Showing papers on "Schools of economic thought published in 2006"
16 Mar 2006
307 citations
Book•
07 Apr 2006
TL;DR: Public economics studies how government taxing and spending activities affect the economy, including economic efficiency and the distribution of income and wealth as mentioned in this paper, and provides an overview of the current state of the field.
Abstract: Public economics studies how government taxing and spending activities affect the economy—economic efficiency and the distribution of income and wealth. This comprehensive text in public economics covers the core topics market failure and taxation as well as recent developments in the political economy and public choice literatures. It is unique not only in its broad scope but in its balance between public finance and public choice and its combination of theory and relevant empirical evidence. After introducing the theory and methodology of public economics and reviewing the efficiency of the competitive equilibrium, the book presents a historical and theoretical overview of the public sector. It then discusses departures from efficiency, including imperfect competition and asymmetric information; issues in political economy, including rent-seeking (a topic often omitted from other texts); equity; taxation issues, including tax evasion and its consequences; fiscal federalism and tax competition among independent jurisdictions; and the intertemporal issues of social security and economic growth. This text introduces the reader to the theory of public economics and the most significant results of the analysis, providing an overview of the current state of the field. It is accessible to anyone with a background of intermediate microeconomics and macroeconomics and can be used in advanced undergraduate as well as graduate courses. Although the mathematics has been kept to a minimum, the book remains analytical rather than discursive. Annotated suggestions for further reading and numerous exercises are included at the end of each chapter.
233 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigates whether since the 1980s neoclassical economics has been in the process of being supplanted as the dominant research program in economics by a collection of competing research approaches which share relatively little in common with each other or with neoclassically economics.
Abstract: This paper investigates whether since the 1980s neoclassical economics has been in the process of being supplanted as the dominant research programme in economics by a collection of competing research approaches which share relatively little in common with each other or with neoclassical economics. A shortlist of the new approaches in recent economics includes game theory, experimental economics, behavioral economics, evolutionary economics, neuroeconomics, and non-linear complexity theory. Two hypotheses are advanced – one regarding the relation between economics instruction and economics research and one regarding the nature of the economics research frontier – to describe social-institutional practices that contribute to the replication of economics as a field. Two further hypotheses are advanced – one regarding the boundaries of the field and one regarding how the field appraises itself – to create a historical–methodological framework for evaluating the question of change in economics and change in recent economics in particular. Finally, the paper distinguishes three leading explanations – the ‘breakdown’ view, the ‘takeover’ view, and the ‘maturity’ view – of why neoclassical economics no longer dominates a mainstream economics.
221 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: On Classical Economics as discussed by the authors is a book from which students can learn both history and economics from Thomas Sowell's many writings on the history of economic thought, and these writings have been praised, reprinted, and translated in various countries around the world.
Abstract: Thomas Sowell's many writings on the history of economic thought have appeared in a number of scholarly journals and books, and these writings have been praised, reprinted, and translated in various countries around the world. The classical era in the history of economics is an important part of the history of ideas in general, and its implications reach beyond the bounds of the economics profession. On Classical Economics is a book from which students can learn both history and economics. It is not simply a Cook's tour of colorful personalities of the past but a study of how certain economic concepts and tools of analysis arose, and how their implications were revealed during the controversies that followed. In addition to a general understanding of classical macroeconomics and microeconomics, this book offers special insight into the neglected pioneering work of Sismondi--and why it was neglected--and a detailed look at John Stuart Mill's enigmatic role in the development of economics and the mysteries of Marxian economics. Clear, engaging, and very readable, without being either cute or condescending, On Classical Economics can enable a course on the history of economic thought to make a contribution to students' understanding of economics in general--whether in price theory, monetary theory, or international trade. In short, it is a book about analysis as well as history.
194 citations
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: The annual economic report as mentioned in this paper provides a valuable source of detailed information on the recent performance of the major components of the Queensland economy and the factors, both external and internal, which influence that performance.
