nep-hpe New Economics Papers
on History and Philosophy of Economics
Issue of 2010‒11‒06
fourteen papers chosen by
Erik Thomson
University of Manitoba

  1. The Evolution of U.S.Economics Textbooks By David Colander
  2. Can European Economics Compete with U.S. Economics? And Should It? By David Colander
  3. Financial Economists, Financial Interests and Dark Corners of the Meltdown: It’s Time to Set Ethical Standards for the Economics Profession By Gerald Epstein; Jessica Carrick-Hagenbarth
  4. Toward the general theory of marketing: The state of the art and one more approach By Cherenkov, Vitally I.
  5. A General Theory of the Firm: From Knight to Relationship Marketing By Storchevoy, Maxim A.
  6. The Rhetoric of Disagreement in Reform Debates By Achin Chakraborty
  7. KEEPING ACCOUNTS BY THE BOOK: THE REVELATION(S) OF ACCOUNTING By Vassili Joannides; Nicolas Berland
  8. The Keynesian Method, Complexity, and the Training of Economists By David Colander
  9. How to predict and avert economic crisis By Yong Tao
  10. Complementarities between Mathematical and Computational Modeling: The Case of the Repeated Prisoners' Dilemma By Xavier Vilà
  11. Reintegrating the Social Sciences: The Dahlem Group By David Colander; Roland Kupers; Thomas Lux; Casey Rothschild
  12. Bargaining and Voting By Dan Usher
  13. A Framework of Happiness Survey and Evaluation of Gross National Happiness By Haiou Zhou
  14. Core-stable Rings in Second Price Auctions with Common Values By Françoise Forges; Ram Orzach

  1. By: David Colander
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mdl:mdlpap:1037&r=hpe
  2. By: David Colander
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mdl:mdlpap:1039&r=hpe
  3. By: Gerald Epstein; Jessica Carrick-Hagenbarth
    Abstract: Epstein and Carrick-Hagenbarth analyze the conflict of interest that exists when academic financial economists, acting in their roles as presumed objective experts in the media and academia on topics, such as financial regulation, fail to report their private financial affiliations. The authors analyze the linkages between academia, private financial institutions and public institutions of nineteen academic financial economists who are members of two groups who have put forth proposals on financial reform.<span> </span>In addition, they review media writings and appearances, as well as the academic papers of these economists between 2005 and 2009, to determine the portion of the time these economists identified their affiliations with private or public financial institutions when writing about or commenting on financial policy issues. The vast majority of the time, these economists did not identify these affiliations and possible conflicts of interest. In light of these and related findings the authors call for an economists’ code of ethics which would require academic economists to identify these connections in appropriate contexts.
    Keywords: Professional Ethics, Financial Regulation, Academic Economists, Codes of Ethics, conflicts of interest
    JEL: A11 A13
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uma:periwp:wp239&r=hpe
  4. By: Cherenkov, Vitally I.
    Abstract: In this paper the author has reviewed in brief advances and obstacles met on the way of the marketing thought to construct the general theory of marketing. The attention, in considerable part, is focused on understanding general theory of marketing in Russia. Based on analysis of the most important works, made by Western scholars in the field of marketing, the conclusions highlighting a huge work as well as its incompleteness is made. The original classification schemes designed by well-known Western marketing scholars are estimated as the approaches to the general theory of marketing only. The hypotheses concerning a need to use a deductive approach supported by positive instruments of Marxist political economy was formulated. The author has made the conclusion the kit of tools for designing the general theory of marketing is to be added by an analytical knowledge extracted from exact sciences. Finally, a holistic model of emphatically-communicative approach to building general theory of marketing, applicable, to the author’s opinion, to putting in order partial marketing theories (sub-theories) and arranging well-focused theoretical studies in this field of marketing science.
    Keywords: general theory of marketing, main category, cost-value approach, market theory evolution, matched marketing filtration, marketing empathy and ecology,
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sps:wpaper:175&r=hpe
  5. By: Storchevoy, Maxim A.
    Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to build an integrative framework for our understanding of the firm which would embrace all alternative theories in the field into one logical scheme. There are multiple views of the firm – microeconomic view, transactional costs view, legal view, organizational theory view, resource-based view, knowledge-based view, relationship marketing and others. The main idea of this paper is that all arguments of these approaches may be systematized and built into one integrative framework which may be called a general theory of the firm.
