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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2015‒09‒11
thirteen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Van Hecken, Gert; Bastiaensen, Johan; Windey, Catherine |
| Abstract: | This paper offers a review and analysis of the key issues and different perspectives in the Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) debate. We discuss how the current debate has to a certain degree moved beyond ‘neoliberal’ vs. ‘non-neoliberal’ discussions, instead recognizing the variegated ways in which this policy tool plays out in the field. We argue, however, that despite this progress PES research remains weakly theorized in social and political terms, resulting in only superficial understanding of the role of culture, agency, social diversity and power relations in the shaping of PES institutions and their outcomes. Building on insights from other fields and disciplines in the social sciences –in particular critical institutionalism, social anthropology and political ecology-, we subject some of the common assumptions underlying mainstream and alternative conceptualizations of PES and identify the main issues that, we believe, deserve more attention in future research. More specifically, we explore three key challenges in current PES research related to the tendency (1) to assume that institutions can be designed in order to make them ‘fit’ specific human-nature problems; (2) to oversimplify culture and social diversity through the apolitical concept of ‘social capital’; and (3)to conceptualize human agency, collective action, and institutional change through either overly-rational or overlystructuralist models. We argue that an expanded actor-oriented, socially-informed and powersensitive conceptualization of PES can help generate novel insights in the power geographies underlying institutional logics, and thus the complex ways in which PES policies are shaped and experienced in the field. |
| Keywords: | Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES); neoliberal conservation; power; critical institutionalism; institutional bricolage; agency; environmental governance |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iob:dpaper:2015005&r=all |
| By: | Awasthi, I. C.; Shrivastav, Puneet Kumar |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to analyze the social and economic disparities across social groups in rural Uttar Pradesh. The paper clearly demonstrates that the structure of rural economy in India is charecterised by deeply ingrained prejudices and social discrimination. The four-village study undertaken in one of the most populated states in India, Uttar Pradesh, clearly reveals that there is a huge disparity in terms of various social and economic indicators and the so-called high growth has hardly filtered in bettering their lives. The paper is based on primary data collected from census survey of villages exploring socio-economic disparities across social groups by using decomposition models. The results evidently lend credence to our postulations that a large proportion of disadvantaged groups are prone to multiple deprivations, both in the society and in labour markets. Our inquiry has revealed this phenomenon clearly. From the policy point of view, it is therefore an imperative necessity to have direct and focused provision of basic human requirements in terms of education, employment and income of the state. Such direct policy interventions are of paramount necessity for the state to ensure convergence and inclusive growth process to take place on a sustained basis. |
| Keywords: | Social inequalities, socially disadvantaged groups, discrimination, economic and social disparities, social group inequalities, caste inequalities, class-caste relations, decomposition models, multiple deprivations, regional inequalities. |
| JEL: | D63 E24 |
| Date: | 2015–07–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66441&r=all |
| By: | Leonardo Monasterio; Philipp Ehrl |
| Abstract: | Este trabalho examina a evolução da tese que sustenta que o tipo de colonização determina, ou condiciona, o futuro das sociedades. Smith (1776) já apresentava esta proposição e uma tipologia das colônias. Contudo, foram os autores alemães Heeren (1817) e Roscher (1856), no século XIX, os responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento da tese. Estes historiadores influenciaram o economista ortodoxo francês Leroy-Beaulieu (1902), que tratou do assunto em obra publicada em 1902. Fica claro que Caio Prado Júnior foi mais um divulgador da tese colônia de povoamento versus colônia de exploração no Brasil do que seu criador. Nos Estados Unidos, a ideia ressurge nas obras de North (1955; 1959) e de Baldwin (1956).Mais recentemente, os cliometristas Engerman e Sokoloff (1997) aprofundaram a questão, sem fazer referência aos autores europeus. Finalmente, Acemoglu, Johnson e Robinson (2001; 2002) – citando apenas a literatura neoinstitucional – levaram a tese para um público acadêmico mais amplo e apresentaram evidências econométricas. Este estudo se encerra com a discussão sobre as possíveis razões do sucesso da tese e da sua recorrente “descoberta” pelos pesquisadores. The paper examines the evolution of the thesis which states that the type of colonization determines, or conditions, the future of societies. Adam Smith already presented this proposition and a typology of colonies. However, it were the German authors Heeren and Roscher, in the 19th century, who developed the thesis. These historians influenced the French orthodox economist Leroy-Beaulieu, who dealt with the issue in a work published in 1902. Clearly, Caio Prado Jr. was another promoter of the dichotomy “settlement colony versus extractive/exploitation colony” in Brazil rather than its creator. In the United States, the idea resurfaces in the works of Douglass North (1955 and 1959) and Richard Baldwin (1957). More recently, cliometricians as Engerman and Sokoloff (1997) developed the proposition without reference to the European authors. Finally, Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson (2001 and 2002) introduced the thesis to a wider academic audience and offered econometric evidence. The present paper concludes with a discussion on the possible reasons for the success of the thesis and its recurring “discovery” by researchers. |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:2119&r=all |
| By: | Amélie Charles (Audencia Recherche - Audencia); Etienne Redor (Audencia Recherche - Audencia); Constantin Zopounidis (Audencia Recherche - Audencia) |
| Abstract: | This article contributes to the literature by examining the determinants of the existence of a critical mass of women on boards. As critical mass theory suggests, the mere presence of women on boards may not be sufficient to bring significant change to the boardroom and to improve corporate governance. While studying the determinants of female presence on boards is useful, it may be helpful to study what are the characteristics of firms that have a sufficient number of women to enhance governance. In this paper, we study the predictors of the existence of a critical mass of women on S&P 100 boards between 1995 and 2010. We show that firms with at least three female directors have larger boards, are larger, are more likely to be run by a female CEO and have a greater proportion of non-Caucasian directors. On the contrary, we were not able to show significant differences in firm performance and board independence between firms with and without a critical mass of women on their boards. |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01188269&r=all |
| By: | Schlake, Maximilian |
| Abstract: | Im Dezember 2010 veröffentlichte der Basler Ausschuss für Bankenaufsicht sein drittes Reformpaket, welches die Eigenkapitalausstattung und Liquiditätsvorsorge im Bankensektor verbessern und so künftige Bankenpleiten verhindern soll. Das Basel III-Rahmenwerk stellt damit ein zentrales Element in der globalen Regulierungsarchitektur nach der Finanzkrise dar, dessen spezifische Umsetzung die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der jeweiligen Bankensektoren maßgeblich beeinflusst. Die EU implementierte die neuen Standards mit dem sogenannten CRD IV-Paket vom 26. Juni 2013, welches aus einer Richtlinie und einer Verordnung besteht. Die vorliegende Arbeit wird dieses Paket in einem ersten Schritt untersuchen und die europäischen Besonderheiten hervorheben. Anschließend werden die Befunde mit der Theorie der komparativen institutionellen Vorteile aus dem Varieties of Capitalism (VoC)-Ansatz erklärt, wobei sich die Analyse auf Deutschland, Frankreich und Großbritannien beschränkt. Die Arbeit zeigt, dass sich die deutschen Forderungen nach Ausnahmen für Sparkassen und Genossenschaften, Vergünstigungen von Mittelstandskrediten und dem Schutz von stillen Einlagen auf die bankbasierte Unternehmensfinanzierung der Volkswirtschaft zurückführen lassen. In Frankreichs state-enhanced capitalism offenbart sich dagegen eine National Champions-Strategie zum Schutze der Großbanken und ihrer Versicherungsbeteiligungen. Der Fall Großbritannien bringt den gewählten Theorieansatz schließlich an seine Grenzen, da er dessen Konzept von relativ konstanten und unzweideutigen nationalen Wirtschaftsinteressen in Frage stellt: Höhere Kapitalanforderungen in Form von Leverage Ratio und Systemrisikopuffer mussten hier gegen die eigene Finanzindustrie durchgesetzt werden. Diese warb zusammen mit der deutschen und französischen Regierung für eine Maximum Harmonisation und definierte das nationale Interesse damit auf eine ganz andere Art. |
