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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2021‒10‒18
seventeen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Andrea Coveri; Claudio Cozza; Dario Guarascio |
| Abstract: | The paper applies the radical view of Monopoly Capitalism to the digital platform economy. Based on the seminal ideas of Hymer and Zeitlin that led Cowling and Sugden to define the large monopolistic firm as a means to plan production from a unique centre of strategic decision-making, we attempt to develop a framework where digital platforms are conceived as an evolution of large transnational corporations. Power and control in our Monopoly Capitalism view are then meant not only in terms of market relations, but rather as levers for coordinating global production and influencing world societies. Applying this framework to the Amazon case, we highlight the key analytical dimensions to be considered: not only Amazon dominates other firms and suppliers through its diversification and a direct control of data and technology; its power is also linked to global labour fragmentation and uneven bargaining power vis-à-vis world governments, as in the Hymer and Cowling's tradition. |
| Keywords: | Monopoly Capital; Monopoly Power; Digital Platforms; Amazon; Multinational corporation. |
| Date: | 2021–10–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2021/33&r= |
| By: | Alexandre Chirat |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a reconstruction of the intellectual cross-fertilization between Adolf Berle and John Kenneth Galbraith to account for their institutionalist challenge against “conventional economics” so as to bring political economy back to life. To do so, I go back to the genesis of Modern Corporation and Private Property before analyzing Berle and Galbraith’s answers to a set of fundamentals questions. What is the nature of modern competition ? What is the nature of the modern corporation ? What is the role of the State ? Lastly, how should American liberalism be reinvented to cope with the social issues of an affluent society ? Their answers to these questions reveal the deep affinities between the theoretical and political dimensions of their works, so that this work lies at the crossroads of the history of economic thought and the history of American liberalism in the postwar period. |
| Keywords: | institutionalism - managerialism - liberalism - political economy. |
| JEL: | B25 B52 D23 M14 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2021-27&r= |
| By: | Dögüs, Ilhan |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that the case of product differentiation of concentrated markets (i.e., innovation competition) is one where production per unit of profit of non-financial corporations is lower than in competitive mass production and profit share is not an increasing function of capacity utilisation. Rather the desired excess capacity is higher compared since the break-even point where total costs and revenues equalize tends to be lower. The argument is supported with descriptive annual data for the period 1947-2019 in the USA. |
| Keywords: | product differentiation,market structure,capacity utilisation,profits |
| JEL: | D24 E12 L11 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cessdp:88&r= |
| By: | Bichler, Shimshon; Nitzan, Jonathan |
| Abstract: | In 2012, we published a paper in the Journal of Critical Globalization Studies titled 'Imperialism and Financialism: The Story of a Nexus'. Our topic was the chameleon-like Marxist notion of imperialism and how its different theories related to finance. Here is the article's summary: Over the past century, the nexus of imperialism and financialism has become a major axis of Marxist theory and praxis. Many Marxists consider this nexus to be a prime cause of our worldly ills, but the historical role they ascribe to it has changed dramatically over time. The key change concerns the nature and direction of surplus and liquidity flows. The first incarnation of the nexus, articulated at the turn of the twentieth century, explained the imperialist scramble for colonies to which finance capital could export its excessive surplus. The next version posited a neo-imperial world of monopoly capitalism where the core's surplus is absorbed domestically, sucked into a black hole of military spending and financial intermediation. The third script postulated a World System where surplus is imported from the dependent periphery into the financial core. And the most recent edition explains the hollowing out of the U.S. core, a red giant that has already burned much of its own productive fuel and is now trying to financialize the rest of the world in order to use the system's external liquidity. The paper outlines this chameleon-like transformation, assesses what is left of the nexus and asks whether it is worth keeping. (p. 42) In the second part of the paper, we looked a little closer at the red-giant argument. Specifically, we wanted to gauge the degree to which U.S. capital had declined and examine whether this decline indeed forced the rest of the world to financialize. And what we found surprised us: the 'financial sector' did seem to become more important everywhere, but its rise was led not by the United States, but by the rest of the world! Our article was published almost a decade ago, so we though it would be interesting to update our figures and see what has changed, if anything. |
