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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
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Issue of 2013‒05‒05
twelve papers chosen by |
| By: | Giovanni Federico; Antonio Tena Junguito |
| Abstract: | The conventional wisdom about the early stages of modern economic growth in Italy is still heavily influenced by the work of L.Cafagna (1989). He argued that exports of primary products to industrializing North Western countries were the main source of growth and that exports of silk stimulated the industrialization of the North-West (the “industrial triangle”). However, the benefits did not extend to the rest of the country. In this paper we argue that this view is not supported by the trade data. Italian exports grew slowly relative to European and world trade and exports from the North grew less than the total. This view tallies well with some recent estimates of GDP per capita, which show no increase before the Unification (1861) |
| Keywords: | Industrial revolutionpPeriphery, Pre-unitary Italy, Foreign trade and integration, Growth |
| JEL: | F14 F15 N73 N14 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:whrepe:wp13-02&r=his |
| By: | Carlos Eduardo Suprinyak (Cedeplar-UFMG) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes to approach the economic ideas which prevailed in England during the early 17th century by moving beyond the historical and analytical exegesis of the printed pamphlets of the time, and focusing instead on the intellectual perspectives brought to bear upon economic matters by three of the most prominent public figures of late Jacobean England: Lionel Cranfield, Francis Bacon, and Edward Coke. As civil servants, all three of them were directly involved in the formulation of public policies aimed at economic regulation. Bacon and Coke, however, approached this problem as part of a larger system of public policy whose purpose was to promote order and stability in the commonwealth at large. Cranfield, on the other hand, brought a mercantile perspective to bear on the matter, emphasizing the importance of a favorable balance of trade, and stressing the usefulness of quantitative data in the assessment of economic phenomena. It is concluded that while Tudor political and social philosophy still dominated the way in which the English crown dealt with problems of an economic nature, the new perspective introduced by Cranfield exerted a perceptible influence within official circles. |
| Keywords: | Stuart England; Lionel Cranfield; Francis Bacon; Edward Coke; public policy. |
| JEL: | B11 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td473&r=his |
| By: | Sean Patrick Sassmannshausen (Schumpeter School of Business and Economics Wuppertal University, Germany); Christine Volkmann (Schumpeter School of Business and Economics Wuppertal University, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview on the state of art of research on social entrepreneurship and the establishment of this topic in the academic world. It uses scientometric methods, especially bibliometrics, in measuring the maturity of social entrepreneurship research. The empirical part reveals the increasing number of literature, the institutionalization of social entrepreneurship in seven dimensions, the emergence of thematic clusters, and methodological issue. The paper makes concrete suggestions on how to overcome methodological challenges at the boarder of advanced qualitative and early quantitative research designs. Using Harzing’s “Publish or Perish” software this article furthermore provides a ranking of the 20 most cited academic contributions in social entrepreneurship. Surprisingly, almost half of the most cited papers have not been published in journals but in books, rising doubts on the current (over-)rating of journal publications. |
| Keywords: | Social entrepreneurship, bibliometric study, citations, review, organizational establishment, academic institutionalization, development of empirical measurement scales |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwu:schdps:sdp13003&r=his |
| By: | Ternyik, Stephen I. |
| Abstract: | The Snooks/Panov curve is discussed, concerning the economic history of human societies as energy transduction systems. A first formalization and mathematization of world system energetics proposed. |
| Keywords: | transduction; energetics; economic history; quantization |
| JEL: | B41 |
| Date: | 2013–04–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46579&r=his |
| By: | Léo CHARLES |
| Abstract: | The singularity of the Swiss economy during the first globalization is a well-known subject in historiography. Many authors highlight the role of institutions, the size of the country or the weak influence of the lobbies on economic decisions to explain the high economic growth from the 1880’s. Using an original and highly disaggregated database, this article takes into account the Swiss choices in terms of industrial specializations. We found out that the development of modern specializations as well as a move upmarket in the “old” specializations can be one of the explanations of the Swiss ‘miracle’. |
| Keywords: | economic growth, specialization, Swiss economy |
| JEL: | N13 O4 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2013-15&r=his |
| By: | Konstantin Yanovsky (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy); Sergey Shulgin (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we tested the hypothesis of the "political" basis for the "economic" rights. We constructed our own variables of political regimes' classification for years 1820-2000. We found significant positive interdependencies between the Democracy's indicators and Economic Growth. Protection of the Private property rights requires, first and foremost, due guaranties for the personal immunity as a key precondition. Power to arrest discretionary undermines any formal guaranties of private property, low taxation benefits etc. Personal immunity should be defended even for "unpleasant" person (say, H. Ford or W. Gates) or for the chieftains' challengers (to make "rights of the meanest … respectable to the greatest"). It means the free speech; religious freedom and other "political rights" should be respected. Democracy, as political competition system weakens governments' power to break personal freedoms and property rights. |
