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on History and Philosophy of Economics |
| By: | Rémy Herrera (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This article analyzes the evolutions of Marx's positions on colonization. It first emphasizes the invariant of his reflections: the denunciation of colonial violence. We initially find an interpretation of colonization as a process of modernization, then as a dynamic of "destruction-regeneration, " linked to the "unification of the world." The author identifies above all the successive inflections of Marx's – resolutely critical – thought about colonial and national issues, the non-linear character of history, and the differentiation of social formations. |
| Abstract: | Cet article analyse les évolutions des positions de Marx à propos de la colonisation. Il souligne tout d'abord l'invariant de ces réflexions : la dénonciation de la violence coloniale. Au départ, on trouve une interprétation de la colonisation comme processus de modernisation, puis comme dynamique de destruction-régénération, liée à l'« unification du monde ». L'auteur identifie spécialement les inflexions successives de la pensée de Marx résolument critique -, au sujet des questions coloniale et nationale, du caractère non linéaire de l'histoire, mais aussi de la différenciation des formations sociales. |
| Keywords: | Marxism, capitalism, colonization, destruction-regeneration, non linearity, social formations, Marxisme capitalisme colonisation violence destruction-régénération nonlinéarité formations sociales Marxism capitalism colonization violence destruction-regeneration non linearity social formations Classification JEL : B14 B51 N10, Marxisme, capitalisme, colonisation, violence, destruction-régénération, nonlinéarité, Formations sociales |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04796804 |
| By: | Cléo Chassonnery-Zaïgouche (UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna); Aurélien Goutsmedt (ISPOLE - UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain, F.R.S.-FNRS, UCL - U.C. Louvain) |
| Abstract: | Over a period of 12 years, Barbara Bergmann developed several models of the labour market using microsimulation, eventually integrated in a "Transactions Model" of the entire US economy, built with Robert Bennett and published in 1986. The paper reconstructs the history of this modelling enterprise in the context of the debates on the micro-foundations of macroeconomics and the role of macroeconomic expertise from the 1970s to the late 1980s. It shows how her focus on the distributional effects of policies was central to the criticism of macroeconomic modelling and how both her epistemological and political positions were marginalised in the 1980s. |
| Abstract: | Sur une période de douze ans, Barbara Bergmann a développé plusieurs modèles du marché du travail en utilisant la microsimulation, finalement intégrés dans un "Transactions Model" de l'ensemble de l'économie américaine, construit avec Robert Bennett et publié en 1986. L'article reconstruit l'histoire de cette entreprise de modélisation dans le contexte des débats sur les fondements microéconomiques de la macroéconomie et le rôle de l'expertise macroéconomique depuis la stagflation des années 1970 jusqu'à la fin des années 1980. Il montre comment un élément politique - l'accent mis sur les effets distributifs des politiques - a été au cœur de sa critique de la modélisation macroéconomique et comment ses positions épistémiques et politiques ont été de plus en plus marginalisées dans les années 1980. |
| Keywords: | microsimulation, Microfoundations, Expertise, Models and simulations |
| Date: | 2024–12–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04208686 |
| By: | Francisco J. Bellido (NOVA - Universidade Nova de Lisboa = NOVA University Lisbon) |
| Abstract: | According to methodological individualism any scientific explanation in the social sciences should have recourse to individual beliefs, wishes, intentions and actions. This article sets forth two practical reasons to endorse a clear-cut, classical version of methodological individualism as a research programme in the social sciences. The first one is that methodological individualism should lead to fundamental heuristic hypotheses. The second reason is that methodological individualism has the epistemological strength of producing statements open to logical refutation. The present article questions highly sophisticated accounts of methodological individualism. It suggests instead four tenets to be a valid research programme in the social sciences underscoring an intuitive language to analyze social phenomena. By doing so, it reviews some distinctive features of methodological individualism: Max Weber's ideal types, Joseph Schumpeter's notion of given behaviour, Friedrich Hayek's concept of individual action and Jon Elster's account of explanatory mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | methodological individualism, research programme, social sciences, social phenomena, explanatory mechanisms |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04446410 |
| By: | Virginie Gouverneur (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar) |
| Abstract: | Some commentators state that Marshall conceptualizes well-being primarily in terms of the consumer's and producer's surpluses, whose interdependence with moral character rests on the ability of markets to produce their effects on character spontaneously. The purpose of the present 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 well-being. Marshall understands that progress would not happen without assigning a special role to families and women in cultivating family affections as an essential means of harmonizing these two dimensions. To prove this point, the article examines several economic texts written before Marshall's major economic treatise, Principles of Economics, the first edition of which appeared in 1890. These texts have received little consideration in the existing literature about Marshall's treatment of the role of women in society. Yet they prefigure and allow a better understanding of the theory later expounded in Principles, apprehended here as the fruit of a long process of maturation that continues throughout revisions made in the successive editions of the book. |
