Showing papers in "International Journal of Social Economics in 1979"
TL;DR: This article argued that the Keynesian revolution was a revolution in the sense of Kuhn and that Kuhn's conceptual framework provides a better understanding of the convulsive changes that took place in macroeconomics in the twenties and thirties than alternative growth of knowledge theories that are being discussed in the economics literature at the present time.
Abstract: In this article we shall argue that the Keynesian revolution was a revolution in the sense of Kuhn and that Kuhn's conceptual framework provides a better understanding of the convulsive changes that took place in macro‐economics in the twenties and thirties than alternative growth of knowledge theories that are being discussed in the economics literature at the present time. In the last ten years or so economists have become increasingly interested in the various growth of knowledge theories that have been developed by philosophers of science such as Kuhn, Popper, Lakatos and others. This heightened interest on the part of economists is to be explained by the fact that these new theories are based on the actual behaviour of scientists. The new philosophers of science devote their attention not to “correct scientific method” but to the actual behaviour of scientists. It is because of this revolution in the historiography of science that economists have been able to relate these new theories to their own work and to the development of economic theories in the past.
94 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated whether selected features of the Canada Assistance Plan and various economic, demographic, and political factors have had any significant effect on the social assistance participation rates in Canadian provinces.
Abstract: This article investigates whether selected features of the Canada Assistance Plan and various economic, demographic, and political factors have had any significant effect on the social assistance participation rates in Canadian provinces. The first section reviews the background to the cuirent social assistance programme in Canada and draws attention to some questions of major interest. The second section describes a reduced form model that was used for ordinary least squares estimation with pooled cross‐section, time‐series data drawn from post‐Plan experience (i.e., 1968–75). The third section presents the results of that estimation while the fourth section presents an analysis of them. The fifth and final section tentatively concludes that “Plan variables” were of less importance than “Non‐Plan variables” in determining provincial social assistance participation rates.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a generalised money capital requirement function for profit rate maximisation, which is based on the concept of the money capital requirements function and the criteria of profit maximisation.
Abstract: I. Outline of the problem of capital and of the need to reconcile its treatment by Austrian and neo‐classical theorists, as also to establish a link between economics and accountancy practice. II. Introduction to the concept of the money capital requirement function and the criteria of profit rate maximisation. III. Synthesis of divergent theories by full development of a new generalised money capital requirement function. IV. Comparison of the results here obtained with those of neoclassical theory. V. Summary.
6 citations
TL;DR: Bunge as discussed by the authors pointed out that the very definition of a social indicator of some life quality contains a causal notion relating that indicator to well-being, which would be acceptable if there were a science of wellbeing or at least some reasonable model.
Abstract: In 1971 Land argued that a social indicator should be a component, that is a parameter or a variable, in a sociological model of a social system or some segment of a social system. This was the first strong suggestion that social indicators needed to be more than some sort of statistical series. Lineberry et al, writing on the use of indicators by municipalities, warned that the first conceptual limitation which should be identified when promoting social indicator use must be the poor record of indicators in detecting causal relationships among various factors contributing to a specific social problem. They attribute this inability to the general lack of social theory. Bunge points out that the very definition of a social indicator of some life quality contains a causal notion relating that indicator to well‐being. This would be acceptable if there were a science of well‐being or at least some reasonable model. He goes on “since no such thing has been constructed so far, we are forced to use our treacherous common‐sense to an extent that is uncommon in science. Which is a polite way of saying that, so far, the study of the quality of life has not been thoroughly scientific.”
6 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that business men do not use or even understand the jargon of marginalism, despite the fact that it would seem to be in their interests to operate their firms according to the rule "marginal costs equals marginal revenue determines optimum output".
Abstract: If the volume of current writing on the subject can be accepted as evidence, it is clear that economists are becoming increasingly concerned by the fact that business men do not use or even understand the jargon of marginalism, despite the fact that it would seem to be in their interests to operate their firms according to the rule “marginal costs equals marginal revenue determines optimum output”. Most attempts so far made to explain this phenomenon have followed one or the other of two lines. Either it is argued that the rules of thumb developed by the business man achieve at least approximately the same result as would the strict application of marginal theory, or that short‐period difficulties which are assumed away by the theorist render the operation of the rule impossible or undesirable.