Abstract: The Annual Economic Report provides its readers, including decision makers and researchers in both private and public sectors, with a valuable source of detailed information on the recent performance of the major components of the Queensland economy and the factors, both external and internal, which influence that performance.
165 citations
Book•
15 Jan 2006
TL;DR: Schabas as mentioned in this paper traces the emergence and transformation of economics in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from a natural to a social science, focusing on the works of several prominent economists -David Hume, Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill.
Abstract: References to the economy are ubiquitous in modern life, and virtually every facet of human activity has capitulated to market mechanisms. In the early modern period, however, there was no common perception of the economy, and discourses on money, trade, and commerce treated economic phenomena as properties of physical nature. Only in the early nineteenth century did economists begin to posit and identify the economy as a distinct object, divorcing it from natural processes and attaching it exclusively to human laws and agency. In "The Natural Origins of Economics", Margaret Schabas traces the emergence and transformation of economics in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from a natural to a social science. Focusing on the works of several prominent economists - David Hume, Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill - Schabas examines their conceptual debt to natural science and thus locates the evolution of economic ideas within the history of science. An ambitious study, "The Natural Origins of Economics" will be of interest to economists, historians, and philosophers alike.
133 citations
120 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: Economics in the Shadows of Darwin and Marx examines the legacies of these two giants of thought for the social sciences in the twenty-first century as discussed by the authors, with a focus on economics.
Abstract: Economics in the Shadows of Darwin and Marx examines the legacies of these two giants of thought for the social sciences in the twenty-first century.
101 citations
TL;DR: Green economics as mentioned in this paper is a branch of economics that aims to manage economics for nature as usual, rather than to manage the environment for business as usual. But it does not address the main contradictions, deficiencies, assumptions, conventions, and inherent normative concepts to be found in dominant neo-classical economic thinking.
Abstract: Green Economics positions economics within a very long-term, earth-wide, holistic context of reality as a part of nature. It also incorporates and celebrates 'difference', diversity, equity and inclusiveness within its concepts of society and community. Its philosophy is to manage economics for nature as usual, rather than to manage the environment for business as usual. The paper introduces the new Green Economics discipline and reviews its shape and philosophical underpinnings. By combining economics with knowledge from the natural sciences, we argue that Green Economics can incorporate a much wider, more practical, multidisciplinary range of knowledge than other schools of economics. The paper suggests how Green Economics can offer unique insights into four of the key areas ('eco', intellectual, political and moral) of today's significant and mounting problems and highlights how its novel insights provide new solutions. The development of this new branch of Economics is justified in this text by reviewing the main contradictions, deficiencies, assumptions, conventions, and inherent normative concepts to be found in dominant neo-classical economic thinking, which have accumulated over the past two centuries.
85 citations
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: Foster et al. as mentioned in this paper reviewed the literature and provided new evidence linking protection of IPRs to economic growth, innovation and technology diffusion, and concluded that while stronger IPR protection can ultimately reap rewards in terms of greater domestic innovation and increased technology diffusion in developing countries with sufficient capacity to innovate, it has little impact on innovation and diffusion in those without such capacity and may impose additional costs, especially for the least developed countries that will be precluded from using imitation as a means to develop innovative capacity.
Abstract: Following the conclusion of the TRIPS Agreement much has been written on the potential costs and benefits of stronger Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) protection in terms of growth and technology transfer, particularly for developing countries. This paper reviews this literature and provides new evidence linking protection of IPRs to economic growth, innovation and technology diffusion. Results suggest that while stronger IPR protection can ultimately reap rewards in terms of greater domestic innovation and increased technology diffusion in developing countries with sufficient capacity to innovate, it has little impact on innovation and diffusion in those without such capacity and may impose additional costs, especially for the least developed countries that will be precluded from using imitation as a means to develop innovative capacity. There is a considerable incentive, therefore, for countries at different stages of development to use the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement to maximise its net benefits for their development. + We would like to thank Olga Memedovic and David Greenaway for useful comments, and Michael Bailey for proofreading the final document. * Professor of International Economics, Leverhulme Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy, School of Economics, The University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK. Email: rod.falvey@nottingham.ac.uk † Assistant Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, The University of Vienna, Hohenstaufengasse 9, Vienna, A-1010, Austria. Email: neil.foster@univie.ac.at
81 citations
TL;DR: The Austrian school is also an example of BRICE economics as mentioned in this paper, which is an emerging new orthodoxy in economics, including bounded rationality, rule following, institutions, cognition, and evolution.
