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We start from Robinson's article on Harrod's Dynamic Economics and her criticism that technological change was exogenous: 'in Mr. Harrod's world, technical progress falls like the gentle dew from heaven and is not susceptible to any economic influence'. Throughout her work she highlighted the endogenous sources of technological progress and growth and pre-empted both the National Systems of Innovation (NSI) literature and New Growth Theory (NGT), where the latter (NGT) appears to be neither new, nor able to explain innovation, growth and convergence trajectories. We also show that the productivity slowdown in advanced economies is explained by a fall in the wage share, a drop in the rate of accumulation of capital and prioritisation of incentives for R&D over policy instruments to diffuse innovation. While for developing economies, the failure of neoclassical economics to resolve the paradox of promoting market incentives for diffusion, while protecting intellectual property rights, implies an inevitable slowing of convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically evaluates the liberal-humanist critique of neoclassical microeconomics and shareholder-driven corporate governance to articulate a more realistic cooperativist– humanist organisational philosophy of practice. Through an engagement with pluralist heterodox economics, it attempts to reconcile with contemporary concerns and philosophical developments around social ecology and care ethics. Our specific contribution is to develop a microfoundational complement to the macro-relational analysis of leading radical philosophical and political-economic thinkers on the Latin American left. In particular, the worker-inclusive multistakeholder cooperative (MSC) form is arrived at as the ideal firm-level organisation through which to promote diverse human (and non-human) dignity, understood through the lens of an affective-relational ethics of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing consensus that modern capitalist economies suffer from excessive rent extraction in both financial and real economy sectors. However, scholars have yet to develop a coherent analytical framework for identifying the common characteristics of modern economic rents. In particular, there has been little attention paid to distinguishing 'good' rents—key to innovation and growth—from 'bad' forms which contribute to economic stagnation and inequalities of wealth and income. This paper takes some first steps in this direction. We first review the existing rent theory most pertinent to this distinction, including classical political economy, the early twentieth century institutionalists, neoclassical perspectives and Keynes's analysis of financial rentiers. Secondly, we map and conceptualise some key stylised features of modern rents, drawing on descriptive empirical evidence. We then identify the key questions that these developments raise for rent theory, elaborating a new research and policy agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As I have argued elsewhere, there is no room for the concept of need in the prevailing neoclassical school of economics—without reducing the need to a purely subjective construct. Not so, however, both in classical political economy and in the contemporary heterodox schools of economics. The main aim of this paper is, firstly, to show the existence of the concept of need as such in Carl Menger—widely acknowledged as one of the fathers of modern economics; and secondly, to trace the concept's erasure in the orthodox school along with its rediscovery in the heterodox schools. With this exposition on the history of the idea, I hope to demonstrate how taking the concept seriously would urge us to engage ontological research and would mandate a significant change in economic analysis, regardless of whether this change is considered to reside within the orthodox tradition or be deemed a departure to heterodoxy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historians of economic thought are paying greater attention to issues of social ontology (i.e. to the assumptions that economists make about the nature of social reality). We contribute to this burgeoning literature by exploring the hitherto neglected way in which James Buchanan invoked ontological considerations, concerning in particular the nature of human choice, both in criticising neoclassical economics and also in setting out his own contributions to constitutional political economy. We focus on Buchanan's account of man as an artifactual being who has the capacity to choose the kind of person he wishes to become, in particular by selecting the kind of preferences he wishes to have and the kinds of rules under which he wishes to live. We discuss how Buchanan's thinking on this issue was shaped by Frank Knight and G. L. S. Shackle and explain why Buchanan explicitly described his argument as ontological in nature. Finally, we contend that Buchanan's approach would have benefited from further ontological elaboration, in two ways: first, because his arguments would have been stronger had he said more about the attributes of the human agent that help to secure their engagement in thinking creatively about themselves and the rules of society ('the constitutional moment'), and second because his account would benefit from a deeper discussion of the interplay between human agency and social structure, especially with regard to the question of which structures might constrain or facilitate creative choices of the kind by which he set such great store. