach was a signature feature of his research in labor economics and other fields. I also evaluate the merits of Rosen (1979), through which he receives credit for the influential Roback-Rosen model in urban economics. And several of his most influential papers substantiate my claim that Rosen was an inequality economist. |
| Keywords: | Compensating Differentials, Labor Economics, Equalizing differences, inequality |
| JEL: | B2 J3 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:htr:hcecon:450&r=all |
| By: | Jo, Tae-Hee |
| Abstract: | It is often argued that Richard Nelson and Sydney Winter’s evolutionary theory is an alternative to neoclassical economics and is compatible with or complementary to Veblenian evolutionary economics. This paper subjects such arguments to critical examination. I argue that while Nelson and Winter’s theory provides a more realistic account of the firm behavior than Marshallian-neoclassical theory does, it is a neoclassical evolutionary theory in much the same sense as Marshall’s economics is quasi-evolutionary, ‘neo-classical’ economics according to Veblen. Therefore, Nelson and Winter’s evolutionary theory is in fact a protective modification of neoclassical economics and is antithetical to Veblen’s evolutionary economics. |
| Keywords: | Thorstein Veblen, Richard Nelson, Sydney Winter, Evolutionary Theory, Institution |
| JEL: | B15 B25 B52 |
| Date: | 2020–06–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:101380&r=all |
| By: | Emilio Ocampo |
| Abstract: | Desde hace décadas se debate que grado de influencia tuvo John Maynard Keynes sobre las políticas de expansión del gasto adoptadas por los gobiernos de los principales países industrializados para salir de la Gran Depresión, especialmente en Estados Unidos. El asincronismo de la publicación de la Teoría General (1936) y el lanzamiento del New Deal (1933) no permite descartar que la haya tenido, ya que venía abogando públicamente por esas políticas desde al menos 1924 para reducir el alto desempleo en Gran Bretaña. El presente trabajo tiene dos objetivos. Primero, describir la evolución de las ideas de Keynes respecto al problema del desempleo durante el período 1920-1935 en el contexto político y económico de Gran Bretaña. Segundo, demostrar que antes de 1930 tanto en Estados Unidos como en Alemania surgieron de manera independiente ideas y propuestas similares a las de Keynes. Por lo cual tampoco es posible confirmar su influencia. |
| Keywords: | Keynes, Gran Depresión, Austeridad, Déficit, Políticas Anti-cíclicas |
| JEL: | N14 E24 E32 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cem:doctra:738&r=all |
| By: | Di Bucchianico, Stefano (University of Siena) |
| Abstract: | Krugman’s 1998 seminal model that revived the liquidity trap theory stimulated a debate on its origins in and differences with respect to Keynes and Hicks’s insights. The present paper illustrates and comments on a neglected line of thought innervating Krugman’s model, which hinges on the presence of a negative natural rate of interest. This result is argued to en-sue from theoretical premises analogous to those present in Samuelson’s 1958 article on the overlapping generations model. In turn, Samuelson obtained a negative equilibrium interest rate by opportunely recasting Böhm-Bawerk’s three causes for a positive rate of interest. |
| Keywords: | three causes for a positive rate of interest; liquidity trap; negative natural rate of interest; Krugman; Samuelson |
| JEL: | B13 B20 B30 |
| Date: | 2020–07–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:sraffa:0043&r=all |
| By: | Ötsch, Walter |
| Abstract: | Adam Smith hat in seinem Bild des Menschen der Rolle der Imagination einen so großen Stellenwert eingeräumt, dass es berechtigt ist, ihn als Bildanthropologen zu bezeichnen. Der Aspekt des Bildvermögens von Menschen geriet im Laufe des 19. Jahrhunderts in der Geschichte der Wirtschaftstheorie (zumindest in ihrem Hauptstrang, der in die Neoklassik mündete) weitgehend in Vergessenheit. Ein Grund lag auch darin, dass die Imaginationskraft des Menschen nach der Französischen Revolution als gefährlich erachtet worden ist. Im Verlust der Bildhaftigkeit wurden viele Räume, die die ökonomische Theorie beschreibt, grundlegend verändert bzw. nicht mehr beachtet, wie der physikalische Raum der Natur, der Innen-Raum des Menschen, der Raum der Moral, der soziale Raum und der Raum der Gesellschaft. Der Aufsatz will auch den inneren Zusammenhang in der Entwicklung dieser Räume in der Theoriegeschichte aufzeigen. |
| Keywords: | Adam Smith,Bild,Bildvermögen,Bildlichkeit,Imagination,David Hume,Léon Walras,William St. Jevons,Neoklassik,Lionel Robbins,Natur,Moral,Innen-Raum,Gesellschaft |
| JEL: | A12 B12 B13 B21 B31 B41 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cuswps:63&r=all |
| By: | Mir Djawadi, Behnud; Schäfers, Sabrina |