| Abstract: | In December 2010 the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published its third reform package which was designed to improve the equity base and liquidity provision in the banking sector, thus preventing future bank failures. The Basel III framework thereby constitutes an essential new element in the global regulatory architecture whose specific implementation crucially affects the competitiveness of the respective banking sectors. The new standards were implemented by the EU in the form of the so-called CRD IV package on 26th June 2013. In a first step this paper examines the package and highlights the European features. Subsequently, the findings will be explained by the Theory of Comparative Institutional Advantage from the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) approach limiting the analysis to Germany, France and Great Britain. The paper reveals that the German demands for exemptions clauses and benefits regarding its savings and cooperative banks, SME loans and silent participations result from its bank-based corporate finance. By contrast, in the French state-enhanced capitalism a National Champions strategy for the protection of the major banks and its insurance subsidiaries becomes apparent. In the case of Great Britain the VoC approach finally reaches its limits as its concept of relatively constant and unambiguous national economic interest is questioned: Higher capital requirements in form of the Leverage Ratio and the Systemic Risk Buffer had to be asserted against the financial industry which campaigned for a Maximum Harmonisation with Germany and France, thus defining the national interest in a completely different way. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fubipe:242015&r=all |
| By: | Daniel Tarragó; Quim Brugué; José Celso Cardoso Jr |
| Abstract: | A administração pública deliberativa é uma aposta política na transformação progressista e progressiva da administração pública, sobretudo em países como o Brasil, cujos experimentos acumulados de participação cidadã têm se destacado mundo afora. Neste texto, argumenta-se em favor da participação social como método de governo, buscando desarmar algumas das proposições frequentemente utilizadas para minimizar ou mesmo ridicularizar a participação social em processos de governo. Adicionalmente, defende-se a necessidade de reinventar a democracia, alertando para a falência das formas tradicionais de se fazer política e, consequentemente, para a incapacidade dos governos atuais em governar, bem como dos cidadãos em governar os seus próprios governos. Daí a necessidade de se recuperar a boa política como forma de superar a barbárie moral que tomou conta das relações políticas e das próprias administrações públicas no Brasil e no mundo. Por fim, trata-se de desenvolver novas capacidades administrativas, para que os governos sejam capazes de melhor comunicar os seus planos, objetivos e metas, tanto internamente como junto à sociedade. Para tanto, o texto estabelece os fundamentos desta nova proposta de governança da coisa pública: i) menos especialização e mais criatividade; ii) menos dados e mais filosofía; e iii) menos endogamia e mais diversidade. Em suma, propõe-se apostar nas habilidades relacionais (de natureza tecnopolítica) das novas gerações de dirigentes e servidores públicos em formação. Deve-se insistir também na capacidade de aprendizagem institucional decorrente tanto da inteligência coletiva já instalada em nossas repartições públicas como das práticas participativas e deliberativas já em uso no interior destas. A Deliberative Public Administration is a political commitment to progressive and progressive transformation of public administration, especially in countries like Brazil, whose accumulated experiments of citizen participation has excelled around the world. Therefore, it is argued in favor of social participation as a method of government, seeking to defuse some of the propositions often used to minimize or even ridicule the social participation in government processes. Additionally, the need to reinvent democracy defends itself, warning of the bankruptcy of the traditional ways of doing politics and, consequently, the inability of the current government to govern, and citizens to govern their own governments. Hence the need to regain good policy as a way to overcome the moral barbarism that took account of political relations and the government itself in Brazil and worldwide. Finally, it is to develop new administrative capabilities so that governments are able to better communicate your plans, goals and objectives, both internally, as in society. Therefore, the text establishes the reasons for the proposed new governance of public affairs: i) less specialization and more creativity; ii) less data and more philosophy; iii) less inbreeding and further diversity. In short, betting on relational skills (of technopolitical nature) of new generations of leaders and public servants in training, but also in institutional learning capacity due to both the collective intelligence already installed in our public offices as of participatory and deliberative practices already in use inside the same. |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:2122&r=all |
