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on Heterodox Microeconomics |
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Issue of 2024‒01‒22
thirteen papers chosen by Carlo D’Ippoliti, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” |
| By: | Redigonda, Margherita |
| Abstract: | This paper has two aims: to explore the suitability of computational tools in order to get a description of long-term evolution of mainstream economics and to test the "mainstream pluralism" hypothesis. A topic model is developed using full-text from papers published in a sample of top economics journals and the hierarchical Stochastic Block Model algorithm. The model is able to replicate many qualitative facts about the history of mainstream economics. Finally, the reason of the failure to test for the "mainstream pluralism" hypothesis are discussed. |
| Date: | 2023–12–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:3rcdn&r=hme |
| By: | Redigonda, Margherita |
| Abstract: | The absence of a recognized definition of complexity makes very difficult to study it. This paper attempts to provide a definition of complexity following the insight expressed by Anderson in the 1972 article "More is Different" in an anti-reductionist perspective and recognizing the difference between the idea of complexity and the mathematical methods historically used for the study of complex systems. The definition provided allows for the recognition of complexity as a meta-theory rather than as a scientific theory, describing its characteristics. Next, the relationship between complexity and economics is explored from a historical and methodological perspective, recognizing three different archetypes of the relationship (neo-empirical, post-neoclassical, meta-theoretical). Finally, what social norms hinder or would facilitate the adoption of complexity meta-theory in scientific practice are described. |
| Date: | 2023–12–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:hnvzx&r=hme |
| By: | Aaron Wheeler; Jeffrey D. Varner |
| Abstract: | In this study, we developed a computational framework for simulating large-scale agent-based financial markets. Our platform supports trading multiple simultaneous assets and leverages distributed computing to scale the number and complexity of simulated agents. Heterogeneous agents make decisions in parallel, and their orders are processed through a realistic, continuous double auction matching engine. We present a baseline model implementation and show that it captures several known statistical properties of real financial markets (i.e., stylized facts). Further, we demonstrate these results without fitting models to historical financial data. Thus, this framework could be used for direct applications such as human-in-the-loop machine learning or to explore theoretically exciting questions about market microstructure's role in forming the statistical regularities of real markets. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to implement multiple assets, parallel agent decision-making, a continuous double auction mechanism, and intelligent agent types in a scalable real-time environment. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2312.14903&r=hme |
| By: | Jazon Szabo; Jose Such; Natalia Criado; Sanjay Modgil |
| Abstract: | While there is universal agreement that agents ought to act ethically, there is no agreement as to what constitutes ethical behaviour. To address this problem, recent philosophical approaches to `moral uncertainty' propose aggregation of multiple ethical theories to guide agent behaviour. However, one of the foundational proposals for aggregation - Maximising Expected Choiceworthiness (MEC) - has been criticised as being vulnerable to fanaticism; the problem of an ethical theory dominating agent behaviour despite low credence (confidence) in said theory. Fanaticism thus undermines the `democratic' motivation for accommodating multiple ethical perspectives. The problem of fanaticism has not yet been mathematically defined. Representing moral uncertainty as an instance of social welfare aggregation, this paper contributes to the field of moral uncertainty by 1) formalising the problem of fanaticism as a property of social welfare functionals and 2) providing non-fanatical alternatives to MEC, i.e. Highest k-trimmed Mean and Highest Median. |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2312.11589&r=hme |
| By: | Andrea Mennicken (LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science); Robert Salais (IDHES - Institutions et Dynamiques Historiques de l'Économie et de la Société - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP8 - Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - UEVE - Université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - ENS Paris Saclay - Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay) |
| Abstract: | This chapter sets out what is ``new'' in the politics of numbers and this volume's approach to their study. Rather than asking what quantification is, this volume is interested in describing and analysing what quantification does, tracking and unpacking various quantification practices and their manifold consequences in different domains. The book revisits the power of numbers, and examines changing relations between numbers and democracy. It engages, for the first time, Foucault inspired studies of quantification and the economics of convention in a critical dialogue. In so doing, the volume seeks to account more systematically for the plurality of the possible ways in which numbers can come to govern, highlighting not only disciplinary effects but also the collective mobilization capacities quantification can offer. |
| Keywords: | Democracy, Economics of convention, Foucault, Power, Quantification, sociologie, Utopia |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04115712&r=hme |
| By: | Dolata, Ulrich |