| Keywords: | globalization,imperialism,financialization,United States |
| JEL: | P16 P26 P48 G3 F5 G1 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:243122&r= |
| By: | Henrekson, Magnus (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Lakomaa, Erik (Institute for Economic and Business History Research (EHFF)); Sanandaji, Tino (Institute for Economic and Business History Research (EHFF)) |
| Abstract: | Innovation often takes place in entrepreneurial ecosystems. We use the history of the Silicon Valley venture capital model and the Hollywood motion picture industry to illustrate how specialized institutions that regulate these entrepreneurial ecosystems emerged through actions by business entrepreneurs, rather than being designed by policymakers. Schumpeterian entrepreneurs not only create new companies; they also create new institutions as an integral part of the restructuring process. At times, efforts of identifiable entrepreneurs are crucial, while in other instances institutional change results from a Hayekian process of emergence fueled by business entrepreneurs’ efforts. Some institutions remain informal, whereas others become formalized. The greater room to forge institutions through business practices may in part account for the higher rates of entrepreneurship observed in common law countries. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship policy; High-impact entrepreneurship; Innovation; Institutional entrepreneurship; Schumpeterian entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | L26 M13 O31 P14 |
| Date: | 2021–10–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1409&r= |
| By: | Dögüs, Ilhan |
| Abstract: | This paper explains the emergence of financialisation of nonfinancial corporations (NFCs) in the USA by way of the increased pension fund savings of white-collar workers which can be considered by Monetary Circuit Theory (MCT) as 'leakages' causing equity issuances to be replenished. The indirect causal nexus can briefly be explained that pension fund savings of white-collar workers have been facilitated by the increasing wage differential between white-collar and blue-collar workers which is driven by the increased market concentration. Since pension funds savings are channelled to financial markets instead of being spent for consumption goods, liquidity deficits of firms being replenished throughout stock markets and because of excess inflows into financial markets, profit expectations of NFCs from liquid financial assets have come to exceed the quasi-rent expectations from illiquid capital assets due to depressed demand for consumption goods. This paper stands as a reconstructive summary of findings of three published articles on each arguments of causal nexus and a contribution to MCT which has not yet considered market concentration. |
| Keywords: | financialisation,market concentration,white-collar workers,wage differential,Monetary Circuit Theory |
| JEL: | E44 J31 L1 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cessdp:87&r= |
| By: | Aysan, Ahmet Faruk; Bergigui, Fouad |
| Abstract: | Since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015, it has been a 5-year journey of trial and error experimentations all over the world to come up with innovative solutions beyond business-as-usual and get the job done. In this paper, we assess blockchain-backed solutions beyond the hype. While the technology has a promising potential to trigger disruptive innovations to fulfill the SGDs, it is not mature yet with many gaps in terms of approaches and tools to develop blockchain use cases, monitor and evaluate blockchain experiments, mitigate associated risks and ethical considerations while managing changes within organizations leading blockchain-powered platforms. It is only by filing these gaps that blockchain can deliver its promises and may be effectively used as an SDG accelerator. Islamic finance can play a key role in shaping the transition towards a more circular economy. One promising way of doing so, is by scaling-up the use of blockchain-enabled solutions in the practices of circular economy and Islamic finance. As the technology is still getting mature, more innovative and applied research is needed to capitalize on the lessons learned within various geographies and across a wide range of economic, social, and environmental spectrums. |
| Keywords: | Blockchain, SDGs, innovation, Islamic finance, circular economy |
| JEL: | O3 O31 |
| Date: | 2021–05–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:110023&r= |
| By: | Serag, Eman; Ibrahim, Fatma; El Araby, Zainab; Abd El Latif, Mona; El Sarawy, Mahmoud; El Zaabalawy, Dalia; El Dib, Saad Allah; Salem, Kotb; Breisinger, Clemens; Raouf, Mariam |
