Showing papers on "Prosperity published in 2021"

Plenty of Nothing: The Downsizing of the American Dream and the Case for Structural Keynesianism

Abstract: Business papers are in a triumphant mood, buoyed by the conviction that the economic stagnation of the last quarter of the 20th century has vanished in favour of a new age of robust growth. But if we are doing so well, many ask, why does it feel like we are working harder for less? Why, despite economic growth, does inequality between rich and poor keep rising? In this book, Thomas Palley pulls together the threads of "new liberal" economic thought to offer detailed answers to these questions. And he proposes a new economic model - structural Keynesianism - that he argues would return America to sustainable, fairly shared prosperity. The key, he writes, is to abandon the myth of a natural competitive economy, which has justified unleashing capital and attacking unions. This has resulted in an economy dominated by business. The book challenges the economic orthodoxies of the political right and centre, popularized by such economists as Milton Friedman and Paul Krugman. The author marshalls an array of economic facts and arguments to show that the interests of working families have gradually been sacrificed to those of corporations. Expanding on traditional Keynesian economics, he argues that, although capitalism is the most productive system ever devised, it also tends to generate deep economic inequalities and encourage the pursuit of profit at the expense of all else. He challenges fatalists who say we can do nothing about this - that economic insecurity and stagnant wages are the inevitable results of irresistible globalization. Palley argues that capitalism comes in a range of forms and that government can and should shape it from a "mean street" system into a "main street" system through monetary, fiscal, trade, and regulatory policies that promote widespread prosperity.

The Economics of Biodiversity : The Dasgupta Review

Abstract: The Dasgupta Review is an independent, global review on the Economics of Biodiversity led by Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta (Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus, University of Cambridge). The Review was commissioned in 2019 by HM Treasury and has been supported by an Advisory Panel drawn from public policy, science, economics, finance and business. The Review calls for changes in how we think, act and measure economic success to protect and enhance our prosperity and the natural world. Grounded in a deep understanding of ecosystem processes and how they are affected by economic activity, the new framework presented by the Review sets out how we should account for Nature in economics and decision-making.

How COVID-19 Informs Business Sustainability Research: It’s Time for a Systems Perspective

Abstract: In this essay, we argue that by taking a systems lens, sustainability researchers can better understand the implications of COVID-19 on business and society and prevent future pandemics A systems lens asks management researchers to move from a firm-level perspective to one that also considers the broader socioecological context We argue that for business to prevent future pandemics and assure future prosperity, business must recognize the limits to growth, alternative temporalities that do not pit the short against the long term, the nestedness of local phenomena in global systems, and leverage points that can reduce entrenched systems of social inequalities © 2020 Society for the Advancement of Management Studies and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Vicious Circles: Violence, Vulnerability, and Climate Change

Abstract: Climate change threatens core dimensions of human security, including economic prosperity, food availability, and societal stability. In recent years, war-torn regions such as Afghanistan and Yemen...

The Paradox of Civilization: Pre-Institutional Sources of Security and Prosperity

Abstract: The rise of civilizations involved the dual emergence of economies that could produce surplus (“prosperity”) and states that could protect surplus (“security”). But the joint achievement of security and prosperity had to escape a paradox: prosperity attracts predation, and higher insecurity discourages the investments that create prosperity. We study the trade-offs facing a proto-state on its path to civilization through a formal model informed by the anthropological and historical literatures on the origin of civilizations. We emphasize pre-institutional forces, such as physical aspects of the geographical environment, that shape productive and defense capabilities. The solution of the civilizational paradox relies on high defense capabilities, natural or manmade. We show that higher initial productivity and investments that yield prosperity exacerbate conflict when defense capability is fixed, but may allow for security and prosperity when defense capability is endogenous. Some economic shocks and military innovations deliver security and prosperity while others force societies back into a trap of conflict and stagnation. We illustrate the model by analyzing the rise of civilization in Sumeria and Egypt, the first two historical cases, and the civilizational collapse at the end of the Bronze Age. ∗Dal Bo: UC Berkeley and NBER. Hernandez: NYU AD. Mazzuca: Johns Hopkins. We thank Demian Pouzo, Santiago Oliveros, Bob Powell, Alvaro Sandroni and David Schonholzer for valuable discussion, as well as seminar and conference participants for helpful comments.

