|
on Heterodox Microeconomics |
|
Issue of 2015‒02‒16
thirty papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Van den Hauwe, Ludwig |
| Abstract: | In the wake of the Financial Crisis and the subsequent Great Recession several commentators have suggested that the analysis of financial instability provided by various strands of heterodox economics got it "right" and that mainstream economics got it "wrong". In this paper two variants of heterodox views about financial instability are compared critically: the views of the late Hyman P. Minsky on the one hand, and the theses of the Austrian School on the other. Indeed there seem to exist a number of prima facie similarities and analogies between Minsky’s approach to the study of financial instability and that of the Austrian School. In particular attention can be drawn to such elements as, among others, the following: (a) both theories are theories of the upper turning point; (b) both theories give due attention to institutional factors, in particular the role of banks and financial institutions; (c) both approaches reject mainstream static equilibrium theorizing; (d) both approaches adhere to a monetary theory of the business cycle and explain, in their respective ways, the non-neutrality and the endogeneity of money; (e) in both approaches the role of Knightian uncertainty is appreciated; (f) in both approaches an attempt is made to provide the theory of the business cycle with adequate micro-foundations as well as with price-theoretic foundations. At the same time it can be seen that these similarities and analogies are quite superficial. The most important differences between both approaches relate to (a) the fundamental causal analysis of business cycles and the role of the interest-rate mechanism; (b) the identification of the relevant institutional context; (b) the role of capital and capital theory; (c) the quite different appreciation of the role of liquidity and liquidity preference; (d) the link between uncertainty and institutional context and (e) the quite different remedies that are proposed by the two approaches. It is concluded that the apparent similarities between both approaches are superficial, while the divergences are profound and fundamental. |
| Keywords: | Financial Instability, Business Cycle, Minsky, Austrian School |
| JEL: | B50 B53 B59 E3 E30 E32 |
| Date: | 2014–12–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61838&r=hme |
| By: | Freeman, Alan |
| Abstract: | In discussions on the rate of profit and its tendency to fall and its role in Marxist theory, a number of phrases are often employed without clarifying what these might really mean. Primary among these are such phrases as ‘the rate of profit must ultimately fall’ and ‘the counter-acting factors cannot possibly offset the tendency in the long run’. As a result of this ambiguity, and as a result of a legacy of confusion concerning Marx’s own ideas on the profit rate beginning with the Western reception of Okishio’s (1961) famous theorem, research on the actual mathematical conditions for the profit rate to rise or fall, especially in the long term, has all but ceased. However there is very strong evidence that the rate of profit has, in fact, been falling in most industrialised economies for some considerable time, and there is good reason to suppose this has at least some bearing on the origins of the present prolonged phase of stagnation in these economies. The time is therefore ripe to return to a rigorous study of the general mathematical conditions that might govern the long-term movement of the profit rate. In particular, I will attempt to give mathematical meaning to the two concepts above |
| Keywords: | Non-equilibrium; value theory; TSSI; Rate of Profit; Okishio Theorem; Marxist Economics |
| JEL: | B12 B14 |
| Date: | 2015–02–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61973&r=hme |
| By: | Müller, Andrea; Haucap, Justus |
| Abstract: | We analyze the behavior of 577 economics and law students in a simple binary trust experiment in class-room. While economists are both significantly less trusting and less trustworthy than law students, this difference is largely due to heterogeneity between female law and economics students. While female law and economics students are already different in nature (during the first term of study), the gap between them also widens more drastically over the course of their study compared to their male counterparts. This finding is rather critical as the detailed composition of students is typically neglected in most experiments. |
| JEL: | A12 A22 C91 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100554&r=hme |
| By: | Burda, Michael C.; Kirchgaessner, Gebhard |