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the conception of heterodox economics advanced by Tony Lawson in 2006 and critically assesses its reception. I consider the bearing of later contributions—most importantly, his 2013 paper 'What is this "school" called neoclassical economics'—in which Lawson further develops his analysis of heterodox economics. The goal is to provide additional clarity to the discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to offer a theoretical framework for the analysis of labour demand alternative to the neoclassical one, taking as its starting point the conception of the firm that derives from the capabilities or competence-based theories of the organization. After briefly reviewing the essential elements of this approach to the firm, we tackle a range of diverse aspects, such as the link between labour demand decisions and the firm's strategic planning and its determinants, the characterisation of labour demand as a demand for productive competencies, the consequences that these competencies are embedded in human beings or the relative independence between labour demand decision-making and the process of wage-setting. In general terms, this conception of labour demand allows us to incorporate many of the main peculiarities of labour and the demand for it from a number of different areas of heterodox economics (particularly, from institutional and post-Keynesian economics) and it fits in with the conventional literature on internal labour markets and labour market segmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the Marshallian Industrial District as it was rediscovered and further developed by Italian economists before tracing the main changes in the market and institutional context in the wake of globalization. It then focuses on some of the main transformations that have taken place in the Italian districts since the 1990s. After highlighting the important role still played by the districts in the Italian economy, the paper develops a framework for the evolutionary processes of the Marshallian Industrial District that would allow reproduction of the district in a manner suited to the era of globalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standard postulates concerning the aggregate production function are about marginal productivities and the associated demands for labour and capital. These demands are supposed to be negatively related to the factor prices, namely the wage rate and the interest rate. The theoretical cases in which these neoclassical properties fail to hold are regarded as anomalies. We compute the aggregate values for production, capital and labour and find that the neoclassical postulates do not hold for the detailed dataset that we consider. The obvious implication of this result is that the models and analysis based on the aggregate neoclassical production functions are ill founded, as they are based on something that does not exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable discussion on so-called 'mainstream pluralism', that is, on the co-presence of a variety of research programmes in today's mainstream economics that: 1. significantly deviate from the neoclassical core; 2. are pursued by different, often separate communities of researchers; and 3. have their origins outside economics. The literature tends to regard mainstream pluralism as a transitory state towards a new, post-neoclassical, mainstream. This paper advances a new interpretation: it suggests that the changing and fragmented state of mainstream economics is likely to persist over time under the impact of specialization (as a self-reinforcing mechanism) and the creation of new specialties and approaches, also through collaboration with researchers from other disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implicitly, the Socialist Calculation Debate is about the connection between neoclassical theory and reality. It involves several ontological presuppositions, with wide-ranging implications. Our purpose is to discuss one of these presuppositions. We want to scrutinise the conception, implicit in the 'market socialist' arguments, that things have economic roles or functions independently of the social environment in which they exist. Primary factors and techniques of production are taken to exist independently of social arrangements; jointly with consumer preferences, they are supposed to define the economic problem of a community. In criticising this conception, we borrow from F. A. Hayek, complementing his reflections with those of Donald Davidson, Tony Lawson and others. We also discuss a second problem, which follows directly from the first: if, in contrast with the market socialists' conception, the economic roles of things depend holistically on complex social processes, how can we compare alternative forms of economic organisation? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies extensive connections between Adam Smith's and William James's accounts of the psychological basis of intellectual, material and moral progress. These connections are brought into focus through discussion of their shared circumspection towards claims to objective truth, which highlights Smith's distance from mainstream interpretations of his contributions to economics. The paper additionally argues that insight into the sustained emphases that Smith and James place upon the role of psychological satisfaction as a motivating factor in societal and personal progress can aid current efforts to draw upon their work and to reconcile the disciplines that they are widely credited with founding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We draw on the seminal contribution to economics by Luigi Pasinetti, respond to his call to reverse what he saw as the 'original sin' of classical economists exacerbated by neoclassical economists, namely the assumption of non-increasing returns to scale, and move towards building a post-classical economics. We outline the contours of a post-classical framework that draws on key themes and contributions from Pasinetti on learning, technical progress, increasing returns, resource creation, trade and catching up, and contributions from within and without economics that are in line with, lend support to and challenge it. We advocate the pressing need and opportune timing for a concerted effort to revitalise ideas from