Showing papers in "International Journal of Social Economics in 1984"
TL;DR: The most frequently heard objection has centred on the observation that acts of altruism are all around us as discussed by the authors, and this incontestable fact has not led to a rejection of the self-interest assumption but has instead resulted in the incorporation of altruistic actions into the standard utility function.
Abstract: There has been no shortage of challenges to that most fundamental of all neo‐classical assumptions according to which people always act so as to maximise their utility. The most frequently heard objection has centred on the observation that acts of altruism are all around us. This incontestable fact has not led to a rejection of the self‐interest assumption but has instead resulted in the incorporation of altruistic actions into the standard utility function. While there may be legitimate doubts about the process of converting a positive statement into a tautology, this tautological sense of utility maximisation will be retained throughout this essay. Following Houthakker, in all that ensues it will be assumed that “preference is related to choice as the possible to the actual. A person prefers a to b if, when confronted with a choice between a and b, he chooses a”(l).
27 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the meaning of recruitment for managers in the manufacturing, retailing and public service employment sectors in the West Midlands is investigated, and the consequences of the answers to these questions have for particular groups of job seekers.
Abstract: In this article I intend to investigate the meaning of recruitment for managers in the manufacturing, retailing and public service employment sectors in the West Midlands. In particular I shall examine two specific problems. First, what are recruiters looking for in selecting candidates for manual and routine clerical jobs? Secondly, why do organisations persist in the use of informal, word‐of‐mouth recruitment strategies? In closing I shall discuss the consequences which the answers to these questions have for particular groups of job‐seekers.
26 citations
TL;DR: In recent years, a considerable amount of work has been done in Britain and America utilising dual labour market theory as mentioned in this paper, which has been taken up by radical economists such as Edwards and Bluestone, while a group of Cambridge economists have also been seeking to develop the theory.
Abstract: In recent years a considerable amount of work has been done in Britain and America utilising dual labour market theory. In America, the ideas of Doeringer and Piore have been taken up by radical economists such as Edwards and Bluestone, while in Britain a group of Cambridge economists have also been seeking to develop the theory. These studies have all retained the basic duality incorporated in the theory by Doeringer and Piore. Moreover, the work of Barron and Norris, Bosanquet and Doeringer and Blackburn and Mann has provided some qualified empirical support to the notion of two separate labour markets.
20 citations
TL;DR: Has the recession been a significant factor in bringing about changes in the recruitment process? Have personnel managers taken advantage of it to alter their practices, make their procedures more rigorous, sharpen up or introduce tougher criteria? Alternatively has the recession taken the pressure off managers so that they no longer need to seek new and more effective ways of recruiting?
Abstract: Has the recession been a significant factor in bringing about changes in the recruitment process? Have personnel managers taken advantage of it to alter their practices, make their procedures more rigorous, sharpen up or introduce tougher criteria? Alternatively has the recession taken the pressure off managers so that they no longer need to seek new and more effective ways of recruiting?
19 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the large shifts (often 5 − 10 times) in the conflict levels over time and the remarkable differences in conflict levels between countries, even when they look only at developed Western economies.
Abstract: Only around 0.01 per cent of all working‐days are lost due to industrial conflict in the average western economy. Nevertheless, conflicts are highly visible phenomena and it was one of the first areas most statistical agencies started covering. Therefore, long conflict series exist for most developed Western economies. These series are of a poor quality compared to most series analysed by economists, but they have, nevertheless, a lot to tell. In a number of papers we have tried to cover different parts of the story — in the present article we shall concentrate on the large shifts (often 5–10 times) in the conflict levels over time and the remarkable differences (often 10–20 times) in conflict levels between countries, even when we look only at developed Western economies.
17 citations
TL;DR: Cochran has claimed that John Maynard Keynes developed a theory that would try "to account for things as they are" as discussed by the authors, and in so doing he became another important social economist.