Abstract: Austrian economists today have a valuable opportunity to rejoin the mainstream of the economics profession. As Colander, Holt, and Rosser have argued, neoclassical orthodoxy is no long mainstream. What I call the “heterodox mainstream” is an emerging new orthodoxy. The five leading characteristics of the emerging new orthodoxy are bounded rationality, rule following, institutions, cognition, and evolution. When listed in this order, they suggest the acronym BRICE. The Austrian school is also an example of BRICE economics. The shared themes of BRICE economics create an opportunity for intellectual exchange between Austrians and other elements of the heterodox mainstream. Although Austrians should engage the heterodox mainstream energetically, they should also defend the essential elements of an early version of neoclassical economics, elements at risk of becoming half-forgotten themes of an earlier era. These elements are supply and demand, marginalist logic, opportunity-cost reasoning, and the elementary theory of markets.
Book•
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: Kerr as mentioned in this paper examines efforts to end sectarian violence in the two territories through power-sharing arrangements devised and enforced by third parties, and considers why the efforts failed, whether the failure was inevitable and if so why they were used again, the impact of external pressures, and whether such consociation can be successful in the absence of positive external pressures.
Abstract: Kerr (history, London School of Economics and Political Science) examines efforts to end sectarian violence in the two territories through power-sharing arrangements devised and enforced by third parties. He considers why the efforts failed, whether the failure was inevitable and if so why they were used again, the impact of external pressures, and whether such consociation can be successful in the absence of positive external pressures. He is an official of the Ulster Unionist Party.
Posted Content•
TL;DR: Machin and Vignoles as mentioned in this paper have published a paper on the Centre for the Economics of Education, which is an independent research centre funded by the Department for Education and Skills.
Abstract: Published by Centre for the Economics of Education London School of Economics Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE © Stephen Machin and Anna Vignoles, submitted December 2005 ISBN 07530 1853 5 Individual copy price: £5 The Centre for the Economics of Education is an independent research centre funded by the Department for Education and Skills. The views expressed in this work are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the DfES. All errors and omissions remain the authors.
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: The second edition of Economics and the Law as discussed by the authors provides a comprehensive overview of the various schools of thought in the burgeoning field of Law and economics, including the Chicago school, public choice theory, Institutional Law and Economics, and New Institutional Economics.
Abstract: This is an expanded second edition of Nicholas Mercuro and Steven Medema's influential book Economics and the Law, whose publication in
1998 marked the most comprehensive overview of the various schools of thought in the burgeoning field of Law and Economics. Each of these competing yet complementary traditions has both redefined the study of law and exposed the key economic implications of the legal environment. The book remains true to the scope and aims of the first edition, but also takes account of the field's evolution. At the book's core is an expanded discussion of the Chicago school, Public Choice Theory, Institutional Law and Economics, and New Institutional Economics. A new chapter explores the Law and Economics literature on social norms, today an integral part of each of the schools of thought. The chapter on the New Haven and Modern Civic Republican approaches has likewise been expanded. These chapters are complemented by a discussion of the Austrian school of Law and Economics. Each chapter now includes an "At Work" section presenting applications of that particular school of thought. By providing readers with a concise, noncritical description of the broad contours of each school, this book illuminates the fundamental insights of a field with important implications not only for economics and the law, but also for political science, philosophy, public administration, and sociology.
TL;DR: In this paper, a comparison of modern Marxist conceptions with those of Post-Keynesian economists, including the works of Kaleckians and Sraffians, is made.