| Abstract: | In response to recent negative publicity within and outside the economics profession, the Verein für Socialpolitik instituted a Code of Ethics for its members in 2012. The Code is based on central three principles of transparency, objectivity, and fairness. This essay presents a rationalization of these principles and points to a number of practical aspects of ethical behavior in economics addressed by the Code, which relies more on social norms and common sense rather than on adjudicable rules. The behavior of institutions, however, is only indirectly addressed; given recent trends in corporate sponsoring of academic activities, there may be good reasons to adapt and further refine the scope of its provisions. The ultimate impact of the Verein’s new Code of Ethics on its members’ behavior remains to be seen. |
| Keywords: | Ethics, Plagiarism, Auto-Plagiarism, Data Manipulation, Conflict of Interest, Sponsoring |
| JEL: | A11 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:econwp:2015:05&r=hme |
| By: | Callahan, Gene; Hoffmann, Andreas |
| Abstract: | Discerning family resemblances in the world of theories can be useful for several reasons. For one thing, noticing that two theories share the traits of a family of theories may help us to understand each of them better. Secondly, noticing the family resemblances may help us to model them more easily. In particular, the modern software development technique of object-oriented programming leverages family resemblances among different software “objects” to increase the ease of development, and so dovetails very well with the effort to pick out “families” on a more theoretical level. In this paper, we note the large family of two-population social cycle theories, all based on a pattern of disruptions and adjustments akin to the well-known predator-prey model. |
| Keywords: | social cycle theory, predator-prey, Lotka-Volterra, business cycle theory, agent-based modeling |
| JEL: | A12 B31 B4 E32 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61859&r=hme |
| By: | Nan Maxwell; Dana Rotz; Adam Dunn |
| Abstract: | Social enterprises (SEs) are mission-driven businesses focused on hiring and assisting people who face barriers to work. In 2011, REDF funded organizations in California to expand and support SEs and commissioned an evaluation to assess this approach. This brief highlights key findings from an outcomes evaluation of 282 SE workers in seven REDF-supported organizations; an impact evaluation comparing outcomes for 154 SE workers and 37 work-eligible individuals not hired by the SE at one organization; and an accompanying cost-benefit analysis. |
| Keywords: | REDF, Social Enterprises, Economic Self-Sufficiency, Life Stability |
| JEL: | J |
| Date: | 2015–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:075765cbe3c34771a9df40d06155a201&r=hme |
| By: | Jahn, Malte |
| Abstract: | The regionalization of national input-output tables is a major issue in regional science as corresponding regional data is often unavailable. In this paper, a framework is developed to estimate intra- and interregional input-output tables. The intraregional estimates are based on the wellaccepted FLQ method. The interregional estimates include gravity model-based estimates to account for geographical distances between the regions. The estimates are embedded in an interregional accounting framework which ensures consistency of regional values with the national aggregates. The framework is applied to the German economy of 2010. We are able to show the importance of taking into account interregional input-output relations in the derivation of (regional) demand multipliers. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hwwirp:161&r=hme |
| By: | Stadelmann, David; Portmann, Marco; Torgler, Benno |
| Abstract: | In Switzerland, two key church institutions the Conference of Swiss Bishops (CSB) and the Federation of Protestant Churches (FPC) make public recommendations on how to vote for certain referenda. We leverage this unique situation to directly measure religious organizations power to shape human decision making. We employ an objective measure of voters commitment to their religious organization to determine whether they are more likely to vote in line with this organization s recommendations. We find that voting recommendations do indeed matter, implying that even in a secularized world, religion plays a crucial role in voting decisions. |
| JEL: | Z12 D72 D03 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100481&r=hme |
| By: | Ayhan, Sinem H. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the labor supply response of married women to their husbands' job losses (Added Worker Effect) due to the recent economic crisis in Turkey. Identification is achieved by exploiting the exogenous variation in the output of male-dominated sectors hard-hit by the crisis. Findings based on the instrumental variable approach suggest that the added worker effect explains up to 64% of the observed increase in female labor force participation observed in Turkey. |
| JEL: | D13 J21 C26 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100387&r=hme |
| By: | Filippo Celata (Department of Methods and Models for Economics, Territory and Finance, Sapienza University of Rome (Italy)); Venere Stefania sanna (Department of Methods and Models for Economics, Territory and Finance, Sapienza University of Rome (Italy)) |
