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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2021‒11‒15
eighteen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Tesfatsion, Leigh |
| Abstract: | Scientists seek to understand how real-world systems work. Models devised for scientific purposes must always simplify reality. However, ideally, a modeling approach should be flexible as well as logically rigorous; it should permit scientists to tailor model simplifications appropriately for specific purposes at hand. Modeling flexibility and logical rigor have been the two key goals motivating the development of Agent-based Computational Economics (ACE), a variant of agent-based modeling adhering to seven specific modeling principles. This perspective provides an overview of ACE and a brief history of its development. |
| Date: | 2021–11–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genstf:202111080800001125&r= |
| By: | Fix, Blair |
| Abstract: | Although the determinants of income are complex, the results are surprisingly uniform. To a first approximation, top incomes follow a power-law distribution, and the redistribution of income corresponds to a change in the power-law exponent. Given the messiness of the struggle for resources, why is the outcome so simple? This paper explores the idea that the (re)distribution of top incomes is uniform because it is shaped by a ubiquitous feature of social life, namely hierarchy. Using a model first developed by Herbert Simon and Harold Lydall, I show that hierarchy can explain the power-law distribution of top incomes, including how income gets redistributed as the rich get richer. |
| Keywords: | corporation,despotism,government,hierarchy,income,distribution,inequality,power |
| JEL: | E13 C01 O47 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:capwps:202104&r= |
| By: | Stephan Puehringer (Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria; Institute of Economics, Cusanus Hochschule, Bernkastel-Kues, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the question of pluralism in economic policy advise. Based on three empirical examples it is shown that economic policy advise in Germany was not very pluralistic in terms of gender ratio and political-ideological orientation of economists. Recent developments however, point to a slight trend of pluralization in this field. |
| Keywords: | pluralism; economic policy advise; ordoliberalism; performativity of economics; social studies of economics |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ico:wpaper:132&r= |
| By: | Ron Boschma; ; |
| Abstract: | The research agendas of Evolutionary Economic Geography (EEG) and Global Value Chains (GVC) have developed more or less independently from each other, with little interaction so far. This is unfortunate because both streams of literature have a lot to offer to each other. This paper explores how, looking at four strands in the GVC literature. Promising crossovers between EEG and the GVC literature are identified but also some missing links that need to be taken up in future research. These new research avenues, promoting the adoption of an evolutionary perspective on GVCs, are expected to enrich both literatures in mutual ways. |
| Keywords: | Evolutionary Economic Geography, Global Value Chains, Global Production Networks, Global Innovation Systems, regional diversification, relatedness |
| JEL: | B52 F23 O19 O33 R10 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2134&r= |
| By: | Sergio Monsalve |
| Abstract: | En este artículo, dirigido especialmente a los estudiantes avanzados del pregrado en economía, se plantean numerosas preocupaciones sobre la microeconomía que se aprende en los libros de texto básicos. Entre ellas, sobre la pertinencia y limitaciones de los modelos de equilibrio parcial, general y de la teoría de juegos clásica en el estudio profundo de los mercados y sus “fallas†; y también, sobre una importante ausencia, en esos textos, de trabajo microeconómico empírico (econometría, calibraciones, simulaciones por modelos basados en agentes, experimentos), que confronte la teoría. Adicionalmente se presentan algunas propuestas para hacer del estudio de la microeconomía del pregrado algo más pertinente, incluyendo la posible emergencia de la teoría de redes (sociales y económicas) y la mecánica estadística como herramientas adicionales. Esta discusión podría ayudar a explicar, en general, por qué la teoría de precios y mercados, a la manera que nos la enseñan los textos básicos de microeconomía, no es totalmente exitosa. *** This article, aimed especially at advanced undergraduate students in economics, raises numerous concerns about the microeconomics taught in basic textbooks. Among them, about the relevance and limitations of partial and general equilibrium models and classical game theory in the in-depth study of markets and their "failures"; and, about an important absence, in these texts, of empirical microeconomic work (econometrics, calibrations, simulations by agent-based models, experiments), which confronts the theory. Some proposals are presented to make the study of undergraduate microeconomics more relevant, including the possible emergence of network theory (social and economic) and statistical mechanics as additional tools. This discussion may help to explain, in general, why market and price theory, as taught in the basic microeconomics textbooks, is not entirely successful. |