the once vibrant 'Cambridge School' of economics and help develop a fresh, more pluralist and inclusive post-classical economics that cuts across divides and opens up opportunities for a less 'dismal science'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ISLM model, introduced in 1936-37 to provide interpretations of Keynes's General Theory, subsequently emerged in its Hicks-Hansen form as the workhorse and 'trained intuition' of post-war macroeconomists. However, ISLM is an essentially orthodox model based on neoclassical foundations and fails completely as an adequate representation of central elements of Keynes's macroeconomic thought. This article proposes IYLM as a replacement for ISLM, the new model being General Theory-compatible in that it is grounded only on key propositions in that work. Its purpose is to contribute, within the constraints of a two-market framework, to the resuscitation of Keynes's macroeconomics as an alternative to the inadequacies of much current macroeconomics. The first part of the article derives the model and argues that those sympathetic to The General Theory can accept the IYLM framework whilst simultaneously rejecting ISLM. The second part shows that Hicks- Hansen ISLM is based on an income-augmented form of orthodox loanable funds theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competition is taken for granted by neoclassical economics: its cause is human nature and its functioning is the result of spontaneous interactions. As such it is contrasted with power, which is an unnatural restriction on human liberty. By contrast, Marx discusses competition as a coercive mechanism. Historically, competition develops with the development of market relations and what today appears as 'human nature' is part of this process. Thus it is within competition and not outside of it that Marx explains the coercive nature of capitalism. His critique shows that competition and power appear to be antithetical because market relations are based on individual freedom. However class relations are another essential aspect of capitalism. By neglecting these relations, neoclassical economists (including those of a 'radical' inspiration) implicitly espouse the ruling class's viewpoint, which they simply translate into rigorous mathematical terms. In this sense they are the modern expression of what Marx called the 'vulgar political economy'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marx's justification of his theory of surplus value in the face of unequal compositions of capital, by interpreting total profits as a redistribution of surplus value, is not correct in general. However, it is shown here that the equality holds if the input matrices are random and the labour theory of value holds, in a sense to be specified, on average. Manuscripts recently published for the first time confirm that to the end Marx trusted his approach to the theory of value in that he continued to use the identity of the aggregates of capital and surplus in value and in price terms. His insistence was rooted in his philosophy. An attempt is made to clarify his use of a Hegelian methodology by comparing Hegel's and Marx's approaches to the foundation of the infinitesimal calculus. The article concludes with Marx's late reconsiderations of his theory of the falling rate of profit, which also continue to be based on the equality of profit and surplus value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea that firms are more innovative under difficult external condition has no prominent place in evolutionary economics. The neo-Schumpeterians agree with Schumpeter that innovation is stimulated by positive driving forces and associated with industrial renewal through creative destruction. Also Darwinian economists shed light on opportunity factors (variation) and selection. On the other hand, in neoclassical Schumpeterian models, fierce competition and low product demand may enforce innovation and productivity increases in established firms. An orthodox Schumpeterian tradition even maintains that innovation in depression is the cause of the following recovery. But the orthodox Schumpeterians are as reluctant as the neoclassical Schumpeterians to elaborate the underlying psychological mechanism. In the theory of transformation pressure, firms facing an actual decline in profit are supposed to be more creative and rational, or at least more anxious to follow near-rational heuristic rules, having a positive effect as a possible over-reaction on innovation and productivity growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Famine, Irish wages caught up to those of Great Britain. Catch-up is ascribed to globalised labour markets and the effects of emigration. However current estimates of the level of Irish wages and their rate of growth are based on a small sample of the male workforce. This article presents estimates of the average wage for all wage earners and the Irish wage bill. This enables an estimate of an (implied) British average wage and wage bill. The new estimates show that although there was significant wage catch-up in a few occupations, in general catch-up was less rapid than recent studies have suggested. The origins of this catch-up are also examined. Consistent with earlier studies which emphasise modernisation of the post-Famine economy, the evidence of this article is consistent with the effects of traditional convergence forces such as TFP growth, capital accumulation and structural change operating alongside the effects of emigration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I respond to Tony Lawson's 'What is this 'School' called neoclassical economics?' Lawson's paper is provocative because it reformulates neoclassical economics, based on Veblen's original intent, as a mismatch created by recognising the value of an evolutionary approach to the economy whilst remaining over-reliant on elements of a 'taxonomic' approach. For Lawson many heterodox economists may be neoclassical under