5 citations
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TL;DR: The cardinalist belief that utility is intrinsically non-measurable is a belief rather than an established fact, and it is freely admitted even by the cardinalists themselves (Robertson, 1951) that differences between the satisfactions enjoyed by different persons cannot possibly be conceived as amenable to measurement as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: While it is true that in a considerable part of economic analysis the concept of cardinal utility can be dispensed with, the tenet that utility is intrinsically non‐measurable is a belief rather than an established fact. But we know intuitively, and it is freely admitted even by the cardinalists themselves (Robertson, 1951), that differences between the satisfactions enjoyed by different persons cannot possibly be conceived as amenable to measurement, and that hence a concept of community welfare which does not involve value judgments belongs to the realm of phantasy.
5 citations
TL;DR: The body of literature in the field now commonly known as the "quality of working life" (QWL) has grown steadily over a period in which the industrialised nations have increasingly come to question the role and status of human beings in the modern technological environment as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The body of literature in the field now commonly known as the “quality of working life” (QWL) has grown steadily over a period in which the industrialised nations have increasingly come to question the role and status of human beings in the modern technological environment. In recent years concern with the nature of work, its impact upon people, and their attitudes towards it, seem to have sharpened. Investigation of, and experimentation with, the qualitative aspects of working life—its ability to confer self‐fulfilment directly, for example, as opposed to being a means of acquiring goods—has gained momentum under the influence of a unique set of economic, social, political and technological factors. The outpouring of books, reports and articles from a wide variety of sources has, not surprisingly, grown apace.
5 citations
TL;DR: The concept of statistical freedom was introduced in this paper, which is defined as "that part of human behaviour which is not rigidly determined by external constraints can be considered as a sequence of more or less free choices".
Abstract: That part of human behaviour which is not rigidly determined by external constraints can be considered as a sequence of more or less free choices. One can talk of a choice only if it is one of several alternatives, and of a free choice only in so far as it is not determined by conditions over which the individuals have no control. Moreover, we recognise an alternative only if it is actually elected by at least a fraction of a population. This leads to the concept of statistical freedom. Postulates are formulated which must be satisfied by any numerical measures of statistical freedom, and certain mathematical expressions are proposed which are shown to conform to these postulates. Statistical freedom has two fundamental features, which appear as factors in its numerical measure: diversity and independence. The measures of diversity and independence are derived in the first place front a certain model of society, but once they are obtained, the model is discarded, and the statistical coefficients are justified by their mathematical properties. Safeguards against arbitrary manipulation of statistical material are discussed, and the potential use of the new measures is illustrated by application to the problem of choice of profession.
3 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors survey the evidence concerning the wage ratio 1W and the factor wage ratio fW for 17 OECD countries from 1948 to 1975, showing that both have increased rather strikingly, especially in some of the smaller countries.
Abstract: The functional distribution of incomes is one of the classical subjects in economics. Even though one might argue that it is one of the least interesting among income distributions it is no doubt the one which has received most attention. In the present article, in the second and third sections, we survey the evidence concerning the wage‐ratio 1W and the factor‐wage‐ratio fW for 17 OECD countries from 1948 to 1975. Both have increased rather strikingly, especially in some of the smaller countries, and this raises a number of fairly deep questions. A few of these are discussed in the last two sections.
3 citations
TL;DR: The present range and character of child-care services in Britain have evolved erratically over a long period of time as discussed by the authors and the current provision is both complex and comprehensive, structured by a succession of Acts of Parliament, shaped and re-shaped by the changing pattern of social values, needs and expectations.