| Abstract: | While it has been assumed that employees who blow the whistle in organizations are simply those with higher than average moral standards, to understand whistleblowing behavior only in relation to moral functioning has been empirically questioned. We claim that the missing empirical link is rooted in a view of morality that demands too much personal sacrifice from even the most moral employees. Instead, our conceptual model posits that the decision to blow the whistle always involves a trade-off between an individual’s level of moral standard and the extent of the personal costs they would incur, and that employees with postconventional moral reasoning or a strong moral identity are less concerned with those costs and more willing to fulfil their moral duty in order to prevent harm to others. The results of our experiment support this proposition. However, actions are not always chosen to create the optimal outcome for the higher good. Rather, study participants weigh up personal interests in their decision to act morally. By demonstrating that moral functioning and personal costs are much more intertwined than previously assumed under a normative lens, our study offers new insights to whistleblowing research and valuable implications for management practice. |
| Keywords: | whistleblowing, moral functioning, moral reasoning, moral identity, moral motivation, personal costs, laboratory experiment |
| JEL: | C91 D23 M50 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:101163&r=all |
| By: | Emilio Ocampo |
| Abstract: | Before Hugo Chavez burst into the political scene in Venezuela, Argentina’s Juan Peron (1895- 1974) was considered the quintessential Latin American populist leader. He ruled Argentina from mid 1943 until September 1955 and between 1973 and 1974 and his political party has been in power two thirds of the time since the reestablishment of democracy in 1983. Perón’s economic policies between 1946 and 1949 are also considered archetypical. The Peronist economic policy paradigm (PEPP) emphasized income redistribution and a fiscally induced expansion of aggregate demand at the expense of productivity and allocative efficiency. Although the ideological roots of Peronism can be directly traced back to Fascism, when it came to his economic policies, Perón claimed to have been inspired by FDR’s New Deal and Keynes’s General Theory. However, in mosts respects, in their early stage, Peronist economic policies resemble more those proposed by Sir Oswald Mosley (1896-1980) in 1930. This paper describes the PEPP, its implementation and results and evaluates several hypothesis regarding its intellectual roots. |
| Keywords: | Peronism, Fascism, Economic Policy, Argentina |
| JEL: | B00 B29 E60 E65 N14 N16 O23 P40 B29 E60 E65 N14 N16 O23 P40 P47 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cem:doctra:731&r=all |
| By: | Emilio Ocampo |
| Abstract: | After being dormant for several decades, populism has resurfaced in Europe and North America. Since the beginning of the 21st century Europe’s populist parties have tripled their vote and were able to put their leaders into government posts in eleven countries, which has increased thirteen fold the population living under populist regimes. The virus has even contaminated Anglo-Saxon countries, which were considered immune. This new strain of populism seems different from the one that infected Latin America for most of the second half of the 20th century. Instead of fostering class struggle it appeals to racism, xenophobia and anti-globalization. In this regard, it has a closer resemblance to early 20th century European populist strains. Although much has been written about populism, a widely accepted definition remains elusive. Before Hugo Chavez burst into the political scene in Venezuela, Argentina’s Juan Perón (1895-1974) was considered the quintessential Latin American populist leader. Perón was undoubtedly one of the most successful politicians of the 20th century. Although he entered politics in 1943 Peronism still dominates Argentine politics. Even though it may seem harder to define than populism, its study offers valuable clues about populism’s nature and meaning that are relevant today in modern advanced democracies. |
| Keywords: | Peronism, Fascism, Populism, Argentina |
| JEL: | B00 N14 N16 P40 P47 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cem:doctra:732&r=all |
| By: | Costa, King (Global Centre for Academic Research) |
| Abstract: | Theoretical and conceptual frameworks play a critical role in building up one’s research study trajectory. Researchers need to decide the foundational dynamics of their research inquiry, right from breaking down concepts from the research questions, to formulation of hypothesis/assumptions and deciding on the philosophical basis for the inquiry. It can therefore be asserted that role theory plays is essential in creation of boundaries and shape for the research inquiry. |
| Date: | 2020–07–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:africa:3fkz7&r=all |
| By: | Danula K. Gamage; Almudena Sevilla; Sarah Smith |
