|
on Heterodox Microeconomics |
|
Issue of 2018‒01‒22
fifteen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Akerlof, George; Michaillat, Pascal |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a theory of promotion based on evaluations by the already promoted. The already-promoted show favoritism toward candidates with similar beliefs, just as beetles are more prone to eat the eggs of other species. With such egg-eating bias, false beliefs may not be eliminated by the promotion system. The main application is to scientific revolutions: when tenured scientists show favoritism toward tenure candidates with similar beliefs, science may not converge to the true paradigm. We extend the statistical concept of power to science: the power of the tenure test is the probability (absent any bias) of denying tenure to a scientist who adheres to the false paradigm, just as the power of any statistical test is the probability of rejecting a false null hypothesis. The power of the tenure test depends on the norms regarding the appropriate criteria to use in promotion and the empirical evidence available to apply these criteria. Economics and other social sciences are particularly at risk of capture by false paradigms because they have low power. Another application is to hierarchical organizations. |
| JEL: | I23 M51 Z13 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12514&r=hme |
| By: | Anna E. Jurczuk (University of Bialystok, Poland); Piotr Pysz (University of Finance and Management in Bia³ystok, Poland) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to present the views of various schools of economic thought on the sources of the institutional order of economies. The premises of the theories of constituted and spontaneous economic orders are taken as the criteria on the basis of which the sources of an institutional order are identified. In order to meet the research objectives, the paper present, on the basis of the theoretical notions of constituted and spontaneous economic orders, the views on the sources of institutional order in capitalism within the last 250 years, i.e. from the times of Adam Smith until the present day. Main results indicate that, the classical/neoclassical model of economic order, interpreted here as the ideal one, is arise by itself as a result of market interaction. In contradistinction to the above ultraliberal model of economic order is the consistently centralised model deriving from the Marxist tradition. A synthesis of the strictly liberal and the centralised models is the ordoliberal model of economic order. As regards the course of market interactions and the auto-formation of spontaneous rules of an economic order resulting from the market operations, it is a par exellence liberal concept. On the other hand, from the consistently centralised model it borrows the idea of top-down dictation of economic order principles by the political government. This synthesis constitutes ordoliberalism and implies a feedback between the constituted and spontaneous rules of economic order. |
| Keywords: | classical economics, Marxism, ordoliberalism, economic order, institutional analysis |
| JEL: | B1 B5 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pes:wpaper:2018:no2&r=hme |
| By: | C Lamine (ECODEVELOPPEMENT - Unité de recherche d'Écodéveloppement - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique); Gilles Maréchal (ESO - Espaces et Sociétés - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UM - Le Mans Université - UA - Université d'Angers - UN - Université de Nantes - AGROCAMPUS OUEST - UR2 - Université de Rennes 2 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); M Darolt (Instituto Agronômico do Parana) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, four French and Brazilian case studies of transitions paths towards a greening of farming and food systems are compared. The methodology is a transitions approach, both systemic and pragmatic. The main guideline follws the emergence and evolution over time of past and current initiatives emerging from the public and private sectors, as well as in the civil society. The roles of civil society and public authorities, quite different in Brazil and France as drivers towards transition, are discussed. The quality of the linkiages kept along time by local players is key to understand the sustainability of the transition process. |
| Keywords: | Brazil,Transition,Agri-food systems,France,Networks of actors |
| Date: | 2017–11–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01579748&r=hme |
| By: | Jean-Luc Moriceau (DEFIS - Droit, Economie, Finances et Sociologie - TEM - Télécom Ecole de Management - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], LITEM - Laboratoire en Innovation, Technologie, Economie et Management - UEVE - Université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne - Grenoble École de Management (GEM) - TEM - Télécom Ecole de Management) |
| Abstract: | La performativité des théories managériales se réfère à la capacité de celles-ci à ne pas seulement représenter ou expliquer le management mais à influencer, voire modeler, le comportement des managers dans le sens qu'elles prédisent. |
| Keywords: | Management et numérique,Performativité |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:gemptp:hal-01534257&r=hme |