| Keywords: | educación y enseñanza de la economía, microeconomía, teoría de juegos y negociación, diseño, precios y estructura de mercado, equilibrio general y desequilibrio |
| JEL: | A2 C7 D4 D5 |
| Date: | 2021–11–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000178:019718&r= |
| By: | Anand, Sudhir |
| Abstract: | This paper develops the idea of health justice as a plural conception. It draws on the literature on justice from philosophy and economics, and investigates its application and reach in the space of health. Several distinctions are invoked in identifying and contrasting different facets of health justice and injustice. These include active versus passive injustice; process fairness versus substantive justice; comparative versus noncomparative justice; compensatory and distributive justice. Within distributive justice, the health implications of alternate principles – viz. equality, priority, sufficiency, and efficiency – are examined and evaluated. Many faces of health justice are thus exposed which help to address the varieties of injustice observed in the health sphere. |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:112537&r= |
| By: | Nicolas Pinsard (CLERSÉ - Centre Lillois d’Études et de Recherches Sociologiques et Économiques - UMR 8019 - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Lille) |
| Abstract: | La Modern Monetary Theory (MMT ou Théorie monétaire moderne par la suite) (Mitchell et al., 2019; Wray, 2012) vient renouveler les analyses portant sur le rapport entre l'État et la monnaie. Selon cette approche, la monnaie est une créature de l'État. Ce dernier possède en effet la capacité de prélever l'impôt sur son territoire. Les agents s'y trouvant se voient ainsi dans l'obligation de se procurer les moyens de paiement nécessaires au règlement de l'impôt. La MMT fait écho à la théorie chartaliste qui considère que l'impôt est constitutif du développement de marchés et donc de toute économie monétaire (Knapp, 1924). Dans cette perspective, la limite à la création monétaire repose seulement sur les ressources réelles : technologie, ressources naturelles, et force de travail. En effet, les auteurs de la MMT considèrent que l'État ne fait pas face à une contrainte budgétaire similaire à celle des autres agents (ménages, entreprises…) : la contrainte de l'État est une contrainte en ressources réelles. L'engouement pour cette approche, débutant dans les années 1990, se matérialise aujourd'hui sur la scène politique états-unienne et internationale, à travers notamment le Green New Deal. Cet engouement invite ainsi à discuter de ses soubassements théoriques. Cette discussion représente à cet égard un enjeu politique et académique important. Le working paper vient en ce sens interroger ses fondements, d'une part, en mettant en perspective la MMT avec des concepts de la Théorie de la régulation ; et d'autre part, le papier apporte un éclairage historique sur les mécanismes de création monétaire dans la période de transition qui mène au capitalisme en France entre le XVIIe et le XVIIIe siècle. Faire dialoguer la Théorie de la régulation avec la Théorie monétaire moderne a pour avantage d'enrichir la compréhension de l'articulation entre l'État et le rapport monétaire. Alors que la MMT marginalise le conflit (Palley, 2020), la Théorie de la régulation souligne son importance dans le changement institutionnel et dans les régimes monétaires. En ce sens, le système fiscal et l'État, compris comme des rapports sociaux, font face à des contraintes situées socialement et historiquement en fonction des divers compromis institutionnalisés. Il en est ainsi de la période historique que le document de travail se propose d'étudier. Contrairement à l'Angleterre à la même période (Desmedt, 2007), le système de crédit français ne repose pas sur un système bancaire développé, mais sur des « financiers » qui se déclinent sous la forme d'agents royaux dont la fonction est de prélever les impôts directs (les officiers) et les impôts indirects (les fermiers) (Bonney, 1999; Dessert, 1984). La mise en place de ce système de crédit, reposant sur l'impôt, engendre l'apparition de titres de reconnaissance de dettes émis par le pouvoir royal qui sont ensuite utilisés comme instrument monétaire par les agents royaux entre eux et au-delà de leur cercle, par le biais des emprunts auprès du secteur « privé ». Enfin, le papier apportera des éclaircissements sur les mécanismes de création monétaire dans une acception de « monnaie endogène révolutionnaire » (Rochon and Rossi, 2013). |