| Keywords: | Rule of Law, Rule of Force, Personal Rights, Private Property Protection, Economic Growth |
| JEL: | P16 P50 N40 O43 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gai:wpaper:0058&r=his |
| By: | John Tang |
| Abstract: | Railroads in Meiji Japan are credited with facilitating factor mobility as well as access to human and financial capital, but the impact on firms is unclear. Using a newly developed firm-level dataset and a difference-in-differences model that exploits the temporal and spatial variation of railroad expansion, I assess the relationship between railways and firm activity across Japan. Results indicate that railroad expansion corresponded with increased firm activity, particularly in manufacturing, although this effect is mitigated in less populous regions. These findings are consistent with industrial agglomeration in areas with larger markets and earlier development among both new and existing establishments. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration, entrepreneurship, firm genealogy, late development |
| JEL: | L26 N75 O53 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csg:ajrcwp:1302&r=his |
| By: | Fabien Vayssière (UP1 UFR02 - Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne - UFR d'Économie - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne - PRES HESAM) |
| Abstract: | La science économique doit dégager des lois pour Simiand, elle a pour but de fournir une explication des relations entre les différents faits ou "catégories de faits". Simiand critique les théories sans faits (l'économie conceptuelle qui fabrique des "systèmes hypothétiques de relations entre éléments conçus par l'esprit") mais il ne veut pas non plus une accumulation de faits sans théorie (à laquelle aboutit la démarche historique). Cette double critique permet de situer Simiand, il se base sur les faits mais tente de dégager des relations entre ces derniers une "liaison rationnelle". C'est le statut de cette rationalité qui doit être questionné. La démarche de Simiand est intéressante de par les perspectives qu'elle offre à la science économique. La volonté de "connaître et expliquer la réalité économique" semble être un objectif au moins louable, sinon indispensable à une science économique bien constituée. Mais il s'agit de voir si dans l'application de cette méthode, Simiand respecte bien ses propres principes. Pour vérifier cela, nous étudierons sa théorie du cycle, travail théorique essentiel du sociologue. De la même manière que Durkheim a employé les principes de sa méthode pour la première fois dans son étude du suicide, c'est à travers son étude des fluctuations longues que Simiand a éprouvé la sienne. Son attachement à la méthode est tel qu'il revient sans cesse aux préceptes qu'il a fourni, rendant parfois la lecture de ses ouvrages fastidieuse. Mais cette volonté de respecter scrupuleusement une méthode établie et d'expliquer précisément au lecteur la démarche suivie doit être soulignée et saluée. Cette théorie du cycle est particulièrement originale par rapport à celles de ses contemporains en ce sens qu'elle utilise de manière systématique une méthode bien précise. Le résultat auquel elle aboutit est celui d'un progrès économique spontané, non voulu de manière consciente par les individus, mais bien réel. En réalité, si l'on parcours l'ensemble de l'œuvre de Simiand, on comprend mieux comment on aboutit à ce progrès économique. La conception de la monnaie et de la psychologie des individus sont au fondement de ce que Simiand appelle une "raison collective", laquelle entraîne "providentiellement" le progrès. On reconnaît ici le rationalisme de Simiand mais on perçoit aussi, et surtout, une dérive possible de la méthode positive. La question est donc de savoir s'il n'existe pas une contradiction entre la méthode prescrite par Simiand et son application concrète. Plus concrètement, Simiand respecte-il bien sa philosophie dans la construction de sa théorie du cycle ? Le terme "philosophie" ne nous semble pas usurpé, la question du rejet du finalisme dépasse la simple question de l'application d'une méthode, il s'agit bien d'une certaine conception de la science. Si nous en arrivons au dégagement d'une "dérive" au sens d'un "rationalisme forcé" de la théorie, d'une volonté de "faire comprendre coûte que coûte", alors il faudra se poser la question du pourquoi de cette dérive. Nous verrons qu'il est possible de voir en l'appartenance de Simiand à l'école durkheimienne une explication de cette dernière. En creux se trouve bien la question de la possibilité d'une science économique positive. Ou, plus précisément, la question de la possibilité de lois économiques tirées des faits, sans prénotions, comme l'entend Simiand. C'est pour cela que l'étude de l'application de sa méthode est si importante : s'il a échoué cela est aussi porteur d'enseignements. Afin de répondre aux questionnements de ce mémoire, il nous faudra d'abord passer par un détour. Il est essentiel de voir comment Simiand a appliqué sa méthode à l'étude des fluctuations longues. Nous relèverons ainsi les éléments qu'il faudra questionner plus loin. Cela nous permettra également de saisir sa mécanique du cycle (Chapitre 1). Mais, comme nous l'avons évoqué plus haut, les déterminants du cycle chez Simiand sont bien singuliers et conduisent l'auteur à dégager une "raison collective". Il est très important d'étudier ces déterminants et cette "raison collective" à la source du progrès économique, car son statut est bien particulier et devra être questionné (Chapitre 2). Une fois passé par ce détour, nous aurons les éléments pour mettre en perspective de manière sérieuse Simiand et sa méthode, évaluer les contradictions et les dérives de cette "science économique positive" (Chapitre 3). |
| Keywords: | François Simiand, développement économique, cycles économiques |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:dumas-00817854&r=his |