Abstract: The present range and character of child‐care services in Britain have evolved erratically over a long period of time. Structured by a succession of Acts of Parliament, shaped and re‐shaped by the changing pattern of social values, needs and expectations, current provision is both complex and comprehensive. Statutory and voluntary bodies now provide preventive services, shelter and treatment for both the deprived and the delinquent, for the able‐bodied and the handicapped, for infants and for adolescents. Often this care will be provided in the child's own home or in a foster home, but at any one time roughly 40 per cent of the 120,000 children and young persons that are today the responsibility of local authorities will be resident in a children's home.
3 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the proposition that the benefits from environmental improvements accrue disproportionately to the rich and propose a taxonomy of the top 1% of the income distribution.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to examine the proposition that the benefits from environmental improvements accrue disproportionately to the rich.
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that the r/C ratio has no practical significance, because for well known reasons no reliable estimates of C can be formed, is not, as Mr Dobb suggests, the end of all economics.
Abstract: Mr Dobb is quite right: I think than an arithmetical example can prove something, namely, that a certain hypothesis is of no general validity and this is what I have demonstrated in my Note. (It might prove, in addition, that the compiler of the example is not very good at arithmetic.) As regards Mr Dobb's tenet of growth rates, I am not of course in disagreement with the principle, and the difference between us is merely that he regards it as a significant new Russian discovery, whereas I am under the impression that it has been known to Western economists for some considerable time under the name of the acceleration principle. And to say, as I did, that the r/C ratio has no practical significance, because for well known reasons no reliable estimates of C can be formed, is not, as Mr Dobb suggests, the end of all economics.
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of entropy is applied to the measurement of the extent of information in the communication theory of Wiener and Shannon, which is a convenient measure of the uncertainty or unpredictability of a system or of a process containing an element of contingency.
Abstract: This study was inspired by the concept of entropy as applied to the measurement of the extent of information in the communication theory of Wiener and Shannon. Like its precursor, entropy in statistical mechanics, it is a convenient measure of the uncertainty or unpredictability of a system or of a process containing an element of contingency. By keeping in mind the fact that in human circles unpredictability is often allowed to pass under the sacred name of liberty, it is possible to perceive an opening for mathematics into a domain which was until now inaccessible to the mathematician. It was four years ago that we made a first attempt to enter that field in our “Essay on the Mathematical Theory of Freedom”, presented to the Royal Statistical Society of London.
TL;DR: This article provided an institutionalist analysis and diagnosis of the current crisis of orthodox economics, and examined the anomalies which are currently vexing orthodox opinion and their power to provoke a period of crisis and extraordinary science.
Abstract: This article attempts to provide an institutionalist analysis and diagnosis of the current crisis of orthodox economics. We shall, first, characterise the predominant opinion in economics—the neoclassical synthesis. Next, we examine the anomalies which are currently vexing orthodox opinion and their power to provoke a period of crisis and extraordinary science. In the final section, we diagnose the source of the anomalies of the neoclassical synthesis.
TL;DR: The authors argued that the world has never had a good definition of the word liberty and that general agreement as to the correct meaning of the concept appears to be as far off as ever.
Abstract: Philosophers and political theorists have presented us with a dazzling variety of views on freedom but, after more than two thousand years of discussion, general agreement as to the correct meaning of the concept appears to be as far off as ever. What Abraham Lincoln said almost a century ago is still true: the world has never had a good definition of the word liberty.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that Pareto optimality requires the output price to be set equal to marginal social cost (MSC), defined as the sum or marginal private cost (MC) and marginal pollution cost.
Abstract: Environmental economics has typically adopted two approaches to the demonstration of the optimal level of pollution. The first superimposes a marginal pollution cost (MPC) function on the traditional model of the profit maximising firm and demonstrates that Pareto optimality requires the output price to be set equal to marginal social cost (MSC), defined as the sum or marginal private cost (MC) and marginal pollution cost. The second looks at the marginal pollution cost and compares it to the marginal cost of pollution control (MPCC). The optimum in this approach then exists when marginal pollution cost equals marginal cost of pollution control.
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TL;DR: The problem of freedom has been a favourite topic of philosophers of all ages, but there appears to be a definite limit beyond which their speculation cannot go as discussed by the authors. In fact, they have not even reached agreement in respect of a definition of freedom, and it would be impossible to single out any one of them whose views could be called representative.