| Abstract: | A growing body of research is exploring the role of community-based initiatives (CBIs) in the promotion of sustainable regional transitions. While existing research and policies acknowledge the relevant contribution of community activism in providing a soft, self-governed and bottom-up path towards sustainability, much of this work has a clear normative intent, it is based on individual case studies and rarely provides a systematic assessment of their actual effects. This paper is an attempt to fill this gap by providing an extensive review of the literature about the social, economic, political and technological impacts of CBIs, in order to define a set of indicators for the monitoring and evaluation of these initiatives. For each of the above mentioned four dimensions, a set of key variables will be proposed for assessing CBIs in a variety of domains: from food production (e.g. community gardens), to food distribution (e.g. solidarity purchasing groups), from recycling, to cohousing, bike/car-sharing, community energy. |
| Keywords: | community-based initiatives, grassroots activism, sustainability, social innovation, monitoring and evaluation, impact assessment |
| JEL: | O17 Q56 L30 C18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsq:wpaper:33/14&r=hme |
| By: | Bernhard Rengs; Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle; Ardjan Gazheli; Miklós Antal; Jeroen van den Bergh |
| Abstract: | Climate policy has been mainly studied with economic models that assume representative, rational agents. However, it aims at changing behavior associated with carbon-intensive goods that are often subject to bounded rationality and social preferences, such as status and imitation. Here we use a macroeconomic multi-agent model with such features to test the effect of various policies on both environmental and economic performance. The model is particularly suitable to address distributional impacts of climate policies, not only because populations of many agents are included, but also as these are composed of different classes of households driven by specific motivations. We simulate various policy scenarios, combining in different ways a carbon tax, a reduction of labor taxes, subsidies for green innovation, a price subsidy to consumers for less carbon-intensive products, and green government procurement. The results show pronounced differences with those obtained by rational-agent model studies. It turns out that demand-oriented subsidies lead to lower unemployment and higher output, but perform less well in terms of carbon emissions. The supply-oriented subsidy for green innovation results in a significant reduction of carbon emissions with a slight reduction of unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Agent based modelling; climate change; bounded rationality; carbon productivity; environmental innovation; double dividend; other-regarding preferences |
| JEL: | B52 C63 H3 Q55 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feu:wfewop:y:2015:m:2:d:0:i:83&r=hme |
| By: | Menkhoff, Lukas; Grohmann, Antonia; Hübler, Olaf; Kouwenberg, Roy |
| Abstract: | This research challenges the stylized fact of a gender gap in financial literacy, i.e. the finding that women lag behind men in this respect. Our data which samples middle-class people from Bangkok does not show a gender gap, neither in regards to financial literacy nor regarding various kinds of informed financial decision making. This result is not explained by men s low financial literacy. It may be partially explained by high income of our target group and it seems likely to be influenced by Thailand s cultural background, such as the low degree of masculinity. |
| JEL: | D14 J16 O16 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc14:100415&r=hme |
| By: | Jaanika Meriküll; Pille Mõtsmees |
| Abstract: | This paper will study the gender wage gap in desired wages, realised wages and reservation wages. The notion of desired wages shows workers’ first bet to potential employers during the job-search process. Two datasets are employed, the electronic job-search portal database, where individuals signal their desired wages, and the labour force survey, where realised wages and reservation wages are reported. The Oaxaca-Ransom decomposition is implemented to investigate the contribution of characteristics and coefficients to the gender gap. It is found that: (1) The unexplained gender wage gap is 22–25% in desired and realised wages. (2) The unexplained gender wage gap is much larger in desired wages than in reservation wages for unemployed individuals showing women’s higher disutility from unemployment. (3) Women’s lower desired wages are revised up rather than men’s higher desired wages being revised down on the job. The results suggest that women are more risk averse in wage bargaining and self-select into occupations and industries with stable employment |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap; reservation wage; family, marriage and work; labour market mobility |