Abstract: Kendall P. Cochran has claimed that John Maynard Keynes “developed a theory that would try ‘to account for things as they are’. In so doing he became another important social economist.
14 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated the ways in which a sample of firms in the private sector (both service and manufacturing) in the East Midlands established their demand for new and replacement labour, formulated and publicised that demand and then recruited.
Abstract: The research data reported in this article were collected as part of a programme of research into management strategies in relation to the demand for labour. The research project, funded by the Employment Services Division of the Manpower Services Commission, was designed to investigate the ways in which a sample of firms in the private sector (both service and manufacturing) in the East Midlands established their demand for new and replacement labour, formulated and publicised that demand and then recruited. The research design included a detailed consideration of firms' established procedures for recruitment to four occupational categories as well as accounts of recruitment to their two most recent vacancies. It is the material relating to the ways in which firms handled recruitment to these different occupational groups and explanations of the patterns found which form the focus of discussion.
9 citations
TL;DR: For researchers concerned with the field of youth labour markets, the experience in recent years has been one of working on shifting sands as discussed by the authors, where there has been a considerable decline in demand for labour generally, in the case of young people seeking work, the fall off is even more marked.
Abstract: For researchers concerned with the field of youth labour markets the experience in recent years has been one of working on shifting sands. Whilst there has been in the last few years a considerable decline in demand for labour generally, in the case of young people seeking work, the fall off is even more marked, as illustrated in Table I.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a micro-level study was performed in a local labour market (LLM) comprising one small town and two industrial villages, each within commuting distance of the town.
Abstract: A micro level study was undertaken in a local labour market (LLM) comprising one small town and two industrial villages, each within commuting distance of the town. The boundary of the LLM was clearly defined in that it was surrounded by open countryside free of industry. Analysis of collected data shows that commuting to any other neighbouring industrial settlement was rare, and that the LLM was characterised by relatively high female participation. The aim of the research was to identify the relationships of demand for female in‐factory manual workers and to compare these with those of twilight workers and homeworkers who performed identical work for the same employers. The major industry, that of hosiery and knitwear manufacture, was surveyed to provide a large body of information, but this article extracts only those data relevant to recruitment practices. A pre‐pilot study of a hosiery and knitwear manufacturing company in a different LLM, and a pilot study of footwear manufacturing establishments in the same LLM, revealed that the industry was likely to generate sexually segregated labour forces. Consequently, it was necessary to collect some data for men in order to put into perspective the demands for women.
5 citations
TL;DR: The economic and financial picture of the whole world in the early 1980s does not look at all good despite the optimistic rhetoric used by the leaders of the seven major industrial democracies during the May 1983 Summit Conference held in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA.
Abstract: The economic and financial picture of the whole world in the early 1980s does not look at all good despite the optimistic rhetoric used by the leaders of the seven major industrial democracies during the May 1983 Summit Conference held in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. Almost everywhere there are artificial monetary injections to produce another problematic boom with the well‐known residual effects, negative social and financial consequences. But beyond there are no visible signs that on this road the prevailing conditions of disequilibrium embedded in contemporary economies will vanish and a new, better international economic and financial order will emerge.
5 citations
TL;DR: The origins of the Chinese Cultural Revolution are to be found in the means used to restore growth in the Chinese economy in the aftermath of the Great Leap Forward, according to Meisner as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The origins of the Chinese Cultural Revolution are to be found in the means used to restore growth in the Chinese economy in the aftermath of the Great Leap Forward. Between 1962 and 1965, according to Maurice Meisner, “while the policies of Liu Shao‐ch'i brought economic recovery and renewed growth, the social and ideological results were less salutary. There was a social price to be paid for economic progress and the price was the emergence of new forms of inequality.” For Mao Tse‐tung and his followers this was “the road back to capitalism”(l). It was the desire to reverse this tendency which gave rise to the upheavals of the late 1960s.