| Abstract: | The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) is pleased to present an updated social accounting matrix (SAM) for Egypt. This SAM combines information from national datasets from many institutions, including the Central Bank, the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture, and various statistical bureaus. It also makes extensive use of data from the Economic Survey and Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIECS), which is produced by CAPMAS. With this data it becomes possible to provide a detailed update of the socioeconomic status of Egypt. The SAM also allows for more timely analysis of developmental issues and a better understanding the potential economic impacts of policy changes. The SAM is the main dataset used for economywide modelling of policy scenarios and simulations. Such modeling has proven to be a powerful evidence-based analytical tool for informing policy making and for assessing the impact of different policy interventions, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. |
| Keywords: | EGYPT, ARAB COUNTRIES, MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA, AFRICA, commodities, activities, models, policies, commodities, agricultural products, households, data, Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:menawp:35&r= |
| By: | Bojicic-Dzelilovic, Vesna; Hozić, Aida A |
| Abstract: | This article seeks to illuminate structural limits of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) by analysing the interplay between economic and fiscal reforms, promoted by International Financial Institutions (IFIs), and gender budgeting initiatives in the Western Balkans. GRB is the core concept bridging revenue mobilization and gender equality in the work of IFIs. However, as the Western Balkans experience demonstrates, GRB initiatives are best characterized as “empty gestures” towards gender equality as they cannot compensate for the continued adverse effects of IFIs overall policies. |
| Keywords: | gender responsive budgeting; VAT; Western Balkans; revenue mobilization; consumptions-led growth; financialization; households |
| JEL: | N0 E6 |
| Date: | 2020–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:103137&r= |
| By: | Gallien, Max; van den Boogaard, Vanessa |
| Abstract: | The concept of ‘formalisation’ has been ubiquitous in development discourse and policymaking in the early twenty-first century. It has underpinned policy interventions and proposals from tax registration to property titling, and a range of measures intended to connect informal entities with state institutions or formally structured markets. Despite the policy enthusiasm, however, the outcomes of formalisation policies have frequently been disappointing. We argue that this disconnect lies in the concept of formalisation itself and that common approaches to formalisation are often rooted in three conceptual fallacies: (a) there is a binary distinction between formal and informal economic actors; (b) all informal economic actors are alike; and (c) ‘becoming’ formal necessarily spurs a set of positive externalities. These conceptual confusions pay insufficient attention to contextual complexity and the political and social dynamics that shape informality in a given context, and are frequently rooted in the practicalities and power structures that shape knowledge creation in this area. Consequently, we argue for a new research agenda on formalisation that challenges both its conventional conceptual foundations and the practices of research that engage with it. |
| Keywords: | Finance, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idq:ictduk:16869&r= |
| By: | Ana Sofia Acosta Alvarado (CEPN - Centre d'Economie de l'Université Paris Nord - LABEX ICCA - UP13 - Université Paris 13 - Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UP - Université de Paris - Université Sorbonne Paris Nord - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Université Sorbonne Paris Nord); Laura Aufrère (CEPN - Centre d'Economie de l'Université Paris Nord - LABEX ICCA - UP13 - Université Paris 13 - Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UP - Université de Paris - Université Sorbonne Paris Nord - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Université Sorbonne Paris Nord); Cynthia Srnec |