Abstract: The paper questions the wide-spread assertion that non-orthodox schools of thought in economics have only one thing in common – their rejection of mainstream (neoclassical) economics. The author shows by contrast that heterodox currents share some fundamental analytical insights. The paper focuses on a comparison of modern Marxist conceptions with those of Post-Keynesian economists, including the works of Kaleckians and Sraffians. This is shown by examining four fields: the issue of rationality (where the adjustment principle is explicitly accepted by important heterodox authors), price theory (with cost-plus pricing combined to some long-run adjustment), growth theory (where the Kaleckian model has been adopted by authors from all schools), and finally monetary theory (where authors from all backgrounds are successfully integrating real and monetary analysis by taking into account financial markets). The author concludes that mutual feedback between the various heterodox currents has been beneficial to all, despite an unavoidable hyper-specialisation.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluate political economics in three fields: political business cycles, integration and secession, and constitutional political economy, and find that political economics has contributed substantially to the first, but little to the second and the third, where it sticks to the world of planning and benevolent dictators.
Abstract: JEL: P48, B50, D72, E6 Abstract: Political economics, like public choice, is defined as the economic analysis of politics. But its exponents claim that political economics is not a complement, but the successor of public choice, a new paradigm replacing the public-choice approach. We evaluate this claim of political economics in three fields: political business cycles, integration and secession, and constitutional political economy. We find that political economics has contributed substantially to the first, but little to the second and the third, where it sticks to the world of planning and benevolent dictators. Hence the public-choice paradigm emerges strengthened from its dispute with political economics.
TL;DR: This paper argued that economics is not a perfect selection mechanism that preserves each and every economic idea that is valid and useful and jettisons all ideas that are not, and therefore the task of the history of economic thought cannot be limited to the study of the past from the present state of economics.
Abstract: The paper argues that economics is not a perfect selection mechanism that preserves each and every economic idea that is valid and useful and jettisons all ideas that are not. The teleological view of the subject cannot be sustained. Therefore the task of the history of economic thought cannot be limited to the study of the past from the present state of economics. Another important task is to study the present state of economics from the standpoint of past authors in order to see what has been gained and what lost in the course of time. The history of the subject is a treasure trove of ideas. The history of economic thought may play a useful role by preserving valuable ideas which otherwise would fall into oblivion. To foster the subject is therefore also in the interest of general economists.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors survey the theoretical economic literature on the aid donor-recipient relationship and show that economic theory can improve the design of cooperation modalities by aligning the incentives of donors and recipients for poverty reduction, but that policy analysis must take into account the constraints faced by stakeholders in the aid relationship.
Abstract: This paper surveys the theoretical economic literature on foreign aid-in particular, the aid donor-recipient relationship. Economic theory, especially new institutional economics, can be very helpful in understanding foreign aid relationships-especially the incentive problems involved-and in designing institutions to improve aid effectiveness. In particular, it helps in understanding the chain of principal-agent relations inherent in the aid delivery system and the resulting potential for agency problems. The survey shows that economic theory can improve the design of cooperation modalities by aligning the incentives of donors and recipients for poverty reduction, but that, in order to address the problems, policy analysis must take into account the constraints faced by stakeholders in the aid relationship. The aid 'contract' should thus seek to improve the agents' incentives to use aid effectively, given the circumstances of the developing country. Copyright © 2006 The Author Journal compilation © 2006 Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd..
TL;DR: In this paper, the core economic principles to be implemented for protected transactions in developing and transitional countries to trigger economic development are discussed, and two approaches have been developed which claim to answer this question: (i) the theory of property rights, or new institutional economics, originating from Armen Alchian (1977) and Harold Demsetz (1967; see also Alanchian and Demsettz 1973) and developed by Nobel laureate Douglass C. North (1973, with Robert P. Thomas, see also North 1981 and 1990)1 and (ii) the property-
Abstract: 'What are the core economic principles to be implemented for protected transactions in developing and transitional countries to trigger economic development? In recent decades, two approaches have been developed which claim to answer this question: (i) the theory of property rights, or new institutional economics, originating from Armen Alchian (1977) and Harold Demsetz (1967; see also Alchian and Demsetz 1973) and developed by Nobel laureate Douglass C. North (1973, with Robert P. Thomas; see also North 1981 and 1990)1 and (ii) the property-based theory of the economy, or property
Book•
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: The NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics brings together leading American and European economists to discuss a broad range of current issues in global macroeconomics as mentioned in this paper, including the European Monetary Union.
