nep-hpe New Economics Papers
on History and Philosophy of Economics
Issue of 2023‒01‒09
eighteen papers chosen by
Erik Thomson
University of Manitoba

  1. Financial Intermediation and Financial Crises By Diamond, Douglas
  2. Multiple equilibria By Dybvig, Philip
  3. Elementos analíticos en Teoría de sentimientos morales, parte III By Carolina Donnelly (editor); Jorge M. Streb (editor); Franco D. Albino; Gianella Bernardoni Moretti; Juan C. Conforto; Tobías Hermo; Luciana Marzaroli; Tadeo Zapata
  4. The Economists and The Combination Laws: A Reappraisal By Hupfel, Simon
  5. On Some “New” Interpretations of Ricardo’s Principle of Comparative Advantages By Parrinello, Sergio
  6. J.S.Mill, the American Civil War and Slavery By Laura Valladao de Mattos
  7. Families and Women in Alfred Marshall’s Analysis of Well-being and Progress. By Virginie Gouverneur
  8. Review of “Scientific History: Experiments in History and Politics from the Bolshevik Revolution to the End of the Cold War” by Elena Aronova By Klein, Ursula
  9. Nothing new under the sun: The so-called "growth model perspective" By Amable, Bruno
  10. De l’Ecole Polytechnique et l’Ecole de la Régulation. Michel Aglietta, 1959 – 1979. By Yamina Tadjeddine
  11. Discusiones en torno al capitalismo argentino: debate económico y aporte de Karl Polanyi para nuestros días By Ignacio Andrés Rossi
  12. Hereditarianism, Eugenics and American Social Science in the Interwar Years: Meet the Carverians By Fiorito, Luca; Erasmo, Valentina
  13. Varieties of demand and growth regimes: Post-Keynesian foundations By Hein, Eckhard
  14. Development of Grounded Theory in Social Sciences: A Qualitative Approach By Mohajan, Devajit; Mohajan, Haradhan
  15. Unbreakable: A beliefs-based theory of rule-breaking in the entrepreneurial context By Zhang, Senlin; O'Connor, Peter; Gardiner, Elliroma
  16. Elements of Intellectuality in Decision Making By Chatterjee, Sidharta
  17. Hands, hearts and hybrids: economic organization, individual motivation and public benefit By Le Grand, Julian; Roberts, Jonathan
  18. The Anatomy of Three Scandals: Conspiracies, Beauty Contests and Sabotage in OTC Markets By Alexis Stenfors; Lilian Muchimba

  1. By: Diamond, Douglas (University of Chicago)
    Abstract: Nobel Lecture lecture slides
    Keywords: Banking; Financial crises
    JEL: E53 G21 G28
    Date: 2022–12–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:nobelp:2022_004&r=hpe
  2. By: Dybvig, Philip (Washington University)
    Abstract: Nobel lecture presentation slides
    Keywords: Banking; financial crisis
    JEL: E53 G21 G28
    Date: 2022–12–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:nobelp:2022_005&r=hpe
  3. By: Carolina Donnelly (editor); Jorge M. Streb (editor); Franco D. Albino; Gianella Bernardoni Moretti; Juan C. Conforto; Tobías Hermo; Luciana Marzaroli; Tadeo Zapata
    Abstract: Esta colección de ensayos se enfoca en diferentes aspectos de la Teoría de Sentimientos Morales (TSM) de Smith. A partir del espectador imparcial, Albino relaciona a TSM con la moderna economía del comportamiento. Bernardoni Moretti toma a Aristóteles como un antecedente de Smith respecto a que nuestros sentimientos y empatía están influidos por nuestra interpretación y nuestras creencias sobre la realidad. Conforto contrasta las visiones sobre el rol de la moral en Maquiavelo, que la deja de lado, y Smith, donde es un elemento central. Hermo relaciona la simpatía en Smith con la empatía cognitiva y afectiva en Baron-Cohen y su análisis de qué pasa si uno de los componentes está ausente. Marzaroli usa la simpatía en TSM para explicar la actual polarización en redes sociales. Zapata relaciona la beneficencia en Smith con las categorías de acción humana en Mises y ética objetivista en Rand.