| JEL: | J16 J13 D13 J31 |
| Date: | 2015–01–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eea:boewps:wp2014-9&r=hme |
| By: | Roulet, Thomas |
| Abstract: | This study explores the relationship between organizational legitimacy and illegitimacy. It combines media content analysis and quantitative approaches to empirically investigate this link in the specific context of investment banks in the United States. Illegitimacy can paradoxically signal conformity to field level norms. Thus, the more banks are attacked by the print media, the more prestigious they are seen by their peers. |
| Keywords: | Légitimité et illégitimité organisationnelles, banques d’investissement, analyse de contenu media. |
| JEL: | G2 M1 M3 |
| Date: | 2015–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61811&r=hme |
| By: | Bercu, Florentin |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the recent evolution of Romanian modern agricultural cooperatives. The purpose is to present a synthesis of the current study to have a real starting point and lay the foundations according to which appropriate measures may be taken for the organisation of food producers into agricultural cooperatives and for making efficient the Romanian food sector. Although in our country, there is still a reticence about the cooperatives due to the history, especially among those who are over 45 years old the mentality of farmers has started to change, becoming aware of the importance of association. In the agricultural cooperatives in Romania, there have been considerable evolutions in comparison with the financial years 2011 and 2012. The number of agricultural cooperatives has increased in only one year by 26%, the turnover has increased by 59%, reaching lei 292,092,239, and the number of employees has increased by 50%. Unfortunately, in the top of Romanian agricultural cooperatives, there are only agricultural cooperatives and cooperative companies which carry out input purchase and obtained raw material sale services (cereals, industrial crops, livestock, etc.) by the members, unlike the Occidental ones where the collection/storage/processing and common marketing services are predominant due to which they obtain high value added products. The small and average producers in the Romanian food sector must understand that without a reform aiming at making efficient the professional organisations with economic purpose and their merger into efficient agricultural cooperatives, our agriculture shall continue to live from its past glory. |
| Keywords: | agricultural cooperatives, Romanian agricultural sector, agricultural policies, evolution |
| JEL: | Q13 R12 |
| Date: | 2014–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61757&r=hme |
| By: | Amin, Mohammad; Kuntchev, Veselin; Schmidt, Martin |
| Abstract: | This paper uses cross-section data for 107 countries to explore the relationship between gender inequality and economic growth. The paper departs from the literature by using a broad measure of gender inequality that goes well beyond gender inequality in education, which has been the focus of most studies. Another novelty of the paper lies in exploring heterogeneity in the growth-gender inequality relationship. The results confirm that greater gender inequality is strongly associated with lower economic growth. However, this negative relationship between gender inequality and growth is entirely due to the relatively poor countries, with the relatively rich countries showing no such relationship. The findings have important implications for the design and targeting of gender-specific policies. |
| Keywords: | Gender and Development,Achieving Shared Growth,Inequality,Gender and Law,Economic Theory&Research |
| Date: | 2015–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7172&r=hme |
| By: | Pierrick Dechaux (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the controversy between George Katona and James Tobin that happened at the end of the nineteen fifties. The central problem of the paper concerns the nature of psychological phenomena. While Tobin defends that economic behavior stems from the individual, Katona tries to develop a macropsychological approach in which the individual plays a secondary role. The controversy thus reveals the arguments that initiated the developments of microeconomic theories and the construction of microeconomic data during the nineteen fifties. |
| Keywords: | Macroeconomics, History of behavioral economics, Attitudinal data, Economic prediction. |
| JEL: | B23 C83 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:15011&r=hme |
| By: | Thiemann, Matthias; Birk, Marius |