Classification and mathematical modeling of infrastructure interdependencies

Abstract: Critical infrastructure and their provision of goods, services and resources to communities determine the well-being and economic prosperity of modern society. Critical infrastructure jointly opera...

Do Financial Development and Economic Openness Matter for Economic Progress in an Emerging Country? Seeking a Sustainable Development Path

Abstract: While emerging economies face the challenge of competing with developed nations, they are capable of catching up to the developed world. In this context, financial development and the degree of economic openness may provide better living conditions for the current generation without giving up future generations’ prosperity. Therefore, this research’s prime intention is to investigate the impact of economic openness and financial development on economic progress, employing Pakistan’s time-series data from 1975–2018. To examine the long-term association between economic openness, financial development, and economic progress, Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration tests were performed and the results present a long-term association between these variables. Findings from ARDL estimates indicate that the relationship between financial development and economic progress is significantly positive in the long term. Contrastingly, the relationship between economic openness and economic progress is significantly positive in the short term. A fully modified ordinary least square technique was applied to check the robustness of the long-term links. The Granger causality test revealed that economic progress is motivated by both economic openness and financial development in an emerging economy such as Pakistan. Thus, policies boosting financial development and economic openness are proposed to put the emerging economies on a path of sustainable economic development.

COVID-19 shifts mortality salience, activities, and values in the United States: Big data analysis of online adaptation

Abstract: What is the effect of a life-threatening pandemic at the societal level? An expanded Theory of Social Change, Cultural Evolution, and Human Development predicts that, during a period of increasing survival threat and decreasing prosperity, humans will shift toward the psychology and behavior typical of the small-scale, collectivistic, and rural subsistence ecologies in which we evolved In particular, subjective mortality salience, engagement in subsistence activities, and collectivism will all increase, while the aspiration to be wealthy will decrease Because coronavirus has forced unprecedented proportions of human activity online, we tested hypotheses derived from the theory by analyzing big data samples for 70 days before and 70 days after the coronavirus pandemic stimulated President Trump to declare a national emergency Google searches were used for an exploratory study;the exploratory study was followed by three independent replications on Twitter, internet forums, and blogs Across all four internet platforms, terms related to subjective mortality salience, engagement in subsistence activities, and collectivism showed massive increases These findings, coupled with prior research testing this theory, indicate that humans may have an evolutionarily conditioned response to the level of death and availability of material resources in society More specifically, humans may shift their behavior and psychology toward that found in subsistence ecologies under conditions of high mortality and low prosperity or, conversely, toward behavior and psychology found in modern commercial ecologies under conditions of low mortality and high prosperity

Happiness in Czechia during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract: The unprecedented growth of prosperity in developed countries, including the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, interrupted by the economic crisis in 2008–2009, came to a halt at the beginning of 2020. This was due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 respiratory disease pandemic, for which no cure was known in June 2020. The response of governments in the form of declaring a state of emergency and closing national and regional borders for several months had serious economic and, above all, psychological consequences. Anxiety, depression, and possibly suicides were expected to increase. In this paper, we focused on the experience of happiness, understood as positive emotion, expressing the highest degree of well-being. The conceptualization of happiness is based on the analysis of six indicators. The aim of the paper was to explore the experience of happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic in Czechia. Two hypotheses were formulated in terms of the expected effects of this pandemic on the experience of happiness. Measuring happiness in one region of the Czechia on a scale of 0–10 using both face-to-face methods and social networks yielded different results from those expected.