    Keywords: Adam Smith, creencias, simpatía, empatía, interés propio, moral, justicia, espectador imparcial
    JEL: B12 D01
    Date: 2022–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cem:doctra:844&r=hpe
  4. By: Hupfel, Simon
    Abstract: The repeal of the British Combination Laws in 1824 is generally considered by historians as the landmark of modern trade unionism, and has been attributed to the contributions of classical political economists. In the sole article that addressed this issue in the field of the history of economic thought, William Grampp reached the opposite conclusion, according to which the influence of the economists (Ricardo, McCulloch, Malthus, Torrens and Senior) on repeal was actually small. Resituating the debates over the Combination Laws in their political context, we try to show, despite the relatively reduced volume of the classical economists’ direct contributions, that the economists were clearly favorable to the measure, and how “political economy” played a significant role in the achievement of repeal. In doing so, we offer a reflection on the methodology used by Grampp to study the influence of economic ideas on political debates and public policy.
    Date: 2022–12–13
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:uvfqa&r=hpe
  5. By: Parrinello, Sergio (Sapienza University of Rome)
    Abstract: Different theories of international trade have originated from Chapter VII “On Foreign Trade” of Ricardo’s Principles and particularly from the interpretation of his numerical example of the gains from trade. In this paper a relatively new interpretation of such example and the resulting implications will be assessed in the light of Sraffa’s writings (1930, 1951) and of the so-called Neo-Ricardian approach applied to the theory of foreign trade. In particular, it will be reconsidered: i) the analogy between the choice of interna-tional specialization and the choice of techniques; ii) the conditions under which absolute cost advantages may prevail over comparative advantages and affect the pattern of inter-national trade and the delocalization of the national industries.
    Keywords: David Ricardo; Comparative advantage; Gains from trade
    JEL: B12 B17 F10
    Date: 2022–12–22
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:sraffa:0060&r=hpe
  6. By: Laura Valladao de Mattos
    Abstract: The outbreak of the American Civil War created important divisions on the other side of the Atlantic. The majority of the English public opinion supported the Confederates – a fact that J.S.Mill received with indignation. Since its beginning, Mill believed that slavery was the main reason for the conflict and understood that the outcome of this war would determine, for good or evil, the destiny of this (odious) institution in America. Thus, in the first years of the war, he strenuously tried to alter the opinion of his fellow citizens, which he believed dishonored the name of England. In the last years of the conflict - after the English abandoned their initial position and when the victory of the Union was a matter of time - Mill’s attention turned to what should be done after the conflict was over. His main concern was guaranteeing that slavery would be effectively extinguished, not only in the letter of the law. This paper intends to analyze Mill’s writings during the decade of 1860 concerning the American Civil War, the slave system, and the condition of the Black in America. This material consists of essays, newspaper articles, and a significant number of private letters he exchanged with English and American correspondents on these subjects. Although this material is fragmentary and heterogeneous, it sheds light on some interesting aspects of Mill’s thought. It reveals, for instance, not only the importance that the issue of slavery had for him but also the complex views he had of this phenomenon and how to eliminate it – that involved philosophical, economic, sociological, political, and above all, moral aspects Insert Abstract here]
    Keywords: J. S. Mill; American Civil War; slavery
    JEL: B12 B31
    Date: 2022–12–14
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2022wpecon25&r=hpe
  7. By: Virginie Gouverneur
    Abstract: Some commentators state that Marshall conceptualizes the well-being primarily in terms of the consumer’s surpluses, whose interdependence with the moral character rests on the ability of markets to produce their effects on character spontaneously. The purpose of the article is to show that evolutionary faith is not really enough to remove the tension between the economic and moral dimensions of Marshall’s definition of the well-being. Marshall understands that progress would not happen without assigning a peculiar role to families and women in cultivating family affections as an essential means to secure the link between these two dimensions. To prove this point, the article examines several economic texts written before Marshall’s major economic book, Principles of Economics, the first edition of which appeared in 1890. These writings have received little consideration in the existing literature about Marshall’s treatment of the role of women in a capitalist economy. Yet, they prefigure and allow to better understanding the theory expounded in Principles.