| Abstract: | Regulatory failures, which came to the fore after the financial crisis of 2007-2009, lead to the question of why some activities by financial institutions were not regulated prior to the crisis of 2007, even though regulators knew about certain dangers to financial stability? The repo-market, although centrally involved in the last crisis, still awaits stringent regulation. At the same time, the regulatory cycle seems to come to an end, boding ill for future crises which will be amplified by this market. In this situation, NGOs are needed to make regulators act upon their knowledge and to tighten their regulations. |
| Keywords: | Repo Markets,Shadow Banking,Non-governmental Organizations |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:safewh:25&r=hme |
| By: | Alemanno , Alberto |
| Abstract: | At a time in which behavioural science has gained increasing attention for the design of population-wide health interventions, this chapter discusses its potential contributions to the prevention and control of Non-Communicable-Diseases (NCDs). Given the largely preventable nature of NCDs, any lifestyle intervention faces the challenge to induce behavioural change. By highlighting the role of social and physical environments in shaping our behaviour, applied behavioural science provides policymakers with a new understanding of human decision-making and, as a result, may support an innovative approach to the promotion of behaviour change leading to healthier lives. <p> While only a combination of policy instruments, such as legislation, regulation, and even financial and fiscal incentives, may induce behaviour change to the scale required to reduce the burden of chronic disease at the population level, a behavioural informed approach may valuably complement the current regulatory mix. In particular, an analysis of the WHO NCD Action Plan and its accompanying strategies suggests an increased awareness of the roles played by environmental and social factors on behaviour change. Although the language employed falls short of operationalizing the major behavioural insights into the NCD agenda, it clearly highlights that their integration into the current regulatory mix appears fundamental today for the design of any lifestyle policy intervention. <p> As behavioural change is progressively becoming the focus of health promotion efforts, the lesson learned is that there is more to behaviour change than merely empowering the targeted individuals, communities and populations with the necessary information. |
| Keywords: | Health law; NCD; WHO; Nudge; Libertarian Paternalism; Behavioral change; Lifestyle; Regulation |
| JEL: | I12 I28 J18 K00 K20 K23 K32 M00 |
| Date: | 2014–08–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:1054&r=hme |
| By: | Steve Suranovic (Department of Economics/Institute for International Economic Policy, George Washington University) |
| Keywords: | Fair Trade, Market Ethics, Inequality |
| JEL: | F1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gwi:wpaper:2015-2&r=hme |
| By: | John Knight; Ramani Gunatilaka |
| Abstract: | The empirical literature on the economics of happiness has grown rapidly, and much has been learned about the determinants of subjective well-being. Less attention has been paid to its normative implications. Taking China as a case study, this paper first summarises empirical results on the determinants of subjective well-being and then considers whether that evidence can be used for social evaluation. Different criteria for social evaluation give very different answers: on the one hand, real income per capita and the human development index have risen rapidly in recent years but, on the other hand, subjective well-being appears not to have risen at all. Ultimately a value judement is required: arguments are presented for and against including subjective well-being, either alone or with other criteria, in the social welfare function. |
| Keywords: | Capabilities, China, Happiness, Human development, Social evaluation, Subjective well-being |
| JEL: | D03 D63 O15 |
| Date: | 2014–01–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:wps/2014-09&r=hme |
| By: | Cecilia Parada (CEDLAS-UNLP-CONICET) |
| Abstract: | En este trabajo se estudia el efecto del aumento del empleo femenino sobre la distribucion del ingreso en Uruguay entre 1991 y 2012, en particular se analizan los efectos sobre la desigualdad y la pobreza. Se aplica la metodologa de microdescomposicion propuesta por Bourguignon et al. (1998), la cual permite capturar en forma parcial el efecto del aumento de la tasa de empleo femenina. Esta metodologa permite distinguir el efecto generado por cambios en la condicion de empleo (estar o no empleado -efecto estado-) y el producido por modicaciones en las horas trabajadas -efecto hroas. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que, a pesar de no ocupar un lugar central cuando se busca explicar la evolucion de la distribucion del ingreso, el aumento del empleo femenino ha tenido efectos signicativos, no solo del punto de vista estadstico. En este sentido, los cambios en el empleo femenino contribuyeron en todo momento a reducir los niveles de pobreza y, si bien tuvo resultados modestos sobre la desconcentracion del ingreso al inicio del perodo, estos fueron mas acentuados hacia el nal del mismo. En ambos casos, el efecto horas fue mas importante al momento de explicar la cada de los indicadores de distribucion que el efecto estado. |