| By: | Giuseppe Berlingieri |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of outsourcing on sectoral reallocation in the U.S. over the period 1947-2007, and on the rise in services in particular. Roughly 40% of the growth of the service sector comes from professional and business services. This is an unusual industry as more than 90% of its output is an intermediate input to other firms, and it is where most of the service outsourcing activity is concentrated. These facts are essential to understanding the structure of the economy: professional and business services have experienced an almost fourfold increase in their forward linkage, the largest change in input-output linkages over the past 60 years. Using a simple gross output accounting framework, I calculate the contribution of the change in the composition of intermediates and their sourcing mode to the reallocation of employment across sectors. I find that the evolution of the input-output structure accounts for up to 33% of the increase in service employment, and professional and business services outsourcing alone contributes almost half of that amount. |
| Keywords: | Structural transformation, outsourcing, professional and business services, input-output tables, intermediates |
| JEL: | D57 L16 L24 L84 O14 O41 O51 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1199&r=his |
| By: | Sueli Moro (Cedeplar-UFMG); Reginaldo J. Santos (Cedeplar-UFMG) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use spatial analysis and spatial econometrics methods to assess some empirical issues on the size distribution of the Brazilian Urban System. The main novelty is the long historical period of analysis which includes all the demographic censuses from 1940. More specifically, we describe the spatial distribution of the Brazilian cities, as well as its temporal evolution; we test test Zipf’s Law in its original and spatial version, and we use Markov Chains analysis in order to shed some light on the dynamics of the cities within the urban system. We introduce spatial dependence in both Zipf’s law estimation and Markov chain framework in order to capture the influence of the geographical environment on the relative position and mobility of the cities within the urban system. Our estimates for the Pareto coefficient were quite different for OLS and spatial models suggesting the inconsistency of OLS estimates in the non-spatial models. For the full sample of municipalities the Pareto coefficient is much smaller than 1, which features a polarized urban structure. Municipalities with urban population above the average show a less concentrated urban structure and seem to confirm Zipf law. Traditional Markov chain analysis indicates a high stability and low mobility inter-class over time confirming that, with rare exceptions, radical changes in urban population size are uncommon. Results for the Spatial Markov matrix show that municipalities with more populous neighbors are more likely to grow. |
| Keywords: | Brazilian Urban System, Zipf's Law, Markov Chains, Spatial Econometrics. |
| JEL: | R11 R12 R15 C21 C23 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdp:texdis:td474&r=his |
| By: | Asheim, Bjørn (CIRCLE and the Department of Human Geography, Lund University; Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU), Norway); M. Bugge, Markus (Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education, Norway); Coenen, Lars (CIRCLE, Lund University; Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU), Norway); Herstad, Sverre (NIFU, Oslo Norway) |
| Abstract: | The article discusses the strategic roles of public policy and institutions and the way this effect to the efficiency of regional innovation systems in the landscape of evolutionary economic geography. It argues that the current emphasis on path dependency historically contingent preconditions has provided important insights into the interdependencies between industrial knowledge bases and routines, regional system dynamics and long-term development paths. Yet, it falls short of capturing the scope of policy intervention which follows logically from the evolutionary framework itself. Anchored in a renewed regional innovation systems approach, the article presents a policy intervention framework for constructing regional advantage in different contexts. |
| Keywords: | evolutionary economic geography; institutions; regional innovation policy; clusters; regional innovation systems |
| JEL: | B52 O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2013–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2013_005&r=his |
| By: | Fatih Guvenen; Michelle Rendall |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study the role of education as insurance against a bad marriage. Historically, due to disparities in earning power and education across genders, married women often found themselves in an economically vulnerable position, and had to suffer one of two fates in a bad marriage: either they get divorced (assuming it is available) and struggle as low-income single mothers, or they remain trapped in the marriage. In both cases, education can provide a route to emancipation for women. To investigate this idea, we build and estimate an equilibrium search model with education, marriage/divorce/remarriage, and household labor supply decisions. A key feature of the model is that women bear a larger share of the divorce burden, mainly because they are more closely tied to their children relative to men. Our focus on education is motivated by the fact that divorce laws typically allow spouses to keep the future returns from their human capital upon divorce (unlike their physical assets), making education a good insurance against divorce risk. However, as women further their education, the earnings gap between spouses shrinks, leading to more unstable marriages and, in turn, further increasing demand for education. The framework generates powerful amplification mechanisms, which lead to a large rise in divorce rates and a decline in marriage rates (similar to those observed in the US data) from relatively modest exogenous driving forces. Further, in the model, women overtake men in college attainment during the 1990s, a feature of the data that has proved challenging to explain. Our counterfactual experiments indicate that the divorce law reform of the 1970s played an important role in all of these trends, explaining more than one-quarter of college attainment rate of women post-1970s and one-half of the rise in labor supply for married women. |
| Keywords: | Marriage ; Women - Education |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmwp:704&r=his |