    Keywords: Alfred Marshall, family environment, women’s role, well-being, progress.
    JEL: B13 I31
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2022-35&r=hpe
  8. By: Klein, Ursula
    Abstract: Elena Aronova. Scientific History: Experiments in History and Politics from the Bolshevik Revolution to the End of the Cold War. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press 2021 (ISBN-13: 978-0-226-76138-1 (cloth), 978-0-226-76141-1 (e-book).
    Date: 2022–12–13
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:2jf8p&r=hpe
  9. By: Amable, Bruno
    Abstract: Recent contributions in comparative political economy have made much of the 'growth model perspective', presenting it as a way to 'rethink political economy'. This paper argues that the origins of the growth model approach can be found in contributions by Michel Freyssenet made in the framework of GERPISA (Groupe d'étude et de recherche permanent sur l'industrie et les salariés de l'automobile) in the 1990s/2000. By presenting the contributions and limitations of Freyssenet's approach, it is possible to establish how contemporary growth model approaches fail to establish a solid link between political economy and heterodox macroeconomics. It appears that an approach that starts from the differentiation of interests of social groups and takes into account the autonomy of politics has more potential to achieve this task, allowing to recover the inspiration of Kalecki's 1943 article on the political limits to economic policy.
    Keywords: French Theory of Régulation,growth models,accumulation regimes,political economy
    JEL: B52 P10
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ipewps:1952022&r=hpe
  10. By: Yamina Tadjeddine
    Abstract: Ecole of Regulation emerged in France in the mid-1970s. The two founding figures of this school are Michel Aglietta and Robert Boyer. In this article, we propose to follow Aglietta's personal and professional career between 1959 and 1976 to understand the genesis of regulation theory. Aglietta's career is structured by three formative phases, each of which is successively presented: student at the Ecole Polytechnique (1959-1965), senior civil servant at the INSEE (1965-1970), doctoral student (1970-1974). The Ecole de la Régulation is based on an original epistemic composite: the time spent at the Ecole Polytechnique and the programme division of the INSEE provided the macro-economic foundation, the use of national accounting, the hypothetico-deductive methodology; the stay at Harvard the American institutionalism; the personal affinities with Marxism and the work of François Perroux. The methodology mixes formal modelling from macroeconomics, historical materialism from Marxism, the use of national accounting and finally historical data on organisations from institutionalist heritage. We also highlight three ethical presupposition - tolerant humanism, state benevolence and prescriptive positivism - that run through Aglietta's scientific work and have their origins in the period 1959-1968, marked by the reconstruction of France after the Second World War and the Algerian War. This work is based on numerous interviews, on the analysis of published works and on the consultation of archives.
    Keywords: Ecole de la Régulation, Michel Aglietta, French Planning, History of economic though.
    JEL: B5
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2022-34&r=hpe
  11. By: Ignacio Andrés Rossi
    Abstract: Resumen: En este artículo, se propone abordar las discusiones actuales en torno al capitalismo nacional y la economía argentina a partir de un conjunto de ideas canónicas de la obra de Karl Polanyi. Argentina —que hace varias décadas se encuentra atravesando recurrentes crisis en su modelo económico— despierta una pluralidad de voces de cientistas sociales y periodistas especializados que debaten sobre los problemas, limitaciones y proyecciones de la economía y el capitalismo nacional. Para ello, se relevaron estas discusiones, en su mayor medida, a partir de la prensa especializada y la bibliografía de reciente publicación, prestando atención a las propuestas teóricas, interpretativas e ideológicas que permitieron generar relaciones con la teoría de Polanyi. Se concluye en que las ideas de este último en torno al funcionamiento del capitalismo, los mercados, el Estado y la dinámica social contemporánea aportan un bagaje conceptual significativo para enmarcar las discusiones actuales entre cientistas sociales sobre la economía argentina. Abstract: The article proposes to address the current discussions about national capitalism and the Argentine economy from a set of canonical ideas of the work of Karl Polanyi. Argentina, which for several decades has been going through recurring crises in its economic model, awakens a plurality of voices from social scientists and specialized journalists who debate the problems, limitations and projections of national capitalism. For this, we have surveyed these discussions, to a greater extent, from the specialized press and the recently published bibliography, paying attention to the theoretical, interpretative and ideological proposals that allow us to generate relationships with Polanyi's theory. It was concluded that the latter's ideas about the functioning of capitalism, markets, the State and contemporary social dynamics provide significant conceptual background to frame the current discussions among social scientists about the Argentine economy.