TL;DR: According to the traditional Soviet view, the Soviet economic society, based essentially on governmental and collective farm property and overall national planning, is "socialist" and has been so since Stalin's proclamation to that effect in the 1930s as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: According to the traditional Soviet view, the Soviet economic society, based essentially on governmental and collective farm property and overall national planning, is “socialist”, and has been so since Stalin's proclamation to that effect in the 1930s. Most Western observers, Marxist and non‐Marxist, recognise these two socio‐institutional features of the Soviet politico‐economic system and ascribe substantial importance to them. Beyond this point, interpretations differ considerably. Five alternative views may be distinguished. These contending perspectives argue that Soviet economic society is:
TL;DR: The limits of social economics are yet to be discovered as discussed by the authors, and any living science or humane study is sure to have somewhat indefinite boundaries, and to define is to delimit, and whatever may be defined without the least ambiguity or vagueness must surely be dead.
Abstract: My interest in social economics was very much stimulated by Dr. George F. Rohrlich, in our years as colleagues at Temple University. More than once, our conversations on this and related topics have been interrupted by my comment (not, I must confess, without mischievious intent) that I really had no clear idea what social economics was. Not to be diverted by my grouchiness, George responded that, after all, the limits of social economics are yet to be discovered. Indeed they are, of course, and any living science or humane study is sure to have somewhat indefinite boundaries. To define is to delimit, and whatever may be defined without the least ambiguity or vagueness must surely be dead.
TL;DR: In the Southern Cone countries of Latin America (Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay) as mentioned in this paper, there has been a return to a more "classical" set of economic postulates and policy prescriptions.
Abstract: The several decades following the conclusion of World War II evidenced the generalised application of activist economic policies oriented toward the stimulation and manipulation of aggregate demand. In Western Europe and in much of the Western hemisphere these policies proved quite successful in raising living standards and generating economic growth. Nevertheless, for the past decade or so these long‐tried policy prescriptions have not appeared to work very well, and “stagflation” accompanied by low productivity growth has set in. As a consequence, there has occurred a return to a more “classical” set of economic postulates and policy prescriptions. Such policies have been adopted not only in the more developed parts of the western world (e.g., United States, Great Britain) but also in its lesser developed areas. Nowhere has this application been more in evidence than in the Southern Cone countries of Latin America — Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between real and money wages and the labour supply function in the framework of the concept of involuntary unemployment, and presented several problems which come into focus when the analysis is examined within the framework.
Abstract: Little notice has been taken in recent years of the phenomenon of involuntary unemployment. Neglect of Keynes' concept was understandable during the prosperous 1950s and early 1960s but its neglect since that time reflects the persuasiveness of the marriage which has been effected between the job search models of household behaviour and models of rational expectations responses to inflation. The joining of these models has provided a rationale for the notion that there is an equilibrium level of unemployment toward which the economy tends. This perspective presents several problems which come into focus when the analysis is examined within the framework of Keynes' concept of involuntary unemployment, his perception of the relationship between real and money wages and his labour supply function.
TL;DR: A revised approach to economic science which underpins its work by incorporating values from social philosophy to reinterpret and re-direct an important part of its positive enquiries is discussed in this paper.
Abstract: By “social economy” I understand a revised approach to economic science which underpins its work by incorporating values from social philosophy to re‐interpret and re‐direct an important part of its positive enquiries. It is, if you prefer, an extended version of what some call “political economy”; but I do have in mind a re‐fashioning of economic science and not merely a meeting ground with political and social values. The foundations of economics need to be revised, if political and social economy are to consist of something other than informal encounters with values. Of course, many prefer to speak instead of “social economics” as an extension of economic science to deal with the more obviously social areas of economic enquiry while incorporating humanistic values. I respect this approach and accept entirely the importance of these enquiries, but have always felt that a more radical correction of the weak posture of economic science before our present social problems is essential to tackle them properly.
TL;DR: The basis for increasing both internal and international tourist flows is primarily New Zealand's natural attractions of land forms, flora and fauna as discussed by the authors, and tourist patterns reflect this, with a heavy concentration of visitors to National Parks and other areas noted as scenic attractions.
