Book•
A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World
01 Jan 2007-
TL;DR: Clark as mentioned in this paper argues that only societies that have long stories of settlement and security seem to develop the cultural characteristics and effective workforces that enable economic growth, and that industrialization has not been a blessing.
Abstract: The problem, Clark says, is tha only societies that have long stories of settlement and security seem to develop the cultural characteristics and effective workforces that enable economic growth. For many societies that have not enjoyed long periods of stability, industrialization has not been a blessing.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a Gaussian process classifier was used to estimate the probability of computerisation for 702 detailed occupations, and the expected impacts of future computerisation on US labour market outcomes, with the primary objective of analyzing the number of jobs at risk and the relationship between an occupations probability of computing, wages and educational attainment.
4,853 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2008TL;DR: The good, the bad, and the ugly of the pharmaceutical industry as mentioned in this paper : The bad, the good and the ugliness of pharmaceutical industry is discussed in detail in Section 2.1.
Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Creation under consumption 3. Innovation under competition 4. The evil of intellectual monopoly 5. The devil in Disney 6. How competition works 7. Defenses of intellectual monopoly 8. Does intellectual monopoly increase innovation? 9. The pharmaceutical industry 10. The bad, the good, and the ugly.
777 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a new structural economics framework to complement previous approaches in the search for sustainable growth strategies, which takes into account structural change and its corollary, industrial upgrading.
Abstract: As strategies for achieving sustainable growth in developing countries are re-examined in light of the financial crisis, it is critical to take into account structural change and its corollary, industrial upgrading. Economic literature has devoted a great deal of attention to the analysis of technological innovation, but not enough to these equally important issues. The new structural economics outlined in this paper suggests a framework to complement previous approaches in the search for sustainable growth strategies. It takes the following into consideration: First, an economy's structure of factor endowments evolves from one stage of development to another. Therefore, the optimal industrial structure of a given economy will be different at different stages of development. Each industrial structure requires corresponding infrastructure (both"hard"and"soft") to facilitate its operations and transactions. Second, each stage of economic development is a point along the continuum from a low-income agrarian economy to a high-income industrialized economy, not a dichotomy of two economic development stages ("poor"versus"rich"or"developing"versus"industrialized"). Industrial upgrading and infrastructure improvement targets in developing countries should not necessarily draw from those that exist in high-income countries. Third, at each given stage of development, the market is the basic mechanism for effective resource allocation. However, economic development as a dynamic process requires industrial upgrading and corresponding improvements in"hard"and"soft"infrastructure at each stage. Such upgrading entails large externalities to firms'transaction costs and returns to capital investment. Thus, in addition to an effective market mechanism, the government should play an active role in facilitating industrial upgrading and infrastructure improvements.
690 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that higher CS systematically affect preferences and choices in ways that favor economic success, and in particular, the ability to plan strongly predict perseverance on the job in a setting with a substantial financial penalty for early exit.
Abstract: Economic analysis has so far said little about how an individual's cognitive skills (CS) are related to the individual's economic preferences in different choice domains, such as risk taking or saving, and how preferences in different domains are related to each other. Using a sample of 1,000 trainee truckers we report three findings. First, there is a strong and significant relationship between an individual's CS and preferences. Individuals with better CS are more patient, in both short- and long-run. Better CS are also associated with a greater willingness to take calculated risks. Second, CS predict social awareness and choices in a sequential Prisoner's Dilemma game. Subjects with better CS more accurately forecast others' behavior and differentiate their behavior as a second mover more strongly depending on the first-mover's choice. Third, CS, and in particular, the ability to plan, strongly predict perseverance on the job in a setting with a substantial financial penalty for early exit. Consistent with CS being a common factor in all of these preferences and behaviors, we find a strong pattern of correlation among them. These results, taken together with the theoretical explanation we offer for the relationships we find, suggest that higher CS systematically affect preferences and choices in ways that favor economic success.
634 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the vertical transmission of characteristics across generations (such as the transmission of culture, language, norms and values) is linked to differences in income per capita across countries.
Abstract: This paper provides a framework relating the vertical transmission of characteristics across generations - such as the transmission of culture, language, norms and values - to differences in income per capita across countries. We propose a novel way to measure cultural barriers using genetic distance, i.e. coancestor coefficients from population genetics. Our econometric methodology addresses the problem of spatial correlation inherent in having pairwise income differences as our dependent variable. We find a significant effect of genetic distance on income differences, even when controlling for geographical distance, differences in latitude, and other cultural and geographic distance measures. These results hold not only for contemporary income differences, but also for income differences measured as of 1500 and 1700. We uncover similar patterns of coefficients for the proximate determinants of income differences (differences in human capital, institutions, investment rates and population growth). Our results suggest an important role for vertically transmitted characteristics in the diffusion of development.
541 citations
References
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Book•
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: Guns, Germs, and Steel as discussed by the authors argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world, and argues that societies that had had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed religion and nasty germs and potent weapons of war.