    Keywords: Polanyi, capitalismo, Argentina, Estado, estabilidad, desarrollo; capitalism, State, Argentina, stability, development
    JEL: A10 A11 B15 B22
    Date: 2022–02–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000418:020593&r=hpe
  12. By: Fiorito, Luca; Erasmo, Valentina
    Abstract: The aim of this paper is to document Carver’s influence as a teacher and to shed further light on Harvard’s role as the “brain trust” of American eugenics (Fiorito 2019). On the same time, in more general terms, what follow adds to our general understanding of the extent to which biological considerations continued to permeate American social science well after the first two decades of the last century, the period which marked the "golden age" of eugenics (Leonard 2016).
    Date: 2022–12–13
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:7t59c&r=hpe
  13. By: Hein, Eckhard
    Abstract: We review post-Keynesian contributions to demand and growth regime analysis. First, we distinguish the Kalecki-Steindl approach and the Sraffian supermultiplier approach as relevant theoretical foundations for demand and growth regime research, with investment-driven and distribution-led growth in the focus of the former and autonomous demand-led growth in the latter. Based on this, we review different ways of analysing the co-existence of demand and growth regimes in the current period of neoliberal and finance-dominated capitalism. We distinguish, first, a basic national income and financial accounting decomposition approach, second, a Sraffian supermultiplier inspired growth decomposition approach, and, third, several lenses looking at growth drivers. We argue that these three levels of analysis are, in principle, not mutually exclusive nor even contradictory, but that they rather complement each other. We conclude that, in particular the PK analysis of growth drivers provides several systematic links with comparative and international political economy approaches, when it comes to the introduction of the political economy dimension (social blocs, growth coalitions, changes in institutions favouring certain type of re-distribution and economic policies, etc.), while the national income and financial accounting, as well as the Sraffian supermultiplier growth accounting decomposition approaches provide the consistent macroeconomic foundations for such syntheses.
    Keywords: Demand and growth regimes,post-Keynesian economics,Kalecki-Steindl models,Sraffian supermultiplier models,wage-/profit-led regimes,finance-led/finance-burdened regimes,debt-led private demand boom regimes,export-led regimes,domestic demand-led regimes
    JEL: B59 E02 E11 E12 E65 P51
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ipewps:1962022&r=hpe
  14. By: Mohajan, Devajit; Mohajan, Haradhan
    Abstract: Grounded theory (GT) is a general research method that provides the efficient generation of theory from data, which are collected by a strong, sound, and fair research method. It is an inductive methodology that systematically collects and analyzes data for developing theory on human behavior in social welfare perspectives. It is considered as one of the most popular qualitative research methodologies in the world. It is originally developed by two American sociologists Barney Galland Glaser and Anselm Leonard Strauss in 1967 through the publication of their revolutionary book “The Discovery of Grounded Theory”. It emphasizes the importance of developing an understanding of human behavior through a process of discovery. Grounded theory has originated in sociology, and at present it has become a key methodological setting in a wide range of other disciplines, such as in nursing, physiotherapy, healthcare, education, anthropology, psychology, management, information systems, software engineering, etc. It is useful both for expert and novice researchers to generate new explanatory theories. This article tries to discuss grounded theory methodology through the discussion of its origin and development, basic principles, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, and its usefulness in social science researches for qualitative analysis.