Abstract: Tourism is a growth industry, and is being fostered as a means of providing regional economic development, new employment opportunities, a more diversified economy, and of increasing foreign exchange earnings. The basis for increasing both internal and international tourist flows is primarily New Zealand's natural attractions of land forms, flora and fauna. Tourist patterns reflect this, with a heavy concentration of visitors to National Parks and other areas noted as scenic attractions.
TL;DR: In all probability, there are today only four persons who have personally known Father Heinrich Pesch, the eminent German economist of the Jesuit Order, viz., Oswald von Nell‐Breuning, SJ, who, 93 years old, still is amazingly active as lecturer and writer, the Rev. H. L. Möller (1898), retired, yet still engaged in social research, Rev. Joh. M. Messner (1891), Professor Emeritus of the University of Vienna, whom illness has recently incapacitated, and the author of this article (1900).
Abstract: In all probability, there are today only four persons — all social scientists — who have personally known Father Heinrich Pesch, the eminent German economist of the Jesuit Order, viz., Oswald von Nell‐Breuning, SJ, who, 93 years old, still is amazingly active as lecturer and writer, the Rev. Dr. mult. L. H. Adolf Geck (1898), retired, yet still engaged in social research, Rev. Joh. Messner (1891), Professor Emeritus of the University of Vienna, whom illness has recently incapacitated, and the author of this article (1900), who thinks himself fortunate to have gained — during his years of study at the University of Berlin — Pesch's paternal friendship.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the sozialen und wirtschaftspolitischen Steuerungsmasnahmen des XX.Jahrhunderts, in which sie entweder unfahig wurden, ihre Arbeit zu tun, oder in einer unheilvollen Verquickung mit den Lenkungs masnahmen die Nachteile beider Systeme kombinierten.
Abstract: Im XIX.Jahrhundert sah man im Markt nicht nur den besten Motor des Wirtschaftens, sondern uberforderte den Markt zugleich, indem man ihm die Kompas‐Funktion anvertraute, sozusagen ein alleinseligmachendes kybernetisches Steuerungsgerat in ihm sah. Die sozialen und wirtschaftspolitischen Steuerungsmasnahmen des XX. Jahrhunderts schrankten allzuoft die Antriebskrafte des Marktes soweit ein, das sie entweder unfahig wurden, ihre Arbeit zu tun, oder in einer unheilvollen Verquickung mit den Lenkungsmasnahmen die Nachteile beider Systeme kombinierten.
TL;DR: Rohrlich as mentioned in this paper put together a few observation on the nature of social economics as revealed in his writings and presented them in a special session to honour George F. Rohrlich, social economist.
Abstract: It is a pleasure and a privilege to participate in this special session to honour George F. Rohrlich, social economist. It is with a sense of humility that I accept this pleasant undertaking. George Rohrlich has taught, written, helped others to write, published, helped others to publish and edited works on different aspects of social economics. I attempt here to put together a few observation on the nature of social economics as revealed in his writings. This attempt is by its very nature a modest one. For, how can one do justice to the work of a man who has to his credit a dozen major works (books or monographs) and almost five dozen other writings (articles, papers, notes) not all of them in English? I do not, therefore, even pretend to take a comprehensive view of Rohrlich, the social economist.
TL;DR: Schumpeter explained how capitalism has changed in such essential ways that it is evolving into a new kind of economic system as mentioned in this paper. But it is not entirely clear, however, what the nature of this new system will be.
Abstract: Schumpeter explained how capitalism has changed in such essential ways that it is evolving into a new kind of economic system. It is not entirely clear, however, what the nature of this new system will be. It will probably be centralist socialism, says Schumpeter, because the observable tendencies point in that direction, as does the logic of the historical situation. Yet, it could be guild socialism dominated by unions. He did not know and we do not know. It is even possible that the new social reorganisation could be one that is not socialist at all.