this description. I argue that there is clearly a case to be heard but that the reformulation of the neoclassical raises a number of issues. There are issues concerning the specific critique of the current usage of the term 'neoclassical'--regarding genealogy and meaning. There are specific issues regarding the further development of the new (old Veblen) definition of the neoclassical: how clear is the definition in a practical context as a way to identify a 'neoclassical group', based on the commitments of the critique and the definition, what does it mean to be 'more realistic', and what is the strategic value of such a provocation for heterodoxy? I argue that the combination of these are reasons for more consideration of issues of social ontology not less insofar as the terms of the argument are incomplete, and this invites both Lawson and those he is criticising to progress the argument, particularly on method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aggregate structural macroeconomic analysis (ASMA) is frequently criticised for being ad hoc and justified (if at all) only as a pragmatic expedient. This paper argues instead that ASMA is consistent with the principles of well-established bodies of social theory. Appeal to these principles reveals that ASMA is adequate and likely even necessary for the successful prosecution of macroeconomic inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article investigates Dennis Robertson’s effort to defend the Cambridge utilitarian tradition against the ‘new welfare economics’, developed in the 1930s and 1940s on the basis of Lionel Robbins’s influential criticism of the scientific legitimacy of interpersonal comparisons of utility. It is shown that Robertson’s sustained endeavour to rescue Marshallian cardinal utility attracted some attention from economists at the time. Robertson claimed that welfare economics should be based on cardinal utility and that the ordinalist revolution in the consumer and welfare theories should be rejected. His claims were based on a careful discussion of what he saw as theoretical inconsistencies of the ordinalist approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

What is this school called neoclassical economics? Does it exist? Should it? Where does the term ‘neoclassical economics’ come from, and is there any connection between any of the current interpretations of the term and its original meaning? How do we make sense of competing current interpretations? Is there a sustainable formulation? These and related questions are raised and answered in an attempt to bring clarity to ongoing economic discussion and debate, thereby to under-labour for a more relevant academic economics discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A postcolonial perspective in the history of economic thought reveals the ways in which racial theory was built into the foundations of neoclassical economics. Neoclassical economics emerged within the context of nineteenth-century European colonisation and this paper connects the material practices of colonisation in Australia to this emerging body of theory. In particular, the paper focuses on the Western breadwinner/dependent family ideal that was deeply embedded within economic visions of development, prosperity and progress. I argue that neoclassical economics naturalised and justified colonial practices that sought to impose the homogeneity of culture, desires and needs used to justify the displacement and subordination of the colonised Aborigines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some of the most important and urgent topics requiring economic analysis and policy advice are the problems of climate change and environmental sustainability, and what can be done to alter corporate and individual behaviour to deal with these issues. Neoclassical economists tend to focus on market solutions such as carbon trading, drawing on ideas of perfect rationality of actors and the appropriateness of ‘marginal’ analysis. To link such policies to the whole range of potential actions, from legislative and regulatory to changing individual behaviours, requires the economy and society to be analysed in its full complexity, recognising that ‘marginal’ analysis can be not just irrelevant but positively harmful when the need is for systemic shifts in economic and social trajectories. This article draws upon a seminar series on complexity economics to consider how heterodox economic analysis can be brought to bear on the issue of the environment, to develop a realistic policy agenda for change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One of the more debated interpretations of the economic crisis that started in 2007–08 is based on the ‘Taylor rule’ equation, namely the idea that over the period 2002–05 the Fed has implemented a low-interest policy that has led to the housing bubble and finally to the ‘Great Recession’. This paper shows that the Taylor rule equation not only rests on the so-called ‘new consensus macroeconomics’, but also on the neoclassical theory of growth. The various criticisms raised against these theoretical foundations suggest that interpretations of the Great Recession based on the Taylor rule equation are building their arguments on shaky theoretical premises. Furthermore, this paper shows that an equation formally similar but logically alternative to the Taylor rule can be regarded as the expression of a general condition of solvency of firms and workers. According to this ‘solvency rule’ the prevailing outcome of monetary policy decisions is the ‘regulation’ of insolvencies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers the author's insights on the condition of the capital controversy as of 2012. He highlights the ideas by Italian economist Piero Sraffa on the topic, which have been written in his book "Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities." He also discusses the concept of capital endowment and neoclassical theory's key points.