| Abstract: | This research has benefited from the financial participation of the DARES (Ministry of Labor, Employment and Integration), as part of a research program on the collaborative economy, jointly organized by the DREES (Ministry of Solidarity and Health) and the DARES as part of the call on the topic "Forms of collaborative economy and social protection". The TAPAS program is led by Corinne Vercher-Chaptal, CEPN - Centre d'économie et de gestion (UMR CNRS 7234) of the University of Sorbonne Paris Nord. It gathered a multidisciplinary research team (management, economics, sociology and law), which includes field actors. The program benefits from a partnership with the Plateformes en Communs (PEC) group of the association La Coop des Communs. The TAPAS program aims to deepen the distinction between "platform companies" and so-called "collaborative" or "alternative" platforms. While the former are characterized by vertical governance and the appropriation of most of the value created by the platform manager, alternative platforms are organized in a more horizontal manner and distribute bundles of rights over the resources created, according to the sharing rational of the commons. They participate to a field do action that is likely to emancipate itself from purely commercial principles in order to better address the imperatives of social and environmental sustainability, by mobilizing a plurality of economic principles and by creating links with the initiatives of the digital commons and the social and solidarity economy. The empirical study is based on nine in-depth case studies: CoopCycle, France Barter, Framasoft, Mobicoop, Oiseaux de Passage, Open Food France, SoTicket, Tënk. The corresponding monographs are integrated in the TAPAS collection available on HAL. The analyses conducted by the team aim to provide information on the characteristics and conditions of development of these alternative platforms (in terms of economic models, governance and work) which, through the solutions and innovations they bring, can foreshadow the evolution of innovative practices and regulations. |
| Abstract: | Cette recherche a bénéficié de la participation financière de la DARES (Ministère du travail, de l'emploi et de l'insertion), dans le cadre d'un programme de recherche sur l'économie collaborative, organisé conjointement par la DREES (Ministère des Solidarités et de la Santé) et la DARES dans le cadre de l'APR Formes d'économie collaborative et protection sociale. Le programme TAPAS est piloté par Corinne Vercher-Chaptal, CEPN – Centre d'économie et de gestion (UMR CNRS 7234) de l'Université Sorbonne Paris Nord. Il a mobilisé une équipe de recherche pluridisciplinaire (gestion, économie, sociologie et droit), qui inclue des acteurs de terrain. Le programme bénéficie du partenariat avec le groupe Plateformes en Communs (PEC) de l'association La Coop des Communs. Le programme TAPAS vise à approfondir la distinction entre les « entreprises plateformes » et les plateformes dites « collaboratives » ou « alternatives ». Alors que les premières se caractérisent par une gouvernance verticale et l'appropriation de l'essentiel de la valeur créée par le gestionnaire de la plateforme, les plateformes alternatives s'organisent de manière plus horizontale et répartissent des faisceaux de droits sur les ressources créées, selon la logique de partage des communs. Elles dessinent un champ susceptible de s'émanciper des principes purement marchands afin de mieux répondre à des impératifs de soutenabilité sociale et environnementale, en mobilisant une pluralité de principes économiques et en créant des articulations avec les initiatives des communs numériques et de l'économie sociale et solidaire. L'étude empirique repose sur neuf études de cas en profondeur : CoopCycle, France Barter, Framasoft, Mobicoop, Oiseaux de Passage, Open Food France, SoTicket, Tënk. Les monographies correspondantes sont intégrées dans la collection TAPAS mise à disposition sur HAL. Les analyses menées par l'équipe vise à renseigner les caractéristiques et les conditions de développement de ces plateformes alternatives (en termes de modèles économiques, de gouvernance et de travail) qui peuvent, par les solutions et les innovations dont elles sont porteuses, préfigurer l'évolution des pratiques et des régulations novatrices. |
| Keywords: | Alternative platform,cooperative platform,cyclo-logitstics,European Federation,TAPAS,Plateforme alternative,plateforme coopérative,cyclo-logistique,Fédération européenne |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cepnwp:hal-03364001&r= |
| By: | Sierminska, Eva; Oaxaca, Ronald L. |
| Abstract: | We model the process of field specialization choice among beginning economists within a multivariate logit framework that accommodates single and dual primary field specializations and incorporates correlations among field specialization choices. Conditioning on personal, economic, and institutional variables reveals that women graduate students are less likely to specialize in Labor/Health, Macro/Finance, Industrial Organization, Public Economics, and Development/Growth/International and are more likely to specialize in Agricultural/Resource/Environmental Economics. Field-specific gender faculty ratios and expected relative salaries as well as economics department rankings are significant factors for gender doctoral specialization dissimilarity. Preferences and characteristics contribute about equally to field specialization dissimilarity. |
| Keywords: | gender,economics,specialization,salaries |
| JEL: | J01 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:953&r= |
| By: | Joep P. Cornelissen; Onajomo Akemu; Jeroen G. F. Jonkman; Mirjam D. Werner |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:asx:nugsbd:2021-02&r= |