| By: | Sara De la Rica; Yolanda F. Rebollo-Sanz |
| Abstract: | The Great Recession has had a disproportionately negative effect on working men compared to working women in many OECD countries and led to gender convergence in aggregate unemployment rates. In this paper we seek the sources of this recent convergence by using Social Security records on individuals to study the determinants of unemployment ins and outs over the course of a whole business cycle, i.e. 2000-2013. We focus on Spain – a country hit hard by unemployment increases in downturns. Our results indicate that unemployment outs are crucial in understanding changes in unemployment rates in Spain. Furthermore, the huge drop in unemployment outs in the recession, particularly for men, has led to unprecedented levels of long-term unemployment, which has come to account for 64% of total unemployment. Negative state dependence emerges as a key barrier to job access for the long-term unemployed and hence the rate of unemployment is expected to remain high for many years, even if there is a strong recovery. |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaeee:eee2015-18&r=all |
| By: | Kleinaltenkamp, Moritz |
| Abstract: | Die Stadt Berlin eifert dem Ziel nach, sich neben Regionen wie dem Silicon Valley und der East London Tech City an die Spitze der internationalen Startup-Metropolen zu gesellen. Der Einschätzung von Branchenexperten sowie ökonomischen Kennzahlen zufolge ist sie in diesem Streben durchaus erfolgreich. Laut Hall & Soskice, den Autoren des Varieties of Capitalism-Ansatzes, sollte der ökonomische Erfolg technologischer Startups allerdings durch die Institutionen der deutschen Wirtschaft eingeschränkt werden. Die vorliegende Arbeit versucht, diesem Widerspruch von Theorie und Empirie auf den Grund zu gehen. |
| Abstract: | The city of Berlin aspires to join regions like Silicon Valley and the East London Tech City at the throne of international startup clusters. Following the assessment of industry experts and economic key figures, one could argue that Berlin has thus far been successful at achieving that goal. Hall & Soskice, authors of the Varieties of Capitalism approach, have argued however that the economic success of technological startups should be impeded by German economic institutions. The paper at hand tries to get to the bottom of this contradiction between theory and empirical evidence. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fubipe:252015&r=all |
| By: | Mariana Mazzucato (SPRU (Science Policy Research Unit), School of Business, Management & Economics, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9SL, U.K.) |
| Abstract: | Many countries are pursuing innovation-led ‘smart’ growth, which requires certain types of long-run strategic investments. This paper argues that such investments require public policies that aim to create markets, rather than just ‘fixing’ market failures (or system failures). Such ‘mission-oriented’ investments have led to men walking on the moon (which created spillovers across the economy) and are today catalyzing investments to tackle climate change around the world. In the two above-mentioned cases, public agencies not only ‘de-risked’ the private sector, but also led the way in terms of shaping and creating new technological opportunities and market landscapes. Only then was the private sector willing to invest. This paper considers four key questions that arise from a ‘market creating’ framework: (1) decision-making on the direction of change; (2) the nature of (public and private) organizations that can welcome the underlying uncertainty and discovery process; (3) the evaluation of mission-oriented and market-creation policies; and (4) the ways in which both risks and rewards can be shared so that ‘smart’ innovation-led growth can also result in ‘inclusive’ growth. |
| Keywords: | innovation policy, mission-oriented, market failures, system failures, directionality, smart growth, inclusive growth |
| JEL: | H1 L1 L2 O1 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sru:ssewps:2015-25&r=all |