| Date: | 2021–10–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03407882&r= |
| By: | Filippo Bontadini; Francesco Vona (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques - Sciences Po - Sciences Po) |
| Abstract: | We study green specialization across EU countries and detailed 4-digit industrial sectors over the period of 1995-2015 by harmonizing product-level data (PRODCOM). We propose a new list of green goods that refines lists proposed by international organizations by excluding goods with double usages. Our exploratory analysis reveals important structural properties of green specialization. First, green production is highly concentrated, with 13 out of 119 4-digit industries accounting for 95% of the total. Second, green and polluting productions do not occur in the same sectors, and countries tend to specialize in either green or brown sectors. This suggests that the distributional effect of European environmental policies can be large. Third, green specialization is highlypath dependent, but it is also reinforced by the presence of non-green capabilities within the same sector. This helps explain why economies with better engineering and technical capabilities have built a comparative advantage in green production. |
| Keywords: | Green goods,Green specialization,Revealed comparative advantage,Complementarity,Path dependency |
| Date: | 2020–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03403070&r= |
| By: | Adolfo Rodríguez Herrera (Universidad de Costa Rica) |
| Abstract: | In Marx´s texts we can recognize three positions on the concept of productive labor, arising from his critique of Smith. These positions are incompatible with each other when considering the labor that provides personal services, of growing importance in contemporary capitalism. A return to the foundations of Marx´s theory of value is necessary to understand the concept of productive labor and to decipher one of the main determinants of value transfers between sectors and regions and of the ever-increasing inequality |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fcr:wpaper:202103&r= |
| By: | Valentin Cojanu (Bucharest University of Economic Studies) |
| Abstract: | This is a conceptual paper, which contributes to the debate on the measure of intergenerational sacrifice and advances a post-growth theoretical framework that becomes intelligible within a wider space of deliberation, at once economic, social, and moral. We explore the three-pronged argument in two parts. First, we examine the implications of the socioeconomic mechanism of the transition of the production mode from extractive to generative, which is envisaged to replace the market automatic response by allocative efficiency. A second part tackles the moral reason underlying decision-making. Drawing on the lessons of the post-growth debate, we propose and defend a working definition of the moral reason of intergenerational justice that should also underpin our rationalizing about other issues of similar importance regarding the obligations we owe to future people, such as passing on languages or containing epidemics. |
| Keywords: | nature,ecology,morality,society,non-identity problem |
| Date: | 2021–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03384636&r= |
| By: | Van Basshuysen, Philippe |
| Abstract: | Against the orthodox view of the Nash equilibrium as “the embodiment of the idea that economic agents are rational” (Aumann, 1985, p 43), some theorists have proposed ‘non-classical’ concepts of rationality in games, arguing that rational agents should be capable of improving upon inefficient equilibrium outcomes. This paper considers some implications of these proposals for economic theory, by focusing on institutional design. I argue that revisionist concepts of rationality conflict with the constraint that institutions should be designed to be incentive-compatible, that is, that they should implement social goals in equilibrium. To resolve this conflict, proponents of revisionist concepts face a choice between three options: (1) reject incentive compatibility as a general constraint, (2) deny that individuals interacting through the designed institutions are rational, or (3) accept that their concepts do not cover institutional design. I critically discuss these options and I argue that a more inclusive concept of rationality, e.g. the one provided by Robert Sugden’s version of team reasoning, holds the most promise for the non-classical project, yielding a novel argument for incentive compatibility as a general constraint. |
| Keywords: | concept formation; game theory; institutional design; rationality; Robert Sugden; team reasoning |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:112463&r= |