| Keywords: | Alfred Marshall, family environment, role of women, well-being, progress |
| Date: | 2023–07–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04790314 |
| By: | Feriel Kandil (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, AMU - Aix Marseille Université) |
| Abstract: | The article explores Ricœur's critical interpretation of Rawls' theory of social justice. While Ricœur has a dialectical conception of justice (where the "good" encompasses the "just"), contrasting with Rawls' procedural approach (where the just is defined independently of the good), Ricœur shows a strong interest in Rawls' ideas. He situates Rawls' project within one of the moments of the dialectic of the just: the moral moment. This dialectic arises from the aporetic nature of the just and manifests in ethical life as three paradoxes: political, legal, and socio-economic. While Rawls' approach struggles with these paradoxes, they are the driving force of Ricœur's approach to justice, highlighting its strength. |
| Abstract: | L'article explore l'interprétation critique que Ricoeur propose de la théorie de la justice sociale de Rawls. Bien que Ricoeur ait une conception dialectique de la justice (selon laquelle le « bon » englobe le « juste »), contrastant avec l'approche procédurale de Rawls (selon laquelle le juste est défini indépendamment du bon), Ricoeur exprime un intérêt marqué pour les idées de Rawls. Il rapporte le projet rawlsien à l'un des moments de la dialectique du juste : le moment moral. La dialectique prend sa source dans le contenu aporétique du juste et elle se manifeste, dans la vie éthique, à travers trois paradoxes : politique, juridique et socioéconomique. Alors que l'approche rawlsienne bute sur ces paradoxes, il sont le ressort de l'approche ricoeurienne de la justice et en révèlent la puissance. |
| Keywords: | Injustice, Moral sense, Practical wisdom, Fairness, Dialectic, Ethics and morality, Rawls, social justice, injustice, sens moral, sagesse pratique, équité, dialectique, éthique et morale, justice sociale |
| Date: | 2024–08–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04828902 |
| By: | Rémy Herrera (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This article intends to return to Marx's theory of the State to show that this author left us numerous and fruitful elements, the analyzes of which deserve to be meditated on today. From the conception of the State as an alienated expression of civil society to that of the organization of the dominant class, then from that of the apparatus or machine to that of the lever of the revolution, Marx's interpretation has evolved to become more complex, and enriched. We should also know how to situate this State at the heart of the dynamic of capital accumulation, in particular through its role relative to money, itself located between value and profit, but also in its interventions in colonial and commercial policies. Finally, the article insists on the fact that capitalism is today in an impasse and doomed, its State being experiencing more and more difficulties in the face of the deep contradictions of this system. This is the reason why Marxism still remains an essential theoretical reference. |
| Keywords: | Marxian theory, State, capitalism, crisis, revolution |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04796811 |
| By: | Sophie Agulhon (CERGAM - Centre d'Études et de Recherche en Gestion d'Aix-Marseille - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - UTLN - Université de Toulon, LED - Laboratoire d'Economie Dionysien - UP8 - Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis); Thomas Michael Mueller (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur) |
| Abstract: | What people often mean by getting rid of conflict is getting rid of diversity, and it is of the utmost importance that these should not be considered the same. (Follett 1924) Scientific Management is usually studied for what it brought to factories, production and the organization of work: yet, it did much more. Our contribution focuses on how Taylor's ideas were adapted to domestic occupation by overlapping with another forgotten movement promoting household efficiency and primarily led by women: Home Economics and its sanitary science. Drawing on the methodology of intellectual history, we examine the pioneering writings of Ellen Richards, Mary Talbot, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Christine Frederick and see how they promoted female vindications and emancipation. If Scientific Management is criticized for its alienating effects, its spillovers were also partially positive during the Progressive Era. Indeed, Scientific Management was envisioned as a normative guide to a new model of society and, surprisingly, as a tool for emancipation and empowerment, meant to provide women with a mean of social liberation and legitimization. Furthermore, the social movements that characterized the Progressive Era became crucial to tackling democratic issues through an empirical lens. Engaging in some of Critical Management Studies major themes, this contribution to management history aims to produce novel insight on Scientific Management and its contribution to domestic work and women' identity in the early 20th century. |