| Abstract: | The status of women in economics in the US has come increasingly under the spotlight. We exploit high quality administrative data to paint the first comprehensive picture of the status of women in UK academic economics departments in research-intensive universities. Our evidence indicates that, as in the US, women in economics are under-represented and are paid less than men. The issues facing women in economics in the UK are similar to other disciplines particularly STEM but have received less national policy attention to date. We conclude with a discussion of interventions that might improve the status of women in academia and we present new evidence that a UK academic diversity programme (Athena Swan) has narrowed the gender pay gap at a senior level. |
| Date: | 2020–07–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:uobdis:20/725&r=all |
| By: | Pierre Januard (PHARE - Philosophie, Histoire et Analyse des Représentations Économiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | Whereas literature on Thomas Aquinas's doctrine of usury has tended to focus on the Summa Theologiae, this paper highlights the contribution of his early work the Commentary on the Sentences. In this work, Aquinas distances himself from the Roman law mutuum and the assumption of a borrower's state of necessity, and he introduces preliminary monetary elements. He thereby paves the way for a future understanding of surplus in intertemporal exchange. The monetary loan is presented as a commercial exchange involving not only commercial risk but also the risk of analytical errors in understanding the nature of the operation. |
| Abstract: | Tandis que la littérature sur la doctrine de Thomas d'Aquin sur l'usure se concentre habituellement sur la Somme de théologie, cet article met en lumière l'apport de son œuvre de jeunesse, le Commentaire des Sentences. L'Aquinate prend ses distances avec le mutuum du droit romain et avec la considération d'un état de nécessité de l'emprunteur, et il introduit de premiers éléments monétaires. Il ouvre à la voie à une future compréhension d'un surplus dans un échange intertemporel. Le prêt se présente comme un échange commercial impliquant non seulement des risques commerciaux, mais aussi le risque d'une erreur d'analyse dans la compréhension de la nature de l'opération. |
| Keywords: | risk,interest loan,usury,just price,mutuum,scholastic,Thomas Aquinas,risque,prêt à intérêt,usure,juste prix,scolastique,Thomas d'Aquin |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-02876106&r=all |
| By: | Elise Rigot (LAAS-ELIA - Équipe Ingénierie pour les sciences du vivant - LAAS - Laboratoire d'analyse et d'architecture des systèmes - Toulouse INP - Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) - Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées - INSA Toulouse - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Toulouse - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - UT3 - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier - Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - UT2J - Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès, LLA-CREATIS - Lettres, Langage et Arts – Création, Recherche, Émergence en Arts, Textes, Images, Spectacles - UT2J - Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès); Jonathan Justin Strayer |
| Abstract: | 1972 offre un point de vue tout à fait pertinent pour positionner le design et l'économie face aux effondrements. Notre démarche consiste à porter un regard croisé sur l'histoire du design et de l'économie. Nous soulignons la nécessité d'un rapprochement entre économie et design. Notre hypothèse est la suivante : pour que le design puisse œuvrer à l'habitabilité du monde, l'économie doit redevenir une économie de la ressource et refuser l'idéologie progressiste de la croissance. C'est à travers la réévaluation du rapport Meadows, d'un côté, et la relecture de Maldonado et Papanek, de l'autre, que nous examinons cette hypothèse. |
| Abstract: | The year 1972 gives a peculiar perspective on design and economics in the context of anthropocentric collapse. We want to examine a crossed-view on design and economics' history. We underline the necessity to bring design and economics together. Our hypothesis is the following : in order for design to work towards a livable world, economics needs to become the science of resources and to refuse the progressivist and growth ideology. We examine this hypothesis based on our re-evaluation of Meadows' Limits to Growth on one hand and Maldonado and Papanek on the other. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02892484&r=all |
| By: | Popov, Vladimir |