| By: | Claudia Fontanari (Roma Tre University.); Antonella Palumbo (Roma Tre University.); Chiara Salvatori (Roma Tre University.) |
| Abstract: | This paper extends to different indicators of labor underutilization the Updated Okun Method (UOM) for estimation of potential output proposed in Fontanari et al (2020), which, from a demand-led growth perspective, regards potential output as an empirical approximation to full-employment output, as in A.M.Okun`s (1962) original method. Based on the apparent incapability of the official rate of unemployment to fully account for labor underutilization, in this paper we offer estimates of Okun`s law both with broad unemployment indicators and with an indicator of `standardized hours worked` which we propose as a novel measure of the labor input. The paper reflects on the possible different empirical measures of full employment. The various measures of potential output that we extract from our analysis show greater output gaps than those produced by standard methods, thus highlighting a systematic tendency of the latter to underestimate potential output. Output gaps that underestimate the size of the output loss or that tend to close too soon during recovery, may produce a bias towards untimely restriction. |
| Keywords: | potential output; alternative unemployment indicators; Okun`s law; demand-led growth |
| JEL: | E60 E24 O40 E12 C30 |
| Date: | 2021–05–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:thk:wpaper:inetwp158&r= |
| By: | Edgardo Brigatti; Estevan Augusto Amazonas Mendes |
| Abstract: | We develop an analysis of the cryptocurrency market borrowing methods and concepts from ecology. This approach makes it possible to identify specific diversity patterns and their variation, in close analogy with ecological systems, and to characterize the cryptocurrency market in an effective way. At the same time, it shows how non-biological systems can have an important role in contrasting different ecological theories and in testing the use of neutral models. The study of the cryptocurrencies abundance distribution and the evolution of the community structure strongly indicates that these statistical patterns are not consistent with neutrality. In particular, the necessity to increase the temporal change in community composition when the number of cryptocurrencies grows, suggests that their interactions are not necessarily weak. The analysis of the intraspecific and interspecific interdependency supports this fact and demonstrates the presence of a market sector influenced by mutualistic relations. These latest findings challenge the hypothesis of weakly interacting symmetric species, the postulate at the heart of neutral models. |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2111.02067&r= |
| By: | Drechsler, Martin; Grimm, Volker |
| Abstract: | Making conservation payment schemes permanent so that conservation efforts are retained even after the payment has been stopped, is a major challenge. Another challenge is to design conservation so that they counteract the ongoing spatial fragmentation of species habitat. The agglomeration bonus in which a bonus is added to a flat payment if the conservation activity is carried out in the neighbourhood of other conserved land, has been shown to induce the establishment of spatially contiguous habitat. I the present paper we show, with a generic spatially explicit agent-based simulation model, that the interactions between the landowners in an agglomeration bonus scheme can lead to hysteresis in the land-use dynamics, implying permanence of the scheme. It is shown that this permanence translates into efficiency gains, especially if discount rates are low and the spatial heterogeneity of conservation costs is high. |
| Keywords: | agent-based model, agglomeration bonus, conservation payment, land use, permanence |
| JEL: | C63 Q24 Q57 Q58 |
| Date: | 2022–10–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:110361&r= |
| By: | Cyprien Batut (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, DGTPE - Direction Générale du Trésor et de la Politique Economique - Ministère de l'Economie, des Finances et de l'Industrie); Caroline Coly (Bocconi University - Bocconi University [Milan, Italy], PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, AXA - Groupe AXA, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Sarah Schneider-Strawczynski (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Sexual harassment and sexists behaviors are pervasive issues in the workplace. Around 12% of women in France have been subjected to toxic behaviors at work in the last year, including sexist comments, moral, sexual or physical harassment, or violence. Such toxic behaviors can not only deter women from entering the labor market, but can also lead them to leave toxic workplaces at their own expense. This article is one of the first to examine the relationship between toxic behaviors and worker flows. We use the #MeToo movement as an exogenous shock to France's workplace norms regarding toxic behaviors. We combine survey data on reported toxic behaviors in firms with exhaustive administrative data to create a measure of toxic behaviors risk for all French establishments. We use a tripledifference strategy comparing female and male worker flows in high-risk versus low-risk firms before and after #MeToo. We find that #MeToo increased women's relative quit rates in higher-risk workplaces, while men's worker flows remained unaffected. This demonstrates the existence of a double penalty for women working in high-risk environments, as they are not only more frequently the victims of toxic behaviors, but are also forced to quit their jobs in order to avoid them. |