| Keywords: | empowerment, feminism, history, Home Economics, Scientific Managementwomen |
| Date: | 2024–12–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04833735 |
| By: | Mikko Ketokivi (IE Business School, IE University); Sebastien M Fosse (Clermont School of Business/CleRMa); Peter Kawalek (Loughborough University) |
| Abstract: | Abstract How do scholars formulate arguments about economic inequality? What is the role of empirical analysis? In what ways, if any, is the debate informed by ethical considerations? In this paper, we address these questions by evaluating one of the main arguments in Thomas Piketty's 2014 book Capital in the Twenty-First Century , along with its endorsements and rebuttals. Applying Stephen Toulmin's model of arguments to Piketty unearths a complex argument structure that must be understood for an evaluation to be possible. Of particular importance are the warrants that Piketty used to justify his conclusions from the empirical material. Our analysis revealed that the most influential rebuttals were targeted not at Piketty's empirical inferences but the way he used these inferences to justify his claims. We also found value judgments to be an essential part of the justification process, making Piketty's claims ultimately embedded in ethical considerations. We conclude that value judgments are intrinsic to scholarly arguments not only in economic inequality debates but also more broadly. |
| Keywords: | Argument structure Economic inequality Ethical embeddedness, Argument structure, Economic inequality, Ethical embeddedness |
| Date: | 2024–05–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04739363 |
| By: | Heng-fu Zou (IAS, Wuhan University) |
| Abstract: | Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America offers a profound analysis of the decentralized, self-organizing nature of American society in the 1830s. While Tocqueville never explicitly labeled this system as "anarchy, " his observations describe a societal framework that we may term "American Anarchy." This paper explores how this concept reflects the coexistence of liberty and equality in early American democracy, capturing the dynamic, decentralized, and participatory nature of its political and socialstructure. Tocqueville's work reveals how these principles interacted to create a unique and enduring model of governance. |
| Date: | 2025–01–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cuf:wpaper:732 |
| By: | Heng-fu Zou (The World Bank) |
| Abstract: | By the 1880s, the United States had surpassed Britain as the world's largest economy, and by the 1920s, New York City had overtaken London as the world's leading financial center. This remarkable ascent cannot be adequately explained by models of economic growth focused on human capital accumulation, R&D, or technological innovation as championed by Paul Romer (1986, 1991), Robert Lucas (1988), and Aghion and Howitt (1992). These theories, while offering insights into the mechanics of innovation, fail to capture the true drivers of the U.S. economic miracle: liberal ideas of liberty, equality, dignity, and individualism. As Deirdre McCloskey has argued, and Edmund Phelps has elaborated in Mass Flourishing, it was these ideas—rooted in England's traditions yet unfettered by aristocratic constraints in America—that enabled ordinary people to act as entrepreneurs and grassroots innovators, fueling the dynamism of the U.S. economy. |
| Date: | 2025–01–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cuf:wpaper:723 |
| By: | Marlène Koffi; Roland Pongou; Leonard Wantchekon |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the existence of racial disparities in the dissemination of ideas using the paper citation network in economics. Exploiting a comprehensive dataset of over 330, 000 publications from 1950 to 2021, combined with manually collected data from the CVs of thousands of economists, we document that papers authored by non-White scholars (Black, Hispanic, or Asian) receive 5.1% to 9.6% fewer citations than those authored by White scholars. The citation gap remains or even amplifies with increasing author seniority and conventional quality indicators and is especially pronounced for Black authors. Moreover, papers authored by non-White scholars are less likely to serve as citation bridges and are less often cited by highly cited papers as measured by the centrality indexes, limiting both their direct and indirect influence. Our analysis indicates that this disparity is not attributable to differences in research quality, author ability, or visibility. Rather, it is largely driven by homophily in citation patterns and racial clusters in networks, where scholars tend to cite authors from their racial group. These findings can be rationalized by a simple theoretical model where citation costs and peer-review preferences influence citation behavior. Then, we provide suggestive evidence that reducing information friction—thereby lowering the cost of citing—could reduce the racial citation gap by up to 50%. Finally, using natural language processing, we highlight the complementarity across racial groups in research and discuss potential losses from racial barriers to idea diffusion. |
| JEL: | A14 I23 J15 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33150 |
| By: | Anne Boraud (CEDAG (URP_1516) - Centre de droit des affaires et de gestion - UPCité - Université Paris Cité) |