| By: | Milena M. Grishutina (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Vasily Yu. Kostenko (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The development of possible self theory led to the introduction of new types of construct. However, the types are inconsistent with the original definition by Markus and Nurius (1986). Authors tend not to consider the phenomenon of agency, playing a crucial role in the motivational function of possible self. Thus, now in the literature, we have non-systemized concepts of various types of possible self. The article’s primary aim is to analyze existing types of possible selves through the lens of agentic energy, and to unify the construct’s understanding. We consider most frequent types of possible self, such as hoped-for possible self, feared possible self, best possible self, self-regulatory and self-enhancing possible self, lost possible self, shared possible self, and impossible self. Creating the systematic view is essential for the future of the theory as there are already some misconceptions that come from the liberal interpretation of the originally strong construct. We propose a solution in the form of traditional literature review with the result of definitions reconsidered depending on the role of agentic energy in the process of possible self producing. The expected outcome of the framework is to set a unified direction for further discoveries. |
| Keywords: | possible self, self-concept, agency, impossible self, personality, self-image, self-identity, self-schema, feared self, personality development |
| JEL: | Z00 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:126psy2021&r= |
| By: | Bojarra-Becker, Elke; Beckmann, Klaus J.; Danielzyk, Rainer; Dehne, Peter; Eltges, Markus; Köckler, Heike; Ritzinger, Anne; Schäde, Gerd; Stielike, Jan Matthias; Tautz, Alexandra |
| Abstract: | Given the fundamental change in the framework conditions and the public sector's limited resources for action it is appropriate to examine the issue of safeguarding equivalent living conditions and to take a position on this from the perspective of spatial science and spatial planning. The ARL - Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association sees itself as a forum in which to drive forward dialogue with all stakeholders from science, planning practice, policymakers and society. In this ARL position paper 'Rethinking the provision of public services and equivalent living conditions - perspectives and fields of action' the authors present starting points for discussion and call for a constructive and open review of new approaches to solutions and thinking without prior assumptions. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:arlpos:125&r= |
| By: | Jon D. Wisman |
| Abstract: | Much, if not most work has been debased since the rise of the state 5,500 years ago. Because most workers lack ownership, control, or readily access to productive wealth, they must locate owners willing to provide them with employment, those failing to do so suffer the material, social, and psychological costs of unemployment. Because owners possess control over the work process, workers can be bossed about, often to perform unpleasant and dangerous work. Yet for the first 97 percent of human history – that prior to state societies -- all had equal access to the means of production, providing them with control over their work. Anthropological research reveals that work for pre-state peoples was democratically performed and pleasurable. Biological evolution also predicts that work would have been naturally selected to be pleasurable to better motivate its performance and hence survival. Diligent work served as a source of status and self-respect, enhancing reproductive success by signaling to potential mates a capacity to provision offspring. This article claims that even had the debasement of work been necessary for eventually producing today’s abundance, it no longer is. Two reforms, both preserving capitalism’s two principal institutions of private property and markets, would transform work to provide greater human flourishing: guaranteed employment at living wages with reskilling where necessary, and measures to promote workplace democracy. These reforms would eliminate poverty, reduce inequality, prepare economies for future technological dynamism and globalization, and by better enabling social and self-respect through work and community, would reduce the pressure to do so through consumption, thereby lowering ecological devastation. |
| Keywords: | Debased work, ideology, human flourishing, guaranteed employment, workplace democracy. |
| JEL: | B15 I31 P13 Z1 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:amu:wpaper:2021-04&r= |
| By: | De Carvalho Reis Neves, Mateus; Freitas, Carlos Otavio; De Figueiredo Silva, Felipe |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Marketing, International Development |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea21:314006&r= |