| Keywords: | Occupational Gender Inequality,Workflows,Sexual harassment,Social Movement |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03403513&r= |
| By: | Edith Archambault (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Cristina Ana |
| Abstract: | Après avoir rappelé l'intérêt d'un compte-satellite ancré dans la comptabilité nationale pour comparer dans le temps et l'espace les organisations de l'économie sociale, cet article retrace l'historique du handbook 2018 de l'ONU qui propose une méthodologie d'élaboration d'un tel outil, tout en répondant aux critiques adressées au manuel de 2003 (qui ne concernait que les institutions sans but lucratif). Les auteures analysent les principaux concepts de ce handbook « tiers-secteur et économie sociale » du point de vue de la France où un compte-satellite de l'ESS est en cours de construction à l'Insee, en soulignant la proximité entre le périmètre de l'ESS selon la loi de 2014 et selon le handbook 2018. Enfin, elles présentent le compte-satellite modulaire du Portugal comme un exemple de bonne pratique, avant d'esquisser en conclusion les usages qui pourront être faits à l'avenir de la mise en place généralisée d'un tel outil. |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-03380677&r= |
| By: | Alexandra-Anca Purcel (CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of output, urbanization, energy intensity, and renewable energy on aggregated and sector-specific CO2 emissions for a rich sample of developing states. We employ the recently developed GMM panel VAR technique, which allows us to tackle the potential endogeneity issue and capture both the current and future impact of indicators on CO2 via the impulse-response analysis. On the one hand, robust to several alternative specifications, the findings indicate that output, urbanization, and energy intensity increase the aggregated CO2 emissions, while renewable energy exhibits an opposite effect. Moreover, regarding the CO2 responsiveness to output and urbanization shocks, the pattern may suggest that these countries are likely to attain the threshold that would trigger a decline in CO2 emissions. We also reveal heterogeneities related to both countries' economic development and Kyoto Protocol ratification/ascension status. On the other hand, the sectoral analysis unveils that the transportation, buildings, and non-combustion sector tend to contribute more to increasing the future CO2 levels. Overall, our study may provide useful insights concerning environmental sustainability prospects in developing states. |
| Keywords: | CO2 emissions,urbanization,energy efficiency,renewable energy,developing countries,environmental Kuzents curve,GMM panel VAR |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03182341&r= |
| By: | Hendrik Hansmeier (Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Karlsruhe, Germany) |
| Abstract: | The need to develop and disseminate solutions to address environmental challenges such as climate change or resource depletion is more urgent than ever. However, the spatial dimension of pathways towards sustainability has only attracted scholarly interest in recent years, particularly through largely parallel research on the geography of eco-innovations and the geography of sustainability transitions. By systematically reviewing the literature, this article aims to compare both lines of research, devoting special attention to the role of regions and actors. While the geography of eco-innovations field focuses on local and regional conditions that enable the emergence of environmentally friendly technologies and industries, research on the geography of sustainability transitions highlights the place-specific but multiscalar nature of socio-technical change, taking into account the role of different actor groups. The review identifies numerous complementarities between both fields that may serve as starting points to further integrate geographical work on eco-innovations and transformative change. |
| Keywords: | geography, eco-innovations, sustainability transitions, green technologies, socio-technical systems, systematic literature review |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoe:wpaper:2107&r= |