| JEL: | C15 C24 D31 J16 J21 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0174&r=hme |
| By: | Caitlin Gerdts; Teresa DePiñeres; Selma Hajri; Jame Harries; Altaf Hossain; Mahesh Puri; Divya Vohra; Diana Greene Foster |
| Abstract: | Factors such as poverty, stigma, lack of knowledge about the legal status of abortion, and geographical distance from a provider may prevent women from accessing safe abortion services, even where abortion is legal. Data on the consequences of abortion denial outside of the US, however, are scarce. |
| Keywords: | Abortion, Legal Settings, Abortion denial, Women, Well Being |
| JEL: | I C |
| Date: | 2014–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:d8edbc84081e4e8cbc703ee9c46e77f5&r=hme |
| By: | Jeffrey G. Williamson |
| Abstract: | Most analysts of the modern Latin American economy have held the pessimistic belief in historical persistence -- they believe that Latin America has always had very high levels of inequality, and that it’s the Iberian colonists’ fault. Thus, modern analysts see today a more unequal Latin America compared with Asia and most rich post-industrial nations and assume that this must always have been true. Indeed, some have argued that high inequality appeared very early in the post-conquest Americas, and that this fact supported rent-seeking and anti-growth institutions which help explain the disappointing growth performance we observe there even today. The recent leveling of inequality in the region since the 1990s seems to have done little to erode that pessimism. It is important, therefore, to stress that this alleged persistence is based on an historical literature which has made little or no effort to be comparative, and it matters. Compared with the rest of the world, inequality was not high in the century following 1492, and it was not even high in the post-independence decades just prior Latin America’s belle époque and start with industrialization. It only became high during the commodity boom 1870-1913, by the end of which it had joined the rich country unequal club that included the US and the UK. Latin America only became relatively high between 1913 and the 1970s when it missed the Great Egalitarian Leveling which took place almost everywhere else. That Latin American inequality has its roots in its colonial past is a myth. |
| JEL: | D3 N16 N36 O15 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20915&r=hme |
| By: | Eileen Appelbaum |
| Abstract: | A new report by Senior Economist Eileen Appelbaum of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows just how much the recnt SEC investigations of private equity funds has revealed and why it remains important to continue to regulate the industry. The report reviews the widespread practices in the industry that have unfairly enriched some private equity firms at the expense of pension funds and other investors in their funds. |
| Keywords: | private equity, dodd-frank |
| JEL: | G G2 G28 G3 G38 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:epo:papers:2015-02&r=hme |
| By: | David Fielding (Department of Economics, University of Otago, New Zealand); Shef Rogers (Department of English and Linguistics, University of Otago, New Zealand) |
| Abstract: | In conventional wisdom, the reform of British copyright law during the eighteenth century brought an end to the monopoly on the sale of books held by the Stationers’ Company, and the resulting competition was one of the driving forces behind the expansion of British book production during the Enlightenment. In this paper, we analyze a new dataset on eighteenth century book prices and author payments, showing that the legal reform brought about only a temporary increase in competition. The data suggest that by the end of the century, informal collusion between publishers had replaced the legal monopoly powers in place at the beginning of the century. The monopoly power of retailers is not so easily undermined. |
| Keywords: | book trade; publishing; copyright; retail monopoly |
| JEL: | D42 L12 N83 Z11 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:otg:wpaper:1410&r=hme |
| By: | Claudio Salvadori Dedecca |