How do ecological and heterodox economists differ, if at all, from each other and from neoclassical economists addressing environmental problems? In 2009 we probed this question by conducting an international survey across these communities, namely at conferences of the European Society for Ecological Economics, the Association for Heterodox Economics, and the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. The research was designed to gain insight into the extent to which ecological economics can be described as heterodox and a distinct field from orthodox environmental and resource economics. Conflicting visions of ecological economics have led to a prevalence of neoclassical articles and thought mixed in amongst more heterodox work. We introduce a novel classification of work in the field of environmental policy in order to test for the existence of differences in terms of methodological and ideological approaches. How heterodox economists understand environmental issues is also an important question to answer if there is to be more collaboration between them and ecological economists. The findings have implications for cooperation and the future direction of both ecological and heterodox economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the release of Treasury papers from the 1970s under the 30-year rule we have a much more complete picture of the dispute in the 1970s between the Treasury and the Cambridge Economic Policy Group (CEPG), especially given the role of three Cambridge economists—Nicholas Kaldor, Wynne Godley and Francis Cripps—as ministerial advisers at the time. The records show some eventual closing of the gap between the Treasury and the CEPG regarding the latter’s proposition of stable private-sector NAFA (where NAFA stands for net acquisition of private sector assets) and its implications for demand management and the balance of payments. In contrast, the initial differences on counterinflation policy and, above all, on import controls versus free trade were wider at the end of the decade than at the start of it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The severity of the financial meltdown in September 2008 was such as to trigger major innovations in US public policy, including the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Quantitative Easing, the Home Affordable Mortgage Program, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The greater public spending associated with many of these changes was initially widely supported, but has now become the subject of sustained criticism from conservative economists and politicians whose self-confidence has rapidly recovered from the blow initially rendered to it by the financial meltdown. After the 2010 midterm elections, with control of the House of Representatives returned to fiscally conservative Republican legislators, deficit reduction emerged as the dominant issue in Washington politics, constraining the capacity of the White House to effectively pursue further stimulus spending. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

(Reviewing: Great Thinker in Economics, Series Editor, A. P. Thirlwall, selection consisting of P. Groenewegen, Alfred Marshall, 2007; P. Davidson, John Maynard Keynes, 2007, 2009; G. Fletcher, Dennis Robertson, 2008; A. Roncaglia, Piero Sraffa, 2009; G. C. Harcourt and P. Kerr, Joan Robinson, 2009; J. E. King, Nicholas Kaldor, 2009, Palgrave Macmillan)Six volumes in the Great Thinker in Economics Series were chosen by the Editors for this review, which focuses on The Cambridge School of Economics, so very different from the mainstream theory of general economic equilibrium which gives formal expression to Lionel Robbins’ famous definition of the subject as the allocation of scarce means among alternative uses. In recognition of a distinct Cambridge School, the authors of these volumes present a variety of arguments within which three overlapping themes can be discerned: the relationship between ethics and economics; the role of stocks and flows in economic analysis; and the epistemic problem surrounding the role of creativity, which has eluded the skills of formalists. The once pervasive influence of Alfred Marshall, John Maynard Keynes, Dennis Robertson, Piero Sraffa, Joan Robinson and Nicholas Kaldor can only be recovered with some such set of general themes in mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioural and experimental economics are part of an increasingly pluralistic mainstream economics, sharing with other recently established research programmes the revision of fundamental assumptions of the previously dominant neoclassical economics research programme. The recent proliferation and consolidation of these new approaches creates the possibility for the emergence of a new orthodoxy of economics, i.e. a new general research programme capable of replacing neoclassicism. The goal of this paper is to investigate the potential contribution of behavioural and experimental economics to help build a general research programme capable of supplanting neoclassical economics and thereby transforming economics. To this end, it focuses on two influential applied fields of behavioural and experimental economics—choice architecture and design economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that classical-Marxian models of economic