| Abstract: | This discussion paper is a plea for an urgently needed shift in perspective: from the concentration of social science research on the ubiquitous platforms of the consumption- and communication-based internet to the investigation of the platform-oriented reorganization of industrial distribution, production and innovation processes, which has so far received far less attention. The paper focuses on two questions. Firstly, what distinguishes industrial platforms from the platforms that characterize the consumption- and- communication-based internet? Can typical peculiarities and overarching characteristics of platform-based forms of work and organization in industry be identified? And secondly, do platforms represent an independent form of organization and coordination of industrial market, production and innovation processes that is substantially different from organized networks? The paper undertakes an empirical mapping and classification of the little explored field of industrial platforms and discusses from a theoretical-conceptual perspective why platforms should be conceived of as a sui generis form of organization whose dominant mode of coordination can be described as rule-based curation. |
| Abstract: | Dieses Discussion Paper ist ein Plädoyer für eine dringend notwendige Perspektivverschiebung: Von der Konzentration der sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschung auf die im Alltagsleben allgegenwärtigen Plattformen des konsum- und kommunikationsbasierten Internets hin zur Untersuchung der weit weniger im Fokus der Aufmerksamkeit stehenden plattformorientierten Reorganisation industrieller Distributions-, Produktions- und Innovationsprozesse. Im Zentrum dieses Textes stehen zwei Fragen. Erstens: Was unterscheidet Industrieplattformen von den Plattformen, die das konsum- und kommunikationsorientierte Internet prägen? Lassen sich typische Eigenheiten und übergreifende Charakteristika plattformbasierter Arbeits- und Organisationsformen in der Industrie herausarbeiten? Und zweitens: Schält sich mit Plattformen eine eigenständige Organisations- und Koordinationsform industrieller Markt-, Produktions- und Innovationsprozesse heraus, die sich insbesondere von organisierten Netzwerken substanziell absetzt? Der Text unternimmt eine empirische Kartierung und Einordnung des noch wenig erschlossenen Feldes und erörtert in theoretisch-konzeptioneller Perspektive, warum Plattformen als eine Organisationsform sui generis begriffen werden sollten, deren dominierender Koordinationsmodus als regelbasierte Kuratierung bezeichnet werden kann. |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:stusoi:280954&r=hme |
| By: | Kar, Sohini |
| Abstract: | While term life insurance has historically been sold to income-earning men to secure the financial futures of their families, in India there is a growing number of life insurance products targeting women, particularly unwaged housewives. In marketing these financial products to Indian women, I show how life insurance companies incorporate the feminist critique of devalued domestic labor. Drawing on analysis of insurance policies, marketing and promotional materials, as well as personal advice articles, it goes on to show how there is, something uncanny or unsettling about the way life insurance not only commodifies and financializes domestic labor, but also focuses on the reproductive bodies of women through health riders. The article situates contemporary discourses of life insurance for women within a longer history of women’s property and of mobilizing capital through rather than for women in India. |
| Keywords: | financialisation; insurance; gender; labour; capitalism; T&F deal |
| JEL: | J1 R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2023–12–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:120591&r=hme |
| By: | Nigussie, Likimyelesh; Minh, Thai Thi; Schmitter, Petra |
| Abstract: | Achieving gender equality in irrigation can result in greater production, income, and job opportunities for both men and women smallholder farmers from diverse social groups, while building climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa. In Ethiopia, national irrigation agencies, donors, and researchers have been assisting project implementers to mainstream gender issues into the planning and implementation of irrigation programs. However, although efforts to close gender gaps in irrigation have been increasing, little is known about how interactions among institutions at different scales may determine the success of gender-mainstreaming strategies. This study presents a qualitative analysis of how the interaction of institutions at multiple levels can shape the success of gender-mainstreaming strategies. Specifically, the study analyzed how institutions' rules, roles, and capacities at state, market, community, and household levels shaped strategies in Ethiopia's nine small-scale and micro irrigation development projects. The findings show that ‘rule-based’ strategies adopted by small, scheme-based irrigation projects emphasize policies and rules for equal rights and opportunities for equal participation in individuals' and institutions' decision-making and capacity development. ‘Role-based’ strategies adopted by projects promoting small-scale and micro irrigation technologies focus on challenging social norms to address the imbalance of power and workloads by developing the capacity of all stakeholders. Both strategies focus on women and use participatory approaches to ensure gender equality. Negative stereotypes about women from families, communities, and the private sector often make it difficult for gender mainstreaming to succeed. Furthermore, institutional biases and limited capacities reproduce gender inequality by reinforcing stereotypical gender norms. Transformative gender mainstreaming strategies are critical to holistic approaches that facilitate change at different scales through broad-based partnerships between actors. It calls for 1) enacting policy, creating an institutional environment, and developing governance mechanisms for mainstreaming gender; 2) enhancing the accountability system and adoption of gender-transformative approaches to involve more women farmers in designing, planning, and management; 3) creating a supportive institutional environment at market, community and household level that helps women farmers invest in irrigation; and 4) applying an intersectional lens in gender analysis and mainstreaming. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, International Development |