| By: | Pedro Lara de Arruda (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | "El importante análisis hecho por De Haan (2013) plantea cómo el concepto de nación en India y China depende de que se proporcionen instrumentos equitativos para la inclusión económica de los segmentos desfavorecidos de la población. Mientras en China está más relacionada con las minorías étnicas (las personas ajenas a la etnia Han), en India la exclusión social remite al sistema histórico de castas, una estructura que condena al grueso de la población del país a la pobreza en función de su identidad. Dicho sistema se basa en prácticas cognitivas consolidadas en todos los niveles de interacción social, desde un nivel macroinstitucional a un mesonivel de prácticas descontroladas."(..) |
| Keywords: | Prácticas Anticasta, Cuotas, Protección Social, India |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opespa:203&r=all |
| By: | Ann-Kathrin Blankenberg (Chair of Economic Policy and SME Research, University of Göttingen; Platz der Göttinger Sieben 3, 37073 Göttingen, Germany); Guido Buenstorf (Institute of Economics, University of Kassel; Nora-Platiel-Strasse 5, 34109 Kassel, Germany) |
| Abstract: | We explore the regional co-evolution of firm population size, private-sector patenting and public research in the empirical context of German laser research and manufacturing over more than 40 years from the emergence of the industry to the mid-2000s. Our qualitative as well as quantitative evidence is suggestive of a co-evolutionary process of mutual interdependence rather than a unidirectional effect of public research on private- sector activities. |
| Keywords: | co-evolution, innovation systems, vector autoregression, laser technology |
| JEL: | B52 O31 R12 |
| Date: | 2015–08–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esi:evopap:2015-02&r=all |
| By: | François Cochard (CRESE EA3190, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté); Hélène Couprie (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA); Astrid Hopfensitz (Toulouse School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Female specialization on household work and male specialization on labor-market work is a widely observed phenomenon across time and countries. Gender differences regarding characteristics (preferences, productivity) and context (wage rates, social norms) are generally recognized to explain this fact. We experimentally investigate work division by true co-habiting couples participating in a newly developed specialization task. Efficiency in this task comes at the cost of inequality, giving higher earnings to the “advantaged” player. We compare behavior when men (or women) are in the advantaged position, which correspond to the traditional (or power) couple case where he (or she) earns more. We show that women do not contribute more than men to the household public good whatever the situation. This result allows us to rule-out some of the standard explanations of the work division puzzle. |
| Keywords: | Experiment on couples, Time allocation, Work division |
| JEL: | D13 C99 J16 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crb:wpaper:2015-08&r=all |
| By: | Boris van Leeuwen (Toulouse School of Economics); Abhijit Ramalingam (University of East Anglia); David Rojo Arjona (University of Leicester); Arthur Schram (Amsterdam School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effects of power on cooperation in repeated social dilemma settings. Groups of five players play either multi-player trust games or VCM-games on a fixed network. Power stems from having the authority to allocate funds raised through voluntary contributions by all members and/or from having a pivotal position in the network (centrality). We compare environments with and without ostracism by allowing players in some treatments to exclude others from further participation in the network. Our results show that power matters but that its effects hinge strongly on the type involved. Reminiscent of the literature on leadership, players with authority often act more cooperatively than those without such power. Nevertheless, when possible, they are quickly ostracized from the group. Thus, this kind of power is not tolerated by the powerless. In stark contrast, centrality leads to less cooperative behavior and this free riding is not punished; conditional on cooperativeness, players with power from centrality are less likely to be ostracized than those without. Hence, not only is this type of power tolerated, but so is the free riding it leads to. |
| Keywords: | power, cooperation, networks, public goods |
| JEL: | C91 D02 D03 H41 |
| Date: | 2015–03–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uea:wcbess:15-04&r=all |