| By: | Jonathan F. Cogliano (Department of Economics, Dickinson College); Roberto Veneziani (School of Economics and Finance, Queen Mary University of London); Naoki Yoshihara (Economics Department, University of Massachusetts - Amherst) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a computational framework to analyse the equilibrium dynamics of exploitation and inequality in accumulation economies with heterogeneous labour. A novel index is presented which measures the intensity of exploitation at the individual level and the dynamics of the distribution of exploitation intensity is analysed. The effects of technical change and evolving social norms on exploitation and inequalities are also considered and an interesting phenomenon of exploitation cycles is identified. Various taxation schemes are analysed which may reduce exploitation or inequalities in income and wealth. It is shown that relatively small taxation rates may have significant cumulative effects on wealth and income inequalities. Further, taxation schemes that eliminate exploitation also reduce disparities in income and wealth but in the presence of heterogeneous skills, do not necessarily eliminate them. The inegalitarian effects of different abilities need to be tackled with a progressive education policy that compensates for unfavourable circumstances. |
| Keywords: | Exploitation, Heterogeneous Labour, Wealth Taxes, Computational Methods |
| JEL: | B51 C63 D31 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dic:wpaper:2018-01&r=hme |
| By: | Woodcock, Jamie; Johnson, Mark R. |
| Abstract: | ‘Gamification’ is understood as the application of game systems – competition, rewards, quantifying player/user behaviour – into non-game domains, such as work, productivity and fitness. Such practices are deeply problematic as they represent the capture of ‘play’ in the pursuit of neoliberal rationalization and the managerial optimization of working life and labour. However, applying games and play to social life is also central to the Situationist International, as a form of resistance against the regularity and standardization of everyday behaviour. In this article, the authors distinguish between two types of gamification: first, ‘gamification-from-above’, involving the optimization and rationalizing of work practices by management; and second, ‘gamification-from-below’, a form of active resistance against control at work. Drawing on Autonomism and Situationism, the authors argue that it is possible to transform non-games into games as resistance, rather than transferring game elements out of playful contexts and into managerial ones. Since the original ‘gamification’ term is now lost, the authors develop the alternative conception as a practice that supports workers, rather than one used to adapt behaviour to capital. The article concludes with a renewed call for this ‘gamification-from-below’, which is an ideal form of resistance against gamification-from-above and its capture of play in pursuit of work. |
| Keywords: | anti-work; labour; play; resistance; Situationist International |
| JEL: | J50 |
| Date: | 2017–08–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:86373&r=hme |
| By: | Michal Moszynski (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland) |
| Abstract: | The main aim of the article is to assess the functioning and outcomes of tripartite structures of cooperation consisting of trade union federations, employers' organizations and the state in Germany on the background of the evolution of the welfare state. In the historical description, which was carried on chronologically covering 50 years from late 1960s, tools of institutional analysis and comparison were used. Main results indicate that state policy initially supported trade unions and employers' organizations as institutions of mediation and collective bargaining centers, but over time the sphere of social security has become a source of tensions between labor and capital. Due to generating unemployment, buying social peace became dysfunctional and impossible to finance in the long run thus the government had to reform the labor market, social sphere and consequently the German welfare state. |
| Keywords: | collective bargaining, institutional analysis, tripartite cooperation, alliances for work, welfare state |
| JEL: | B5 J38 J52 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pes:wpaper:2018:no1&r=hme |
| By: | Roberto Serrano |
| Abstract: | Top5itis is a disease that currently affects the economics discipline. It refers to the obsession of the profession of academic economists with the so-called "top5 journals." |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bro:econwp:2018-2&r=hme |
| By: | Stockhammer, Engelbert (Kingston University London); Rabinovich, Joel (Université Paris-13); Reddy, Niall (New York University) |
| Abstract: | Most empirical macroeconomic research limited to the period since World War II. This paper analyses the effects of changes in income distribution and in private wealth on consumption and investment covering a period from as early as 1855 until 2010 for the UK, France, Germany and USA, based on the dataset of Piketty and Zucman (2014). We contribute to the post-Keynesian debate on the nature of demand regimes, mainstream analyses of wealth effects and the financialisation debate. We find that overall domestic demand has been wage-led in the USA, UK and Germany. Total investment responds positively to higher wage shares, which is driven by residential investment. For corporate investment alone, we find a negative relation. Wealth effects are found to be positive and significant for consumption in the USA and UK, but weaker in France and Germany. Investment is negatively affected by private wealth in the USA and the UK, but positively in France and Germany. |
| Keywords: | historical macroeconomics; demand regimes; Bhaduri-Marglin model; wealth effects; financialisation |
| JEL: | B50 E11 E12 E20 E21 N10 |
| Date: | 2017–11–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:kngedp:2017_005&r=hme |
| By: | Schneebaum, Alyssa; Schubert, Nina |
| Abstract: | Since the first empirical paper on the topic more than two decades ago (Badgett, 1995), the common story in the literature on wages and sexual orientation has been that gay men face a wage penalty compared to heterosexual men while lesbians are paid the same as or more than heterosexual women. However, none of the papers in the literature have thoroughly addressed the role of marital status in these wage gaps. Using data from the 2013-2015 American Community Survey and OLS as well as selection-corrected estimators, we show that the gay male penalty exists only for the group of married men, while the lesbian wage premium persists across marital status but is smaller for married lesbians. |