| Abstract: | Since the economic calculation debate of the 1920-30s, it is known that it is impossible to create a coherent balanced plan that equates supply and demand of millions of goods and services in the national economy, not to speak about the optimal plan. It is not well understood, though, how the centrally planned economy (CPE) really functioned and what were the real determinants of their growth rates, if not the planned indicators. It was shown that forecasts of growth rates based on the extrapolation of past trends were better correlated with actual performance than planned indicators, but it is still unclear what was the real mechanism of growth of CPE and what was the role of the planning process in it. The hypothesis in this paper is that the drivers of growth in the CPE were the major investment projects initiated by the planners. They led to shortages of supplies, which triggered creeping price increases for scarce goods, which in turn boosted profitability in respective industries allowing them to increase output. De facto it was a market economy multiplier process – fiscal and monetary expansion leading to the price and output increases that eventually balanced supply and demand. |
| Keywords: | socialist economies, central planning, economic growth, shortages, economic calculation problem |
| JEL: | H6 O25 P34 P35 P40 P43 |
| Date: | 2020–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:101300&r=all |
| By: | López-Rivera, Andrés |
| Abstract: | In the wake of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 'traditional knowledge' became a recurring theme in global environmental governance. The emergence of traditional knowledge in a governance field marked by global science begs the following question: how is it that a particular set of intellectual activities other than science came to be perceived as a form of knowledge whose attributes are valuable for governing the global environment? This paper aims to grapple with this question by tracing the emergence of the category of traditional knowledge in global environmental governance. The main argument is that traditional knowledge came to be conceived of as a cognitive resource with utilitarian and 'glocal' properties through a series of interventions on the part of public scientists and landmark environmental reports that blurred the boundaries between science and nonscience. Building upon the concept of boundary work in Science and Technology Studies, this paper puts forth the concept of boundary blurring to analyze how aspects of science are attributed to traditional knowledge, thus attenuating the demarcation between science and other forms of knowledge. Boundary blurring works as a form of legitimation of traditional knowledge and, through the attribution of knowledge to nonscientific actors, opens up a space for these to make knowledge claims in global governance processes. Ultimately, the analysis throws light on the constitution of unconventional 'knowledge actors' in global governance, in particular indigenous peoples and local communities. |
| Keywords: | Boundary blurring,Traditional knowledge,Indigenous peoples,Global environmental governance |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:khkgcr:25&r=all |
| By: | Alexandra Baumann; Klaus Wohlrabe |
| Abstract: | Working papers or preprints have become an important part in the scientific landscape. Such papers present research before (potentially) being published in refereed journals. But is every working paper finally published in a journal? We answer this question for four major working paper series in economics. Based on linked data in RePEc and a random sample we provide an estimate of 66.5% of more than 28,000 investigated working papers that are published in a journal. About 8% are released as a book chapter. For the remaining 25.5% we find no evidence for what happened to the article. |
| Keywords: | working paper, journals, scholary communication, publication analysis, RePEc |
| JEL: | A12 A14 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8328&r=all |
| By: | Gharyeni, Abdellatif |
| Abstract: | La responsabilité sociale des entreprises est fréquemment présentée comme l’application des principes du développement durable dans les stratégies des entreprises multinationales. Il s’agit d’un nouveau concept qui a accompagné la financiarisation des économies, la désintégration spatiale de la production et l’intégration du commerce international. En effet, elle joue une fonction politique bien alignée avec le nouvel ordre socio-économique. Toutefois, les infrastructures juridiques de base à l’échelle internationale ont suivi avec un peu de retard la nouvelle perspective managériale. Malgré les initiatives unilatérales et multilatérales des entreprises multinationales, l’accroissement des écarts entre la performance financière et la performance sociale montre un décalage entre le discours et la réalité. Cet article de synthèse s’inscrit dans une perspective critique. Notre objectif est de montrer que la responsabilité sociale des entreprises ne peut pas exclure les mécanismes classiques de coercition. En effet, en nous partant de la théorie française de la régulation, les résultats de nos analyses appuient l’hypothèse d’une complémentarité entre les formes privée, publique, sociale et mondiale de gouvernance. |
| Keywords: | Responsabilité sociale des entreprises; Financiarisation; Rapport salarial; Gouvernance des entreprises multinationales |
| JEL: | G18 G38 J28 M14 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:101374&r=all |