A Computational Approach to Uncovering Economic Growth Factors

Abstract: The knowledge-based economy is the basis of economics in which all businesses and industries benefit from the distribution and application of knowledge in pursuit of their goals to meet their needs. But the prosperity and growth of a knowledge-based economy can only be achieved if the economic, socio-political and legal frameworks of a country have the necessary background to realize the required indicators of a knowledge-based economy. In this paper, the economy growth-effected knowledge-based indicators are classified and prioritized using logarithmic fuzzy preference programming. Based on the results, the institutional and economic regime has the priority in comparison with other measures in economic growth. The results of prioritizing alternative criteria show that the technology foundation, structure of trained manpower, trade and capital, employment and economical trademark, respectively affect economic growth. Furthermore, the trade-related indicators are a low effect on economic growth, however, the technology-related indicators are most effective on it. Therefore, today’s oil and export economies are less prioritized than the application of knowledge, and in today’s world, the industrial economy cannot be advanced and must move towards a knowledge-based economy.

Blue Economy and Blue Activities: Opportunities, Challenges, and Recommendations for The Bahamas

Abstract: Following the global shutdown of tourism at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, small island developing states such as The Bahamas had their economies immobilized due to their heavy dependence on the industry. Beyond economic recovery in a post COVID-19 paradigm, the blue economy, blue growth, and associated activities offer pathways for a more resilient economy and is well-suited for The Bahamas. This paper suggests conduits for economic development using a traditional strength, coastal and marine tourism, in conjunction with the emerging fields of ocean renewable energy, offshore aquaculture, marine biotechnology, and bioprospecting. The interlinkages between each activity are discussed. Knowledge gaps in offshore aquaculture, ocean renewable energy, marine biotechnology, and marine environment monitoring are identified. In each sector case, strategic and tactical decision-making can be achieved through the exploitation of ocean numerical modeling and observations, and consequently should be invested in and developed alongside the requisite computational resources. Blue growth is encouraged, but instances of blue injustice are also highlighted. Crucially, pursuing blue economy activities should be given top national priority for economic recovery and prosperity.

Does institutional quality foster economic complexity? The fundamental drivers of productive capabilities

Abstract: It is well established in the long-term development literature that deeply rooted institutions are the fundamental drivers of comparative prosperity across the world. This study contributes to this line of inquiry by investigating the extent to which the quality of institutions helps shape international differences in economic complexity – a novel measure of productive capabilities. More specifically, economic complexity corresponds to an enhanced capacity to produce and export a diverse range of sophisticated (high-productivity) products, which is highly predictive of future patterns of growth and development. The central hypothesis is that institutions are linked to higher degrees of economic complexity via strengthening incentives for innovative entrepreneurship, fostering human capital accumulation, and directing human resources towards productive activities. Employing data for up to 115 countries, I consistently obtain precise estimates of the positive effects of institutional quality, measured by the Economic Freedom of the World Index, on economic complexity. The findings highlight the important role of establishing well-functioning institutions in driving structural transformation towards productive activities, which contributes to alleviating the persistence of underdevelopment.

Stratification: An Entropic View of Society’s Structure

Abstract: In human societies, we observe a wide range of types of stratification, i.e., in terms of financial class, political power, level of education, sanctity, and military force. In financial, political, and social sciences, stratification is one of the most important issues and tools as the Lorenz Curve and the Gini Coefficient have been developed to describe some of its aspects. Stratification is greatly dependent on the access of people to wealth. By “wealth”, we mean the quantified prosperity which increases the life expectancy of people. Prosperity is also connected to the water-food-energy nexus which is necessary for human survival. Analyzing proxies of the water-food-energy nexus, we suggest that the best proxy for prosperity is energy, which is closely related to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and life expectancy. In order to describe the dynamics of social stratification, we formulate an entropic view of wealth in human societies. An entropic approach to income distribution, approximated as available energy in prehistoric societies, till present-day economies, shows that stratification can be viewed as a stochastic process subject to the principle of maximum entropy and occurring when limits to the wealth of society are set, either by the political and economic system and/or by the limits of available technology.

Towards the open eco-innovation mode: A model of open innovation and green management practices

Abstract: Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have played an income-generating role in economic notions of prosperity in many developed countries, especially Thailand. Inside green economy, fostering ...