growth are similar to neoclassical models in neglecting the role of aggregate demand, either by omitting aggregate demand issues altogether or by relegating the role of aggregate demand to the short run. By reviewing the writings of classical-Marxian authors and by examining recent contributions to the classical-Marxian literature, it discusses the implicit assumptions that allow these theories to neglect the role of aggregate demand by examining alternative growth theories in which aggregate demand has a major role to play. It also assesses to what extent classical-Marxian economists are justified in neglecting aggregate demand as a determinant of long-run growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the proposition that situation is the determinant of selection and valuation. It investigates the ways in which various types of situation dictate selections and valuations and contrasts this process with the marginal model of economic theory. Rational and behavioural approaches to theory are compared. It is suggested that situation-related selection provides a more realistic account of consumer selection than neoclassical theory. The ‘situations’ that govern choice are seen as established through a process of ‘support-bargaining’, whereby individuals adjust their behaviour and opinions to gain the support of those around them. This process forms also the abstract ‘situations’ embodied in theories about the nature of the world and society. The individualism of neoclassical theory is displaced in the process of support-bargaining. The idea of support-bargaining focuses attention on the dependence of neoclassical theory on support to offset its fundamental faults. It is suggested that it be replaced with the theory of support-bargaining and associated situation-related selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rao suggests that the Rowan demand curve does not exist but that result is obtained through treating the system as a simultaneous equation problem that will inevitably obtain the standard aggregate demand (AD) result. The Rowan procedure is a conditional function that makes planned AD conditional on planned aggregate supply (AS)—a quintessential Keynesian process. This results in an AS-dependent AD curve that is upward sloping. This system can be shown to be stable, have a firm connection to measures of national income accounting without dependence on notions of equilibrium and implications for econometric estimations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the origin and evolution of the concept of the industrial district. The idea of industrial district is quite widespread in modern industrial economics and in business studies, with a variety of meanings and typologies. Indeed the real original conceptualisation dates back to Alfred Marshall and the economists of the so-called Cambridge school. Quite often the concept of industrial district is considered as synonymous with agglomeration, localisation and clustering. But, according to the meaning given originally by Marshall, these processes of industry `territorialisation' are quite different from the more `compound localisation' that is the Marshallian industrial district. Therefore, the aim of our contribution is focused on disentangling its original meaning from other subsequent interpretations, referring particularly to the debate on this subject that arose among the economists of the Cambridge School. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoclassical theoretical approaches dominate modern health economics. However, the peculiarities of healthcare provision are so unusual that neoclassical theory is especially unsuited to the area. Even mainstream health economists often abandon Paretian welfare considerations to focus on needs instead. Problems relating to uncertainty and externalities are also widely acknowledged. This article shows that there are additional important pecularities of healthcare that are relatively neglected in the literature. Some of these concern healthcare needs: while health itself is a universal need, needs for healthcare provision are largely involuntary, varied and idiosyncratic. These issues have important consequences for the planning of healthcare systems and the extent of transaction costs in any market-based system. These factors, combined with the inherent dynamism of modern healthcare needs and capabilities, make institutional and evolutionary approaches especially suitable for healthcare economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cesaratto's critique of the neoclassical approach to pension reform is valuable, but he has overextended his argument in applying it to proposals to use pre-funding as a mechanism for achieving greater public ownership and for redistributing wealth progressively. The fiscal surpluses needed to pre-fund the public pension system could increase investment, provided that they are offset by an appropriately stimulating monetary policy. The post-Keynesian investment literature descending from Kalecki's principle of increasing risk motivates on non-neoclassical grounds the interest sensitivity of investment required to make this policy mix effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keynes distinguishes three concepts: voluntary, frictional and (Keynesian) involuntary unemployment. Frictional unemployment