Abstract: The NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics brings together leading American and European economists to discuss a broad range of current issues in global macroeconomics. An international companion to the more American-focused NBER Macroeconomics Annual, the 2005 volume first explores macroeconomic issues of interest to all advanced economies, then analyzes topical questions concerning the eastward expansion of the European Monetary Union.Jeffrey A. Frankel is James W. Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Economic Growth at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Christopher A. Pissarides is Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics. Both are Research Associates at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Book•
17 Jul 2006
TL;DR: A-Z Glossary of Terms in International Economics Picture Gallery: Edgeworth Production Box IS-LM-BP Diagram Lerner Diagram Trade and Transformation Curve Diagram offer curve Diagram lists of terms in international economics by Subject: Arguments for Protection Commodity Agreements Effects Empirical Findings Fragmentation: Terms and Types GATT Articles Indexes Memberships Models Nontariff Barriers Paradoxes Preferential Trading Arrangements Techniques of Analysis Theoretical Propositions Trade Disputes Trade Rounds United Nations Organizations United States Government Units Origin of Certain Key Terms in
Abstract: A-Z Glossary of Terms in International Economics Picture Gallery: Edgeworth Production Box IS-LM-BP Diagram Lerner Diagram Trade and Transformation Curve Diagram Offer Curve Diagram Lists of Terms in International Economics by Subject: Arguments for Protection Commodity Agreements Effects Empirical Findings Fragmentation: Terms and Types GATT Articles Indexes Memberships Models Nontariff Barriers Paradoxes Preferential Trading Arrangements Techniques of Analysis Theoretical Propositions Trade Disputes Trade Rounds United Nations Organizations United States Government Units Origin of Certain Key Terms in International Economics
Posted Content•
TL;DR: Machin and Vignoles as mentioned in this paper have published a paper on the Centre for the Economics of Education, which is an independent research centre funded by the Department for Education and Skills.
Abstract: Published by Centre for the Economics of Education London School of Economics Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE © Stephen Machin and Anna Vignoles, submitted December 2005 ISBN 07530 1853 5 Individual copy price: £5 The Centre for the Economics of Education is an independent research centre funded by the Department for Education and Skills. The views expressed in this work are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the DfES. All errors and omissions remain the authors.
TL;DR: This article found that the marginalization of the history of economics is associated with the true belief of mainstream economists that heterodox economics and the history-of-economics are connected projects.
Abstract: Most discussions of relationship between the history of economics and economics have been a-historical. That is, if to write history is to write context, we have had virtually no historical narrative examining the break in the history-economics connection that we observe today. This paper provides that contextualization. Its main conclusion is that the marginalization of the history of economics is associated with the true belief of mainstream economists that heterodox economics and the history of economics are connected projects.
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, a tentative theory of the phenomenon of institutional entrepreneurship inspired by an actor-network theory is tested on two other cases described in brief, and analyzes its founders and its supporters during crises as institutional entrepreneurs.
Abstract: In the present text, an institution is understood to be an (observable) pattern of collective action, justified by a corresponding social norm. By this definition, an institution emerges slowly, although it may be helped or hindered by various specific acts. From this perspective, an institutional entrepreneur is an oxymoron, at least in principle. In practice, however, there are and always have been people trying to create institutions. This paper describes the emergence of London School of Economics and Political Science as an institution and analyzes its founders and its supporters during crises as institutional entrepreneurs. A tentative theory of the phenomenon of institutional entrepreneurship inspired by an actor-network theory is then tested on two other cases described in brief.