Role of Natural Capital Economics for Sustainable Management of Earth Resources

Abstract: Natural capital is the wealth of nations that determine their economic status. Worldwide, vulnerable people depend on natural capital for employment, salaries, wealth, and livelihoods and, in turn, this determines the developmental index of the nation to which they belong. In this short review, we have tried to sum up the ideas and discussions over natural capital’s role in ascribing economic status to countries as well as the need for natural resource management and sustainability. This paper aimed to discuss how humanity’s prosperity is intertwined with the services that ecosystems provide, and how poor natural resource management (NRM) has adversely affected human well-being. Our preselected criteria for the review paper led us to evaluate 96 peer-reviewed publications from the SCOPUS database, which is likely the most comprehensive archive of peer-reviewed scientific literature as well as WoS, PUBMED, and Google Scholar databases. Our review revealed that the availability of ecological services is crucial for clean water and air, food and fodder, and agricultural development. We further discussed important concepts regarding sustainability, natural capital and economics, and determinants of human well-being vis-a-vis the intergenerational security of natural wealth. To ensure current and future human well-being, we conclude that an in-depth understanding of the services that ecosystems provide is necessary for the holistic management of the Earth system.

Forgotten values of industrial city still alive: What can the creative city learn from its industrial counterpart?

Abstract: In the last two decades, the creative city agenda has evolved into a predominantly neoliberal policy instrument, which seems to hide rather than reduce urban inequalities characterised by gentrification, unaffordability, precariousness, and segregation. Scholars have only recently started to search for alternatives for understanding and developing the creative city of today by highlighting the usefulness of older concepts of urban development. However, nobody has yet focused on the modernist city of public well-being as a historical city from the industrial age, where culture serves as the articulation of shared values in everyday life. The main objective of this paper is to elevate the discussion on the creative city and its socially regressive urban policies by promoting the forgotten values of the industrial city not only as its predecessor but also as its contemporary offering development alternatives. We conducted 23 semistructured interviews with key stakeholders in the industrial town of Velenje, Slovenia, which rapidly grew as a socialist town after WWII in Yugoslavia. Our results suggest that collective knowledge, memories, emotions, and reflections maintain the inseparable values of industrialism and socialism on which the town was founded. Industrial development has shaped a specific cultural environment, a concentration of tacit knowledge, attitudes, values, and traditions related to solidarity, mutual respect, multiculturalism, comradery, equality, and diligence. These values are in line with socialist nostalgia as a retrospective utopia, desire and hope for a safe world, solidarity, and prosperity. We conclude that creative cities could learn from their industrial counterparts by establishing a more inclusive urban governance and promoting social innovation. However, the industrial city is also endangered by endogenous lock-in effects that can be overcome with the ideas of the creative city, which implies a mutual learning between both urban concepts.

Historical cycles of the economy of modern Greece from 1821 to the present

Abstract: This paper reviews and interprets the history of the economy of modern Greece, from the eve of the war for independence in 1821 to the present day. It identifies three major historical cycles: First, the cycle of state and nation building, 1821-1898, second, the cycle of national expansion and consolidation, 1899-1949, and third, the post-1950 cycle of economic and social development. During these two hundred years, the country and the economy have been radically transformed. Compared to the first Greek state, Greece managed to almost triple its national territory, to increase its population by almost 15 times and to increase its real GDP per capita by another 15 times. From the margins of south-eastern Europe, it has moved to the core of today’s European Union. The paper focuses on the main determinants of economic performance during these cycles, with particular emphasis on the role and interactions of social and economic conditions, ideas, institutions and geopolitics. During the first two cycles, the economy underperformed, as state building and the pursuit of the ‘great idea’ were the top national priorities. Despite the early introduction of appropriate economic institutions, fiscal and monetary instability prevailed in the context of a relatively stagnant economy, due to wars, internal conflicts and the international environment. The economy and the welfare state only became a top priority during the third cycle, when a number of domestic and international factors contributed to economic and social development. Greece seems to have largely achieved many of its national goals, having consolidated both its borders and democratic institutions and become a relatively prosperous country in the core of the European union, despite the alternation of triumphs and disasters and the frequent occurrence of wars and internal conflicts, debt crises, ‘defaults’ or economic depressions. Yet many problems remain and the challenge for the future is to focus on reforms that will ensure even higher security and prosperity for the future generations of Greeks.