Abstract: In this "artful, informative, and delightful" (William H McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world Societies that had had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed religion --as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of war --and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth club of California's Gold Medal
3,457 citations
TL;DR: Guns, Germs, and Steel as discussed by the authors argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world, and argues that societies that had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed religion and nasty germs and potent weapons of war.
Abstract: In this \"artful, informative, and delightful\" (William H. McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world. Societies that had had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed religion --as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of war --and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth club of California's Gold Medal.
2,144 citations
[...]
TL;DR: Syllogisms would be suitable items in an achievement test, to determine whether a student had mastered the use of Venn diagrams after receiving instruction, and all algebraic formulas and equations are decontextualized statements.
Abstract: and general: a + b = b + a. All algebraic formulas and equations are decontextualized statements. Syllogisms can be decontextualized: Which statement (1 or 2) is false? (1) All Xs are Y; all Ys are Z; therefore all Xs are Z. (2) All Ps are Q; all Ns are Q; therefore all Ps are N. Now notice how much easier equivalent syllogisms seem when they are contextualized: (1) All men are persons; all persons are human; therefore all men are human. (2) All chickens are fowl; all ducks are fowl; therefore all chickens are ducks. A person who is unable to decontextualize a syllogism would most likely declare the following syllogism to be false, although in terms of pure logic (but not experience) it is true: All apples are fruit; all fruits are green; therefore all apples are green. Syllo gisms are no longer used in IQ tests, because syllogisms are uniformly easy for persons who solve them by using Venn diagrams. Since knowing or not knowing the ' 'trick'' of using a Venn diagram is the main determinant of passing or failing a syllogism, syllo gisms are poor items for an IQ test. Different persons with the same IQ differ much too markedly on \"syllogism ability,\" a difference often attributable to their either having learned or not having learned the \"trick\" of using Venn diagrams for verifying syllo gisms. However, syllogisms would be suitable items in an achievement test, to determine whether a student had mastered the use of Venn diagrams after receiving instruction. 28. Lynn, 1987a, 1987b, 1989, 1990a, 1990b; Lynn & Pagliari, 1994. 29. Schoenthaler et al., 1991. A good, though far from comprehensive, article on the effects of nutrition on IQ (Ricciuti, 1994) offers a somewhat more conservative assess ment than the articles by Lynn and by Schoenthaler. Eysenck (1995) discusses the use of nutrients as a means of sudying intelligence differences experimentally. Eysenck and Schoenthaler (1997) provide the most recent and comprehensive review of experimental studies of the effects of nutrition on IQ. 30. Jensen (1997a) reviews much of the recent literature on the effects of the biological environmental factors (including mother-fetus immunogenic incompatibility factors) on mental development. Most of the environmental variance in IQ is attributable to the cumulative effect of such biological factors. Jensen (1996a) replies to an article by Flynn (in the same book) and summarizes the specific environmental factors hypothesized to play some part in the secular rise in IQ. 31. Modern mass-production poultry farms make use of this phenomenon, by keeping chicks under bright electric lighting twenty-four hours a day, to hasten their rate of growth and the time needed to reach their maximum egg-laying capacity. 32. (a) Lucas et al., 1992; (b) Ryan et al., 1991.
818 citations
TL;DR: An integrated theory of individual diVerences that traces the behavioral development of life history from genes to brain to reproductive strategy and applies Life History Theory to predict patterns of development within the brain that are paedomorphic and peramorphic.
602 citations
Book•
31 Dec 1986TL;DR: Betzig as mentioned in this paper argues that reproduction is the end of human life and that all forms of power and strength are exploited in reaching this end, and that power corrupts and how despotic governments continue to exist in the world today.
Abstract: "Much light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history," thus ended Darwin's "Origin of Species". For many years, the book provoked a flood of argument, but yielded little evidence. In the first century after the book's publication, virtually no one tested Darwin's theory against the evidence of human history. Now that tide has changed.. Laura Betzig challenges the proposition that the evolved end of human life is its reproduction by presenting the literature on conflict resolution from over a hundred societies. The research results presented in Despotism, Social Evolution, and Differential Reproduction convincingly uphold Darwin's prophecy.A basic premise behind research has always been that understanding the way things are should contribute to our ability to change them to the way we would like them to be. This idea forms the basis for Betzig's research - she sets out to explain how things really are by leading the reader through the historical and natural conditions that have promoted despotism in the hopes that this might eventually eradicate it. She begins with the idea that reproduction is the end of human life, and that all forms of power and strength are exploited in reaching this end. In this way, Betzig shows with startling clarity how power corrupts and how despotic governments continue to exist in the world today. Engaging - even at times railing against - existing literature on human and social evolution, such as that of Rousseau and Marx, Betzig asserts herself as a formidable and undeniable voice in this debate.Since Darwin's monumental work, more has been said about why questions regarding how human history has been shaped by natural history should not even be asked, than has been said in an effort to answer them. This work puts a stop to that by testing the Darwinian hypothesis and finding that he was right light has in fact been shed on human political and reproductive history. Controversial and creative, this book makes no apologies for its bold messages and interdisciplinary boundary blending and addresses a topic of continuing interest and importance.
578 citations