TL;DR: In contrast to Christianity's merchant-thrashing Jesus, the Prophet Muhammad was a trader, and the Qur'an abounds with commercial imagery as discussed by the authors, which is among the most marketfriendly of all the world religions.
Abstract: B y any measure, the scriptural and early historical legacy of Islam is among the most marketfriendly of all the world religions. In contrast to Christianity's merchant-thrashing Jesus, the Prophet Muhammad was a trader, and the Qur'an abounds with commercial imagery. Islam's holy book enjoins believers to engage in trade in a spirit of goodwill (4:29), faithfully fulfill contractual obligations (5:1; 16:91), and behave in a manner that recognizes the importance of private property and uncoerced exchange. The first three centuries of the great Islamic expansion are recognized as having been an age of unprecedented commercial growth. By the tenth century, Muslim merchants and jurists had developed credit and investment institutions that were among the most advanced in all of Eurasia. Although the late Middle Ages (12501500) saw a decline in the Middle East's economic dynamism, the period was followed by a commercial boom in the Muslim-dominated Indian ocean. There Muslim merchants created the world's largest and most lucrative trade emporium, a vast network that tied coastal East Africa, southern Arabia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia into a vast trading zone. In the Southeast Asian wing of this trade oecumene, the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries saw the development of an independent merchant class that, like its counterpart in Renaissance Europe, patronized the arts, promoted individualized styles of religiosity, and even sought to curb the authority of rulers. Notwithstanding these precedents, Muslim civilization never developed the banks or other corporate instruments so central to the development of modern capitalism in the West. Muslim civilization's relative decline was visible in other spheres as well. By the twelfth century, the Muslim world's \"colleges\" (madrasas) had institutionalized a curriculum that, with the exception of schools in Iran and northern India, banished science and Hellenistic philosophy from religious education. By the fifteenth century, the Muslim world's proud tradition of astronomy, physics, and mathematics had begun to lag behind that of Western Europe. When, in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Europeans challenged the world's three powerful Muslim empires, the Ottoman, Safavid-Iran, and Mughal India, Muslim observers were startled to realize that their once self-sufficient societies had fallen far behind those of the West.
Posted Content•
TL;DR: Tanimoto et al. as discussed by the authors explored Japan's industrialization from the perspective of "indigenous development", focusing on what may be identified as "traditional" or 'indigenous" factors.
Abstract: This volume explores Japan's industrialization from the perspective of "indigenous development", focusing on what may be identified as "traditional" or "indigenous" factors. Japanese industrialization has often been described as the process of transferring or importing technology and organization from Western countries. Recent research has, however, shown that economic development had already begun in pre-modern period (Tokugawa-era) in Japan. This economic development not only prepared Japan for the transfer from the West, but also formed the basis of the particular industrialization process which paralleled transplanted industrialization in modern Japan. The aim of the volume is to demonstrate this aspect of industrialization through the detailed studies of so-called "indigenous" industries. This collection of papers looks at the industries originating in the Tokugawa-era, such as weaving, silk-reeling and pottery, as well as the newly developed small workshops engaged in manufacturing machinery, soap, brash, buttons, etc. Small businesses in the tertiary sector, transportation and commerce, are also observed. Available for the first time in English, these papers shed new light on the role of "indigenous development" and our understanding of the dualistic character of Japan's economic development. Contributors to this volume - Masayuki Tanimoto, Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo Takanori Matsumoto, Faculty of Economics, Seikei University, Tokyo Johzen Takeuchi, Graduate School of Economics, Nagoya University, Aichi Satoshi Matsumura, Faculty of Economics, Kanagawa University, Kanagawa Jun Sasaki, Faculty of Economics, Ryukoku University, Kyoto Jun Suzuki, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, University of Tokyo, Tokyo Kazuhiro Omori, Faculty of Manegement, Aichi Gakusen University, Aich Masaki Nakabayashi, Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University, Osaka Takehisa Yamada, Faculty of Business Administration, Tezukayama University, Nara Hisami Matsuzaki, Urawa Junior College, Saitama Futoshi Yamauchi, Nagano College of Economics, Nagano