| Date: | 2023–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iwmirr:339146&r=hme |
| By: | Tribín, Ana María (PNUD); Guarín, Ángela (Universidad de los Andes) |
| Abstract: | Este número de Apuntes de Gestión y Políticas Públicas surge de una conversación entre Ana María Tribín y Ángela Guarín en el seminario de posgrados de la Escuela de Gobierno de la Universidad de los Andes. Ambas investigadoras tienen dentro de su agenda los temas de género. En esta entrevista se muestran los efectos de la pandemia de la COVID-19 sobre las mujeres en temas como el empelo, la informalidad laboral, la violencia intrafamiliar, entre otras. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19; violencia de género; trabajo no remunerado; Colombia |
| JEL: | A13 A14 B21 B54 B55 |
| Date: | 2023–12–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000547:020988&r=hme |
| By: | Gómez-Gaviria, Daniel (DNP); Sanabria-Publido, Pablo (Universidad de los Andes) |
| Abstract: | Este número de Apuntes de Gestión y Políticas Públicas surge de una conversación entre Daniel Gómez Gaviria y Pablo Sanabria Pulido en el Seminario de Asuntos Públicos de la Escuela de Gobierno de la Universidad de los Andes. Aquí hay un análisis de la gestión por parte del Gobierno nacional para enfrentar la crisis generada por la pandemia de la COVID-19. |
| Keywords: | Políticas públicas; gestión pública; COVID-19; transferencias monetarias; Colombia |
| JEL: | A10 A12 A14 B15 B21 B22 B52 |
| Date: | 2023–12–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000547:020992&r=hme |
| By: | S. Fremeaux (Audencia Business School); A. Grevin; R. Sferrazzo (Audencia Business School) |
| Abstract: | Solidarity is a principle oriented toward the common good that ensures that each person can have the necessary goods and services for a dignified life. As such, it is very often approached in a theoretical manner. In this empirical study, we explored the development of a culture of solidarity within an organizational context. In particular, we qualitatively investigated how a culture of solidarity can concretely spread within and beyond organizations by conducting 68 semi-structured interviews with members of three common good-oriented organizations located in the Philippines, Korea, and Paraguay. We found that a culture of solidarity develops through a three-step process that includes constructing the solidarity mission, sharing solidarity, and disseminating solidarity, which together form a virtuous circle. We further found that solidarity is not supported by constrained, instrumentalized, or sacrificial actions, but can instead be a free, authentic, and fulfilling way for members of an organization to flourish while serving the mission of their company. |
| Keywords: | Common good, Culture of solidarity, Economy of Communion (EoC), Logic of gift, Solidarity |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04346138&r=hme |
| By: | Alya Sakinah Zahirah (Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics & Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada); Muhammad Ryan Sanjaya (Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics & Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada) |
| Abstract: | The share of poor families with female heads of household is steadily increasing, from 14.41% in 2013 to 16.72% in 2019. This is in contrast to the declining poverty rate over the same period. We examine whether families with female heads of household tend to be less prosperous than those with male household heads using the wealth index constructed from the 2019 National Socioeconomic Survey data. In contrast to the hypothesized feminization of poverty theory, we find that households with female heads are more likely to be wealthier than those with male heads, even after controlling for sociodemographic factors of household heads as well as household characteristics. This finding sheds some light on the hypothesized feminization of poverty theory in the context of developing Asian countries. |
| Keywords: | gender, feminization of poverty theory, wealth index |
| JEL: | B54 I31 I32 J16 |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gme:wpaper:202312015&r=hme |
| By: | Fumitaka Nakamura |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effects of borrower-based macroprudential tools in Finland. To evaluate the efficiency of the tools, we construct a heterogeneous agent model in which households endogenously determine their housing size and liquid asset levels under two types of borrowing constraints: (i) a loan-to-value (LTV) limit and (ii) a debt-to-income (DTI) limit. When an unexpected negative income shock hits the economy, we find that a larger and more persistent drop in consumption is observed under the LTV limit compared to the DTI limit. Our results indicate that although DTI caps tend to be unpopular with lower income households because they limit the amount they can borrow, DTI caps are beneficial even on distributional grounds in stabilizing consumption. Specifically, DTI caps mitigate the consumption decline in recessions by restricting high leverage, and thus, they can usefully complement LTV caps. |
| Keywords: | Household indebtedness; loan-to-value ratio; debt-to-income ratio; macroprudential policy. |
| Date: | 2023–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2023/262&r=hme |