TL;DR: The leading factor that led to the development of public pension systems is the failure of private intergenerational and inter-temporal transfers to make adequate provision for old age as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Since the Second World War, public pension plans have played an increasingly important role in providing retirement income for older people in most industrial societies. The leading factor that led to the development of public pension systems is the failure of private inter‐generational and inter‐temporal transfers to make adequate provision for old age.
TL;DR: The authors provide some insights into the role of economics in modelling labour demands, and provide an overview of the existing economic theories in understanding the demand for labour, but these theories are still in their infancy and are generated from within the subject rather than in co-operation with other disciplines.
Abstract: The principal aim of this article is to provide some insights into the role of economics in modelling labour demands. The impression that we have built up over time is that, while many of the existing economic theories have a considerable amount to offer in understanding the demand for labour, these theories are still in their infancy. They are generated almost entirely from within the subject rather than in co‐operation with other disciplines, and they are often tested at a macro level using econometric techniques rather than at the micro level using case study material. While much of the statistical testing at an aggregate level has been useful in confirming (and even on occasion refuting) the existing body of theory, many of the more interesting theoretical break‐throughs in economics generally have resulted from detailed knowledge of the researcher about the operation of particular firms.
TL;DR: In this paper, the price of land is most significantly associated with the distance to the Central Business District (hereafter called CBD) in cities in the United States, and other influencing factors are the distances to urban amenities, public facilities, and to recreational and commercial centres.
Abstract: Variations in the price of land and the intensiveness of its use have been examined in economic literature beginning with Adam Smith and elaborated by Ricardo, Von Thunen, Mills, Muth, Alonso and others. The price of land is most significantly associated with the distance to the Central Business District (hereafter called CBD) in cities in the United States. Other influencing factors are the distances to urban amenities, public facilities, and to recreational and commercial centres. In addition, the price of land is affected by environmental quality, the land use mix in its vicinity, and the particular zoning regulations (Freeman III, 1979).
TL;DR: Income and wealth inequality is a constant concern in our society as mentioned in this paper, and it becomes more acute at certain times than at others, such as the Great Depression and the 1960s.
Abstract: Income and wealth inequality is a constant concern in our society. It becomes more acute at certain times than at others. The Great Depression raised the concern; so did the political circumstances in the 1960s when attention was focused on the state of the poor and of racial groups who were failing to participate in the national affluence.
TL;DR: The industrial revolution and technological advances of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries held great promise for human liberation in Europe and in some of her colonies as mentioned in this paper, however, at the closing of the twentieth century, the liberation process has been slowed down, if not thwarted.
Abstract: Human liberation requires an affluent, egalitarian, and democratic society in which man is free from domination by nature's caprice and, in all spheres of life, free from domination by other men. The industrial revolution and technological advances of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries held great promise for human liberation. The burden of toil and drudgery and the domination of man by nature's caprice began lifting in Europe and in some of her colonies. Human safety and security came within reach because poverty was being eliminated. Liberation on the material plane was at hand. However, at the closing of the twentieth century, the liberation process has been slowed down, if not thwarted. In most of the third world, not even the burden of toil and drudgery and the domination of man by a capricious nature have been lifted. In the affluent United States, on the other hand, material security and safety is widespread, but it still does not reach the lowest stratum. Domination by nature through human poverty continues in the affluent West even though it could be eliminated. Nevertheless, in the West, domination by nature is no longer an insurmountable physical datum.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the nature and locus of discrimination and propose a set of assumptions about the nature of discrimination, which they investigate in their paper, "The Problem of Discrimination: A Problem Analysis with Social, Economic and Emotional Burdens".
Abstract: The analysis of any problem laden with social, economic and emotional burdens runs the inherent risk of misunderstanding. The issue of discrimination is, perhaps the leading behavioural issue of this generation, and as such it has a multitude of facts, myths amd emotions associated with it. Assumptions have been made about the nature and locus of discrimination which this article proposes to investigate.