| Abstract: | Thalès, le premier des sept sages, serait tombé dans un puits alors qu'il observait les cieux et aurait été moqué par une servante. L'anecdote apparaît chez Platon (Théétète, 174a) et se retrouve au fil des siècles, alimentant la légende d'un sage perdu dans la contemplation, incompris et coupé des hommes ordinaires. Cette image populaire contraste avec les références courantes trouvées en sciences de gestion sur la sagesse managériale. Un manager sage n'est évidemment en rien un contemplatif ou un savant, c'est un homme d'action avisé, garant du bon fonctionnement de l'organisation. Quel emploi est fait du mot sagesse sous la plume des gestionnaires ? Appartient-il au langage courant, relève-t-il de la notion, du concept ? Un de ces usages empruntent-ils quelque chose à l'acception philosophique ? Nulle autre discipline n'apparaît en effet plus légitime que la philosophie pour parler de la sagesse. Son étymologie, largement reprise et commentée, est son acte de naissance en Occident. La philosophie, comme « amour de la sagesse » (philein sophiâ), est désir de savoir, mouvement infini vers une vérité qui se dérobe. La sagesse est le pli où la connaissance se nie en s'affirmant, selon la célèbre formule de Socrate, « je suis un peu plus sage, (en ce) que je ne crois pas savoir ce que je ne sais point» (Platon) 1 . De Pythagore à Deleuze, les philosophes ont investi ce paradoxe en forgeant un concept identitaire : le philosophe est sage en ce qu'il cherche à savoir et, en cela, sa mission n'est pas de transformer le monde. Les contradicteurs à la perspective philosophique diront donc qu'elle ne sert à rien, non seulement dans la vie quotidienne, mais a fortiori pour la pratique managériale qui, elle, est tournée vers la performance et ne peut être qu'intéressée et pragmatique. La philosophie apporte-t-elle quelque chose aux sciences de gestion pour envisager une forme de sagesse dans la pratique managériale ? Dans un premier temps, nous verrons que les sciences de gestion peuvent très bien se passer de la philosophie pour penser la sagesse du manager. Nous montrerons ensuite ce qu'elle apporte malgré tout sur le sujet. Nous tenterons alors de poser quelques enjeux concernant les liens entre philosophie et sciences de gestion. |
| Keywords: | Manager. Sagesse. Phronesis. Philosophie. |
| Date: | 2024–05–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04788748 |
| By: | Patrick Guillaumont (FERDI - Fondation pour les Etudes et Recherches sur le Développement International); Laurence Plazenet (IHRIM - Institut d’Histoire des Représentations et des Idées dans les Modernités - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJML - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3 - Université de Lyon - UBP - Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne - ALLHiS - Approches Littéraires, Linguistiques et Historiques des Sources - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne) |
| Abstract: | Au XVIIe siècle, le mot « économiste » n'existe pas. Reste que Blaise Pascal, génie universel, entrepreneur, homme d'affaires, soucieux de l'ordre du monde, n'est pas étranger aux préoccupations d'un champ du savoir fondé environ un siècle après lui. Son décentrement même, en réalité, fait l'intérêt de sa réflexion, formulée avec d'autres termes, selon d'autres prismes que ceux d'aujourd'hui, invitation en cela à repenser la conception de l'économie. Soucieuse d'interpréter l'ensemble des comportements humains, mais aussi de les orienter, l'économie contemporaine recoupe par bien des aspects les préoccupations du moraliste classique. Il était donc nécessaire, pour le 400e anniversaire de Pascal – qui célèbre plus que jamais la pluralité de son génie et le caractère global de sa méditation sur le monde –, de se pencher sur ce « Pascal économiste » inscrit en filigrane dans son œuvre. Il y va de la richesse des peuples, de leur bien-être, de la responsabilité des créateurs de richesse, du partage du travail, de la justice… « Pascal économiste » inquiète, apostrophe, interdit l'indifférence, les routines d'opinions incertaines. La Ferdi et le Centre international Blaise Pascal lui ont ainsi consacré un colloque, le 20 novembre 2023. Celui-ci comprenait quatre volets, chacun portant sur une leçon pascalienne en lien avec l'économie. Chaque session rassemblait des personnalités venues d'horizons volontairement différents : philosophes, littéraires, économistes académiques et grands acteurs économiques sensibles aux messages pascaliens. Le présent ouvrage réunit leurs contributions. Enrichies, elles prolongent le dialogue fructueux et novateur que pascaliens et économistes surent nouer durant ce colloque. |
| Keywords: | économie, blaise pascal |
| Date: | 2024–11–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04783818 |
| By: | Heng-fu Zou (IAS, Wuhan University) |
| Date: | 2025–01–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cuf:wpaper:733 |
| By: | Gary Richardson; David W. Wilcox |
| Abstract: | Congressional intent concerning the independence of the Federal Reserve matters because it protects the public from the politicization of monetary policy. Attempts to subordinate monetary policy to the President could easily end up in front of the Supreme Court. The outcome of such a case would depend importantly on the historical record. Understanding what Congress intended when it designed the decision-making structure of the Fed requires a clear understanding Marriner Eccles’ proposal for the structure of monetary policymaking in Title II of the Banking Act of 1935 and the Congressional response. Eccles' proposal vested monetary policymaking in a body beholden to the President. Eccles argued that leaders of the Fed should serve at the discretion of the President and implement the President's monetary program. The Senate and House rejected Eccles' proposal and explicitly designed the Fed's leadership structure to limit politicians'—particularly the President's—influence on monetary policymaking. |
| JEL: | B22 B26 E5 G2 N12 N22 N42 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33174 |