is a Classical form of involuntary unemployment (not voluntary, as Lucas suggests), and reflects the Marshallian, rather than Walrasian, treatment of time and equilibrium. Lucas contradicts both Keynes and Pigou in asserting that there are always immediate vacancies for unskilled labour, and abstracts from the very problem that Keynes seeks to address. If voluntary unemployment is re-defined appropriately, as De Vroey helpfully suggests elsewhere, the prefix 'involuntary' is dispensable, not because all unemployment is voluntary, as Lucas would have it, but because it is all involuntary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for an explicit engagement of political economy with values, and presents a number of criticisms of the ethical limitations of both markets and neoclassical economics. Neoclassical theory is unlikely to be able to take on board this critique because of its commitment to Homo economicus and the ideal of the market. But this is not the case for political economy in the tradition of post-Keynesianism, Marxism and institutionalism. The reason why political economy has not exploited this advantage to any great extent has to do with the fear of many political economists that an engagement with values necessarily diminishes the scientific status of their approach. The paper presents six theses in order to convince them that this fear is fundamentally misconceived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From an evolutionary perspective, the role of public policy extends far beyond the mere correction of market failures emphasised by neoclassical economics. Public policy may facilitate the market process. It may also guide the market process (in the case of multiple equilibria). The state can finally play a more creative role by allowing private agents to satisfy individually or collectively certain goals unattainable through market forces alone. However, this paper shows that although the scope of useful public policies is broader in an evolutionary approach than in neoclassical economics, the government's ability to direct the evolution of the economic system is highly limited. This paper also tries to formulate certain normative criteria which could act as public policy guidelines in an evolutionary perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses highly formalized models of union behavior within neoclassical economics. Argument that most goals pursued by the unions can be reduced to a wage-employment trade-off; Fact that these goals are not supported by extensive empirical evidence; Results of the survey and how they present convincing evidence that standard neoclassical models do not adequately capture union bargaining behavior or union goals.

Examines the standard Marshallian explanation of individual consumption choices. Assessment of utility-based and individualistic explanations of demand; Focus on the classical theory of value and distribution; Theoretical difficulties detected in Marshallian economics.

Focuses on the revival of neoclassical growth theory through Endogenous Growth Theory in relation to savings and economic growth. Dependence of neoclassical economics economic growth on savings; Impact of savings on marginal productivity; Generation of social resources as the source of economic growth.

Presents a study which seeks to explain the importance of the Marshallian concept of normality in the evolution of supply curves and the price mechanism in time, referencing the book `Principles,' by A. Marshall. Identification of the relationship between normality and the coordination mechanism in J. Kornai's ex post approach; Distinction between normal value and market value; How normal demand price and supply price should be represented.

Focuses on the Sraffian critique of neoclassical economics. Marshallian upward-sloping output; Duality theory and produced means of production; `Ceteris paribus' assumption; Identification of commodities as inputs or outputs.

Argues that Piero Sraffa's work implies a criticism not simply of the neoclassical theory of value but of the whole construction of the problem that the neoclassical theory of value was intended to solve. Sraffa's theoretical reflections on neoclassical economics; `Natural prices' serving as `centers of gravitation'.

Presents a progress report on the feminist economics agenda. Challenges for neoclassical economics; Relationship between feminist and other challenges to the neoclassical framework; Documenting the well-being of women; Policies to promote equity; Research free from androcentric bias.

Comments on the problems in reconciling Neoclassical and Marxian models of production. Basis of comparison between alternative economic theories; Differences in the approaches to unemployment; Discussions on the theory of discrimination.

Explores the use of neoclassical theory in dealing with the investment and financing decisions of individuals and firms. Impact of risk aversion and uncertainty on demand and unemployment; Behavior of the capitalist systems; Basis of the theory on individuals maximizing their wealth by undertaking the investment.

Discusses the neoclassical concepts related to economics. Association of neoclassicism with continuity and change; Arguments on the neo-classical tinge of Marshallian economics; Adoption of marginalist approach in classical theory.