| Keywords: | Sexual orientation, marriage premium; penalty, wage differential, discrimination |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus005:5964&r=hme |
| By: | Gregory Jackson (FFJ - Fondation France-Japon de l'EHESS - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales) |
| Abstract: | "The literature on comparative capitalism sees institutions largely as a set of incentives and constraints on rational behavior of business enterprises. Institutions constrain economic action, but also create new opportunities for economic action. For example, any market order needs the support of basic property rights and the rule of law (Khanna & Palepu, 2006), which both constrain certain uses of property and thereby enable other ones. Institutions may also solve certain collective action problems through different modes of governance over transactions – such as markets, hierarchies, networks, associations, state regulation and so on (Hollingsworth & Boyer, 1997). Consequently, many scholars have argued that different countries may have comparative advantages for different kinds of economic activity based on the diversity of their institutional frameworks (Amable, 2003, Hall & Soskice, 2001, Whitley, 1999)." |
| Keywords: | comparative capitalism, conceptual framework, understanding institutional change, japanese capitalism |
| Date: | 2016–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01643921&r=hme |
| By: | Nicolas Piluso (CERTOP - Centre d'Etude et de Recherche Travail Organisation Pouvoir - UT2 - Université Toulouse 2 - UPS - Université Paul Sabatier - Toulouse 3 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Edwin Le Héron (GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | L'objet de cet article est d'analyser les effets conjoncturels d'une politique climatique de taxation des émissions polluantes ainsi que son impact sur l'efficacité des politiques de relance dans le cadre d'analyse d'une économie keynésienne. Les contributions empiriques et théoriques actuelles estiment qu'une taxation a le plus souvent un impact récessif. Par ailleurs, ces travaux montrent que l'efficacité des politiques publiques est entravée par l'exercice de la politique climatique et/ou l'existence d'une contrainte environnementale. Nous montrons ici à l'inverse que la politique climatique de taxation peut exercer, sous certaines conditions, un effet favorable sur la conjoncture et renforcer l'efficacité économique des politiques de relance budgétaire. |
| Keywords: | économie keynésienne. , Taxe carbone, politique de relance |
| Date: | 2017–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01454866&r=hme |
| By: | Guglielmo Forges Davanzati; Lucia Mongelli |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the relation between labour market deregulation and the path of employment in Italy. A preliminary reconstruction of the theoretical debate is provided, based on the different views advocated by Neoclassical and post-Keynesian scholars. The second part of this paper focuses on empirical evidence, concluding that the increase in labour flexibility negatively affected the employment rate in the 2000s. Moreover, it is argued that as unemployment increases, workers’ bargaining power decreases not only in the labour market but also in the political arena,allowing the Government to implement further policies of labour flexibility. The evidence confirms this conjecture. |
| Keywords: | post-Keynesian theory, labour flexibility, employment |
| JEL: | B5 J2 J5 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ast:wpaper:0026&r=hme |
| By: | Guillemette De Larquier (EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Emmanuelle Marchal (CSO - Centre de sociologie des organisations - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This article addresses the formalisation of hiring processes and its impact on the type of the employee hired. Using the French OFER survey on the hiring practices of 3,584 firms in 2005, we investigate how firms organise the selection of job applicants and analyse the outcome of this selection with regard to the profiles of successful applicants. The data analysis reveals four types of screening processes: an informal process (streamlined) and three formalised processes (written-based, testing, and professionalised). The use of a type of screening process depends on the constraints and resources of the firm and on the expected type of match. Finally, logit regressions show that informal recruitment methods tend to penalise women and formal testing screening processes seem to favour unemployed or inactive people, whereas the formalised screening processes are likely to penalise individuals without diplomas. |
| Keywords: | hiring process,screening methods,recruitment channels,diversity |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01597719&r=hme |
| By: | Tatyana Avilova; Claudia Goldin |
| Abstract: | Men outnumber women as undergraduate economics majors by three to one nationwide. Even at the best research universities and liberal arts colleges men outnumber women by two to one or more. The Undergraduate Women in Economics Challenge was begun in 2015 as an RCT with 20 treatment schools and at least 30 control schools to evaluate whether better course information, mentoring, encouragement, career counseling, and more relevant instructional content could move the needle. Although the RCT is still in the field, results from several within treatment-school randomized trials demonstrate that uncomplicated and inexpensive interventions can substantially increase the interest of women to major in economics. |
| JEL: | A0 A22 J16 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24189&r=hme |