Abstract: The problem of freedom has been a favourite topic of philosophers of all ages, but there appears to be a definite limit beyond which their speculation cannot go. In fact, they have not even reached agreement in respect of a definition of freedom, and it would be impossible to single out any one of them whose views could be called representative. Yet, in a way, Professor Ayer's lucid statement well typifies the scope of the philosopher's field of enquiry, and this is how he formulates his opinion:
TL;DR: In the early 1970s, a number of special work creation schemes for social groups experiencing particular difficulties in finding and sustaining employment were introduced in the UK, the US and Germany as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The growing awareness in the past few years of the increasingly acute nature of unemployment levels throughout industrial society has been reflected in the adoption by a variety of countries of a number of special work creation schemes for social groups experiencing particular difficulties in finding and sustaining employment. While cynical commentators in individual countries have dismissed in varying degrees such programmes as being essentially synonymous with the special employment measures of the Great Depression, there seems little obvious justification or merit in identifying, for example, Job Creation in Britain with the former Public Works Programme; the Neighbourhood Youth Corps, Emergency Employment Act and the more recent Comprehensive Employment and Training Act in the US with the New Deal Public Relief Acts or the “ArbeitsBeschaffungsMassnahmen” in Germany with the ReichsArbeitDienst. While the new schemes may at their weakest moments reflect a superficial similarity with aspects of such older programmes, there is little doubt that, in the main, job creation measures of whatever type, which have been introduced since the early 1970s, differ in scope, orientation and intention from their traditional public works predecessors. Such an interpretation seems not only to be supported by the fact that countries which introduced such schemes some years ago, are continually updating, revising and refining the structure and conditions of their programme and evaluating their performance in meeting the needs of the client groups but that such early experiences and their subsequent restructurings constitute examples of particular manpower policy initiatives which continue to be followed as operating models for countries newly embarking on programmes of a similar type.
TL;DR: The manpower policy revolution of the 1960s involved attempts to move the public employment services of most industrialised countries away from their traditional exchange or brokerage function of trying to match individual job applicants with available job openings registered by employers as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The manpower policy “revolution” of the 1960s involved attempts to move the public employment services of most industrialised countries away from their traditional exchange or brokerage function of trying to match individual job applicants with available job openings registered by employers. Conversely a great deal more attention was given to the provision of various manpower policy measures designed to alter the labour market characteristics of the “hard core” unemployed in order to increase their immediate and longer‐term employment prospects.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss a recent Russian publication which appears to be of interest both to students of Marxian theory and observers of economic development in the USSR, and discuss the importance of the authors' work.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to discuss a recent Russian publication which appears to be of interest both to students of Marxian theory and to observers of economic development in the USSR.
TL;DR: The assumption that public education expenditure in developing countries has been largely ineffective has been criticised by social scientists writing in the development field as mentioned in this paper, who argue that uncertain goals and unsystematic implementation of programmes, lack of training of administrators, poor quality teachers and facilities, educators bound by tradition, systems modelled upon those of industrialised nations, and in some cases even graft and corruption.
Abstract: Social scientists writing in the development field often simply assume that public education expenditure in developing countries has been largely ineffective. Reasons offered in support of this assumption include uncertain goals and unsystematic implementation of programmes, lack of training of administrators, poor quality teachers and facilities, educators bound by tradition, systems modelled upon those of industrialised nations, and in some cases even graft and corruption. Although the above may reflect reality in many nations, full acceptance of these conditions as universal may severely restrict both necessary and useful analysis of the delivery of educational services in the developing world.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors look at the more material side of what government publications describe as the Social Services, which are often referred to under the name of the Welfare State and whether this identification is correct or not is a question which I propose to discuss a little later.
Abstract: Britain provides an impressive array of completely or partly subsidised services, certain selections of which are often referred to under the name of the Welfare State. Whether this identification is correct or not is a question which I propose to discuss a little later; for a start let us look at the more material side of what government publications describe as the Social Services.