    Keywords: theory of the firm, contract theory, opportunism, new institutional economics, new institutionalism, resource-based view, dynamic capabilities, knowledge-based view, open innovations, stakeholder theory, relationaship marketing,
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sps:wpaper:174&r=hpe
  6. By: Achin Chakraborty
    Abstract: This paper is about the discursive aspects of reform debates, more particularly about their rhetorical forms. In the debates on economic reforms in India, communities of scholars seem to have been talking past each other, each side equally convinced that it has the ‘Truthâ€. Persistent disagreement among economists on important public policy issues sounds disconcerting to others. [Working Paper No. 330]
    Keywords: Economic Reforms, discourse, rhetoric, metaphor, India
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:3091&r=hpe
  7. By: Vassili Joannides (GDF - Gestion, Droit et Finance - Grenoble Ecole de Management); Nicolas Berland (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - CNRS : UMR7088 - Université Paris Dauphine - Paris IX)
    Abstract: Our paper addresses what the moral foundations of accounting are, regardless of capitalistic operations, as we are seeking to trace a genealogy of accounting thinking disconnected from coincidence with Capitalism. We demonstrate that the three monotheisms have bared the core of accounting. We purport to explicate how the three monotheisms (Judaism, Christianity divided into Roman Catholicism and Protestantisms, and Islam) have successively revealed the nature of accounting to moralise people's day-to-day conduct. Our approach to the revelation of accounting is informed with practice theory to study how accounting was used in believers' day-today activities and faith management. To this end, we read theological debates on accounting from Rabbinic, Islamic, Catholic and Protestant literatures raised at the time of the Reformation. Our study reveals that, in the four religions, bookkeeping serves as routine and rules to account for daily conduct, its content being contingent upon common understandings (viz. God's identity, capabilities and expectations) and teleoaffective structures (viz. definition of and ways to salvation). Through this paper, we demonstrate that accounting issues have always served as a sub-practice in moral practices and is therefore not necessarily coincidental with economic operations. Ultimately, we contribute to literature on the genesis of accounting, accounting as situated practice and accounting as moral practice.day-today activities and faith management. To this end, we read theological debates on accounting from Rabbinic, Islamic, Catholic and Protestant literatures raised at the time of the Reformation. Our study reveals that, in the four religions, bookkeeping serves as routine and rules to account for daily conduct, its content being contingent upon common understandings (viz. God's identity, capabilities and expectations) and teleoaffective structures (viz. definition of and ways to salvation). Through this paper, we demonstrate that accounting issues have always served as a sub-practice in moral practices and is therefore not necessarily coincidental with economic operations. Ultimately, we contribute to literature on the genesis of accounting, accounting as situated practice and accounting as moral practice.
    Keywords: religion, accounting, Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Islam, Control as practice
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00477759_v1&r=hpe
  8. By: David Colander
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mdl:mdlpap:1035&r=hpe
  9. By: Yong Tao
    Abstract: Our study shows that many firms would accumulate at zero output level (namely, Bankruptcy status) if a perfectly competitive market reaches full employment (namely, those people who should obtain employment have obtained employment). As a result, appearance of economic crisis is determined by two points; that is, (a). Stock market approaches perfect competition; (b). Society reaches full employment. The empirical research of these two points would lead to early warning of economic crisis. Moreover, it is a surprise that the state of economic crisis would be a feasible equilibrium within the framework of the Arrow-Debreu model. That means that we can not understand the origin of economic crisis within the framework of modern economics, for example, the general equilibrium theory.
    Date: 2010–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1010.5154&r=hpe
  10. By: Xavier Vilà
    Abstract: We study the properties of the well known Replicator Dynamics when applied to a finitely repeated version of the Prisoners' Dilemma game. We characterize the behavior of such dynamics under strongly simplifying assumptions (i.e. only 3 strategies are available) and show that the basin of attraction of defection shrinks as the number of repetitions increases. After discussing the difficulties involved in trying to relax the 'strongly simplifying assumptions' above, we approach the same model by means of simulations based on genetic algorithms. The resulting simulations describe a behavior of the system very close to the one predicted by the replicator dynamics without imposing any of the assumptions of the mathematical model. Our main conclusion is that mathematical and computational models are good complements for research in social sciences. Indeed, while computational models are extremely useful to extend the scope of the analysis to complex scenarios hard to analyze mathematically, formal models can be useful to verify and to explain the outcomes of computational models.
