Amartya Sen

Bio: Amartya Sen is an academic researcher from Harvard University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Poverty & Human rights. The author has an hindex of 149, co-authored 689 publications receiving 141907 citations. Previous affiliations of Amartya Sen include Trinity College, Dublin & University of Chicago.

Economics, Business Principles and Moral Sentiments

Abstract: A6stract: This essay discusses the place of business principles and of moral sentiments in economic success, and examines the role of culF tures in influencing norms of business behavior. Two presumptions held in standard economic analysis are disputed: the rudimentary nature of business pnnciples (essentially restncted, directly or indirectlyl to profit maximization), and the allegedly narrow reach of moral sentiments (often treated to be irrelevant to business and economics). In contrast, the author argues for the need to recognize the complex strucF ture of business pnnciples and the extensive reach of moral sentiments by using theoretical considerations, a thorough analysis of Adam Smith's work, and a careful interpretation of lapanls remarkable economic success. Referring to the economic corruption in Italy and the grabbing culture" in Russia, he further shows how deeply the presence or absence of particular features of business ethics can influence the operation of the economy, and even the nature of the society and its politics. Being an Indian himself, he warns against grand generalizations like the superionty of "Asian values" over traditional Westem morals. To conclude, it is diversiover space, over time, and between groups -that makes the study of business principles and moral sentiments a rich source of understanding and explanation.

Does Business Ethics Make Economic Sense

Abstract: I begin not with the need for business ethics, but at the other end—the idea many people have that there is no need for such ethics. That conviction is quite widespread among practitioners of economics, though it is more often taken for granted implicitly rather than asserted explicitly. We must understand better what the conviction rests on and why it may be mistaken.

Generalizing the generalized Chaplygin gas

Abstract: The generalized Chaplygin gas is characterized by the equation of state $p=\ensuremath{-}A/{\ensuremath{\rho}}^{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$, with $\ensuremath{\alpha}g\ensuremath{-}1$ and $wg\ensuremath{-}1$. We generalize this model to allow for the cases where $\ensuremath{\alpha}l\ensuremath{-}1$ or $wl\ensuremath{-}1$. This generalization leads to three new versions of the generalized Chaplygin gas: an early phantom model in which $w\ensuremath{\ll}\ensuremath{-}1$ at early times and asymptotically approaches $w=\ensuremath{-}1$ at late times, a late phantom model with $w\ensuremath{\approx}\ensuremath{-}1$ at early times and $w\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\infty}$ at late times, and a transient model with $w\ensuremath{\approx}\ensuremath{-}1$ at early times and $w\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ at late times. We consider these three cases as models for dark energy alone and examine constraints from type Ia supernovae and from the subhorizon growth of density perturbations. The transient Chaplygin gas model provides a possible mechanism to allow for a currently accelerating universe without a future horizon, while some of the early phantom models produce $wl\ensuremath{-}1$ without either past or future singularities.

On Happiness and Human Potentials: A Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being

Abstract: ▪ Abstract Well-being is a complex construct that concerns optimal experience and functioning. Current research on well-being has been derived from two general perspectives: the hedonic approach, which focuses on happiness and defines well-being in terms of pleasure attainment and pain avoidance; and the eudaimonic approach, which focuses on meaning and self-realization and defines well-being in terms of the degree to which a person is fully functioning. These two views have given rise to different research foci and a body of knowledge that is in some areas divergent and in others complementary. New methodological developments concerning multilevel modeling and construct comparisons are also allowing researchers to formulate new questions for the field. This review considers research from both perspectives concerning the nature of well-being, its antecedents, and its stability across time and culture.

Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices

Abstract: A doubling in global food demand projected for the next 50 years poses huge challenges for the sustainability both of food production and of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide to society. Agriculturalists are the principal managers of global useable lands and will shape, perhaps irreversibly, the surface of the Earth in the coming decades. New incentives and policies for ensuring the sustainability of agriculture and ecosystem services will be crucial if we are to meet the demands of improving yields without compromising environmental integrity or public health.

Dynamics of dark energy

Abstract: We review in detail a number of approaches that have been adopted to try and explain the remarkable observation of our accelerating universe. In particular we discuss the arguments for and recent progress made towards understanding the nature of dark energy. We review the observational evidence for the current accelerated expansion of the universe and present a number of dark energy models in addition to the conventional cosmological constant, paying particular attention to scalar field models such as quintessence, K-essence, tachyon, phantom and dilatonic models. The importance of cosmological scaling solutions is emphasized when studying the dynamical system of scalar fields including coupled dark energy. We study the evolution of cosmological perturbations allowing us to confront them with the observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background and Large Scale Structure and demonstrate how it is possible in principle to reconstruct the equation of state of dark energy by also using Supernovae Ia observational data. We also discuss in detail the nature of tracking solutions in cosmology, particle physics and braneworld models of dark energy, the nature of possible future singularities, the effect of higher order curvature terms to avoid a Big Rip singularity, and approaches to modifying gravity which leads to a late-time accelerated expansion without recourse to a new form of dark energy.