| Abstract: | Este texto explora a redução da desigualdade socioeconômica observada durante a fase de crescimento econômico do país depois de 2004. Seus resultados mostram uma redução importante da desigualdade econômica em termos de renda corrente das famílias, explicada pela geração de empregos, pelas políticas de renda e pelo gasto público.Do ponto de vista da evolução da desigualdade social, o ensaio aponta uma redução lenta em termos de maior acesso aos bens públicos. Os resultados são convergentes com um padrão de crescimento lastreado no consumo, mas com intensidade limitada e instável do investimento. O ensaio conclui, portanto, que avanços mais expressivos na redução da desigualdade social dependerão da capacidade de o país estabelecer uma dinâmica sustentada e distributiva do investimento. This essay explores the reduction of socioeconomic inequality observed during the economic growth in Brazil after 2004. Their results show a significant reduction of economic inequality in terms of current income of the families, explained by the creation of jobs, the income public policy and the public spending. From the point of view of the evolution of social inequality, the essay points to a slow reduction in terms of access to public goods. The results are convergent with a growth pattern backed in consumption, but with limited and unstable investment intensity. The essay concludes, therefore, that the most significant advances in reducing social inequality depend on the ability of the country to establish sustained and distributive dynamics of investment. |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:2031&r=hme |
| By: | Legalais, Laetitia; Morales, Jérémy |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the justifications accountants give for their role and position in organisations. Through a qualitative study based on observations and interviews, we follow management accountants acting as influential representatives of the financial language in their organisations. Trying to embed financial issues within managerial decision-making, and actively supporting increasing centrality of financial literacy and expertise, these management accountants provide, in the process, ‘legitimating accounts’ of their interventions on operational processes. We group the various arguments they use to justify their influence into four categories: their position in the information circuit, their accounting and financial expertise, their degree of importance in the eyes of general management, and their role as the interface between operations and general management. We show that through these arguments they construct a narrative that legitimises the central role of financial language in their organisation, even though their intervention is legitimised by the financialisation of organisations. This study thus furthers understanding of how the narratives produced by management accountants legitimise the connection of local operations to the broader trend of financialisation. |
| Keywords: | Justification; Financialisation; Legitimating accounts; Management accountants; Gestion financière des entreprises; Contrôleurs de gestion; Contrôle de gestion; |
| JEL: | M12 M41 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dau:papers:123456789/14570&r=hme |
| By: | Victor Lavy; Edith Sand |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we estimate the effect of primary school teachers’ gender biases on boys’ and girls’ academic achievements during middle and high school and on the choice of advanced level courses in math and sciences during high school. For identification, we rely on the random assignments of teachers and students to classes in primary schools. Our results suggest that teachers’ biases favoring boys have an asymmetric effect by gender— positive effect on boys’ achievements and negative effect on girls’. Such gender biases also impact students’ enrollment in advanced level math courses in high school—boys positively and girls negatively. These results suggest that teachers’ biased behavior at early stage of schooling have long run implications for occupational choices and earnings at adulthood, because enrollment in advanced courses in math and science in high school is a prerequisite for post-secondary schooling in engineering, computer science and so on. This impact is heterogeneous, being larger for children from families where the father is more educated than the mother and larger on girls from low socioeconomic background. |
| JEL: | J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20909&r=hme |
| By: | Constantine Manasakis (Department of Economics, University of Crete, Greece); Evangelos Mitrokostas (University of Portsmouth); Emmanuel Petrakis (Department of Economics, University of Crete, Greece) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the market and societal effects of a socially responsible multinational enterprise's entry in a host market through exports and through FDI, the determinants of the multinational's decision between exports and FDI, as well as the respective host country's policies. We find that the multinational enterprise, seeking for a competitive advantage in the host market, strategically engages in CSR activities and meets the corresponding demand by socially conscious consumers. The tariff charged by the host government increases with the social consciousness of this country's consumers. We also find that CSR activities are welfare enhancing for consumers and firms and thus, they should be encouraged. |
| Keywords: | Corporate social responsibility; Multinational enterprises; Foreign direct investment; Exports; Import tariffs |
| JEL: | D43 F13 F23 |
| Date: | 2015–01–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crt:wpaper:1501&r=hme |