    Keywords: Computational Economics, Model-To-Model Analysis, Genetic Algorithms, Evolutionary Game Theory, Prisoners' Dilemma
    JEL: C63 C73
    Date: 2010–10–27
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aub:autbar:848.10&r=hpe
  11. By: David Colander; Roland Kupers; Thomas Lux; Casey Rothschild
    Abstract: Social science disciplines see themselves as distinct, with their own territory, their own methods, and their own framework. Within such an environment multidisciplinary work involves enormous conflict and translation problems. This situation is no longer acceptable. Dealing with modern problems requires researchers with broad transdisciplinary knowledge and with the ability to communicate with other social science researchers in a way that will allow them to arrive at transdisciplinary recommendations. Complex issues such as healthcare, income distributions, crime prevention, industrial policy, agriculture require not only insights from multiple social disciplines, but the integration of those insights. This document offers a proposal for training social science researchers. Specifically, it proposes reintegrating the social sciences by modifying the current system of training—which provides completely separate training for researchers in each sub-discipline—to incorporate a common first year “core"of training for all social science researchers. If implemented, the proposal will reduce the babble that currently characterizes much of the interdisciplinary conversations.
    Date: 2010
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mdl:mdlpap:1033&r=hpe
  12. By: Dan Usher (Queen's Unversity)
    Abstract: Government by majority rule voting requires that compromise be attainable, but not too easily. Little of the nation’s business could be transacted without an ability on the part of the legislators and political parties to strike bargains, but government by majority rule voting could not withstand a bargaining equilibrium comparable to the general equilibrium in a competitive economy. Democratic government is designed to foster bargaining where it should be fostered and to impede bargaining where it should be impeded.
    Keywords: Bargaining, Majority rule voting
    JEL: C70
    Date: 2010–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:wpaper:1245&r=hpe
  13. By: Haiou Zhou
    Abstract: Happiness surveys based on self-report can generate unreliable data due to respondents’ imperfect retrospection, vulnerability to context, and arbitrariness in measuring happiness. To overcome these problems, this article proposes to incorporate a method of measuring happiness, which is developed by Ng (1996) based on Edgeworth’s notion of “Just Perceivable Increment†of happiness, with the Day Reconstruction Method developed by Kahneman et al (2004a) to form a new happiness survey procedure. Distinguished from many surveys that simply ask respondents to rate their subjective wellbeing on a given scale, this happiness measuring method provide detailed instructions to help respondents determine and use their personal happiness units, which are interpersonally comparable, in measuring happiness. While the Day Reconstruction Method helps avoid the effects of imperfect retrospection and external disturbances, the proposed method of measuring happiness can help reduce the arbitrariness in self-measurement and derive accurate, coherent and interpersonally comparable happiness metrics. Therefore, data collected from such a survey can be used as a more reliable informational foundation for the evaluation of gross national happiness.
    Keywords: Happiness survey, Day Reconstruction Method, Just Perceivable Increment, Wellbeing, Gross National Happiness
    JEL: J00 J17 J18
    Date: 2010–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2010-50&r=hpe
  14. By: Françoise Forges (Université Paris-Dauphine); Ram Orzach (Oakland University)
    Abstract: In a common value auction in which the information partitions of the bidders are connected, all rings are core-stable. More precisely, the ex ante expected utilities of rings, at the (noncooperative) sophisticated equilibrium proposed by Einy, Haimanko, Orzach and Sela (Journal of Mathematical Economics, 2002), describe a cooperative game, in characteristic function form, in spite of the underlying strategic externalities. A ring is core-stable if the core of this characteristic function is not empty. Furthermore, every ring can implement its sophisticated equilibrium strategy by means of an incentive compatible mechanism.
    Keywords: Auctions, Bayesian Game, Collusion, Core, Partition Form Game, Characteristic Function
    JEL: C71 C72 D44
    Date: 2010–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2010.119&r=hpe

This nep-hpe issue is ©2010 by Erik Thomson. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
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