    Keywords: Grounded theory, qualitative research, Glaser, Strauss
    JEL: A13 A14 I24 I31 J16
    Date: 2022–10–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:115552&r=hpe
  15. By: Zhang, Senlin; O'Connor, Peter; Gardiner, Elliroma
    Abstract: ABSTRACT Academic research largely supports the popular notion that successful entrepreneurs are rule-breakers; that is, individuals who do not follow society's rules and often create their own. However, despite an abundance of research on “rule-breakers”, little is known about the nature of rule-breaking in the entrepreneurial context. What, for example, is rule-breaking in the entrepreneurial context, what causes it, and how does it benefit entrepreneurs? Drawing heavily from theories in cognitive and moral psychology, we develop a conceptual model of rule-breaking in the entrepreneurial context that centres around a novel psychological cognitive construct that we term constructive rule beliefs. We argue that individuals high in constructive rule beliefs are more open than those low in constructive rule beliefs to breaking rules in the presence of various contextual rule-breaking triggers. We also argue that rule-breaking can benefit entrepreneurs and suggest that entrepreneurs with a paradox mindset (i.e., the tendency to accept and embrace competing demands) will reliably benefit from rule-breaking. We discuss the necessity for rule-breaking in the entrepreneurial context and outline several implications of our model for entrepreneurs and policymakers.
    Date: 2022–12–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:jcfn2&r=hpe
  16. By: Chatterjee, Sidharta
    Abstract: This brief research note stresses the role intellectual and cognitive elements play in critical thinking and decision-making. Critical thinking skills are highly desirable among young adults and students, employees, teachers, and creative artists. The various elements of the functional brain that contribute to critical thinking are those that define our complex cognitive system. Critical thinking, like any other intellectual process, necessitates the use of focused attention, information processing, and reasoning abilities. It is an essential skill that has important applications in decision-making and in various domains of creative endeavors. A competent critical thinker is able to take a more rational approach to decision making. This paper highlights these issues and urges individuals to make space for critical thinking, which is so much in demand in these fast-paced digital environments.
    Keywords: Critical thinking, decision-making, rational choices, Intellectual process
    JEL: D7 O34
    Date: 2022–12–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:115666&r=hpe
  17. By: Le Grand, Julian; Roberts, Jonathan
    Abstract: Should policy makers rely upon firms motivated by profit and guided by the invisible hand of the market to promote public benefit or upon government agencies or nonprofits motivated by the compassionate heart? In this article we examine how the motivational assumptions implicit in these forms of economic organisation impact on their ability to promote the public good in key areas of the economy. We argue that in many circumstances it would be better to for policy makers to work with hybrid organisations: organisations that aim for both social and economic returns and whose stakeholders display the true complexity of individual motivation.
    Keywords: hybrid; social enterprise; purpose-driven corporation; profit-maximisation; motivation
    JEL: J1
    Date: 2021–03–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:117335&r=hpe
  18. By: Alexis Stenfors (University of Portsmouth); Lilian Muchimba (University of Portsmouth)
    Abstract: Until the Great Recession, the largely unregulated over-the-counter (OTC) markets had received little attention from compliance officers, regulators, and lawmakers. Perhaps more important than the lack of regulatory framework as such, the markets were widely perceived to be sufficiently large, liquid, efficient and competitive to withstand manipulative and collusive attempts by traders and banks. However, the status quo was radically altered in 2012, when it was revealed that major international banks had systematically manipulated the world’s most widely used interest rate benchmark. The ‘LIBOR scandal’ was quickly followed by a ‘Forex scandal’ and the discovery of grave misconduct in a range of other OTC benchmarks and markets. At the time of writing, government bonds traded on electronic trading platforms are under particular scrutiny. This paper draws on the concepts of conspiracies (Smith 1776), beauty contests (Keynes 1936) and sabotage (Veblen 1921) to reflect on why it took so long for the scandals to be discovered.
    Keywords: banks, beauty contest, conspiracies, financial regulation, LIBOR, manipulation, OTC markets, sabotage
    JEL: E43 F31 G14 G15 G18
    Date: 2022–12–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pbs:ecofin:2022-08&r=hpe

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