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Amartya Sen is often described as an insightful critic of mainstream economics, and in particular, his work in development economics, alongside the construction of the capabilities approach, has been associated with endeavors to revisit both the theory and practice of the discipline. Despite his in-depth criticisms of certain aspects of mainstream economics, Sen's extensive use of formal methods is suggestive of an ontological tension, one identified by Thorstein Veblen when commenting on some of his contemporaries and originally introducing the term "neoclassical." Veblen argued that the work of these economists involved both an implicit recognition of a causal processual social ontology he associated with modern, thoroughly evolutionary, approaches and a commitment to a taxonomic conception of science—the latter relying on a set of methods that presupposed an associationist ontology of event regularities. For Veblen, the adherence to taxonomic methods was the classical feature of their work, and the commitment to an evolutionary viewpoint was the neo aspect. This article argues that the same tension runs through Sen's contributions and that he is neoclassical in this specifically Veblenian sense. The assessment of the ontological inconsistencies in Sen's work is shown to shed light on its reception within the economics academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a relational theoretical model of economic organization that offers new insight into the organizing dynamics of economic systems. Neoclassical and complexity economics are, in their Western cultural origins, based on an assumption of the primacy of the discrete individual. Collectivist economic traditions are based on the principle of collective interest rather than self-interest. We attempt a rapprochement of individualist (especially free market) and collectivist (especially centrally planned) economic cultures and traditions by modelling economic organization as arising from individual and collective dynamics and the relationships between them. Structure, process, function, and content are four fundamental inter-related properties of our model of economic organization. We posit the existence of micro, meso, macro scales of economic organization in all of structure, process, function, and contents. To operationalize our relational model, the conventional bottom-up process of self-organization is reconceived to involve relationships within micro-, meso-, and macro-economic organization. In turn, the new concept of socio-cultural organization is construed to involve relationships between and among economic organization, across micro, meso, and macro scales. Our model of relations provides a structure for complex-realist exploration, making cross-scale inter-relationships explicit and by providing a structured language for description of these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliance of current economic systems on economic growth is increasingly being questioned by academics and environmental organizations in the context of the climate emergency and rising social inequalities and conflicts. While political backing for post-growth initiatives has been limited to date, advocacy work by the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) aims to shift narratives around the purpose of the economy away from a focus on economic growth. WEAll also facilitated the formation of the Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGos). Early research in the field indicates that while WEGos have made some steps toward adopting wellbeing economy narratives, limitations to full adoption remain. What these barriers consist of remains poorly understood by researchers. With the aim to contribute to research on understanding (barriers to) social transformation, this article compares the wellbeing economy narratives that WEAll and WEGos have adopted and then examines reasons for differences between them. We find that disparities in narratives exist: while WEAll promotes the deprioritization of economic growth as a policy objective and criticizes capitalism, WEGos remains more narrowly focused on complementing GDP as a measure of performance with other indicators. The dominance of neoclassical economics training within policymaking institutions, siloed and short-termist approaches to policymaking, and the role of vested interests emerged as the main barriers to the adoption of more radical wellbeing economy narratives among WEGos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines causal relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and economic growth in Tanzania during 1990–2020. As financial development and trade were not incorporated in extant studies, we included them as intermediate variables because of their intermediation role in this study. FDI inflow is considered an important economic growth catalyst in developing economies. Neoclassical growth theories claim that it enhances economic growth by augmenting capital stock and technology. According to the neoclassical theories, FDI does not enhance the long-run growth rate but instead is related to the level of output. However, empirical evidence is rather mixed, with some supporting the neoclassical theoretical views on economic growth, while others opposing them. We employ the autoregressive distributed lag model and Granger causality tests to analyze the relationship. The results indicate that there exists a long-run relationship among the variables under considerations in Tanzania. Furthermore, the finding reveals positive and statistically significant unidirectional causality running from FDI inflow to economic growth in Tanzania in the long and short run. Hence, we conclude that Tanzania should emphasize FDI-led growth policies to enhance economic growth to realize the desired economic objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise multi-scenario projections of future economic outputs based on localised interpretations of global scenarios and major growth drivers are important for understanding long-term economic changes. However, few studies have focussed on localised interpretations, and many assume regional uniformity or use key parameters that are recursive or extrapolated by mathematical methods. This study provides a more intuitive and robust economic framework for projecting regional economic growth based on a neoclassical economic model and shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) scenarios. A non-uniform version of SSP2 (the middle-of-the-road scenario) was developed, and more detailed population projections for China were adopted using municipal-level data for 340 districts and parameter settings based on China's recent development. The results show that China's GDP will vary substantially across SSPs by 2050. Per capita GDP ranges from 19,300 USD under SSP3 (fragmentation) to 41,100 USD under SSP5 (conventional development). Per capita GDP under SSP1 (sustainability) is slightly higher than under SSP2, but lower on average than under SSP5. However, SSP1 is a better choice overall because environmental quality and equity are higher. Per capita GDP growth will generally be higher in relatively low-income regions by 2050, and the upper-middle-income provinces will become China's new engine for economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterodox economics emerged because of dissatisfaction with the high level of abstraction of neoclassical economics and its excessive reliance on mathematical modelling. Instead of ontological and epistemological references to the natural sciences, heterodox economists turn their attention to the social sciences and biology. The article aims to contribute to the discussion of methodology of heterodox economics and original institutionalism in particular. It explores the potential of content analysis for empirically oriented research in heterodox economics. Content analysis is widely used in the social sciences (sociology, linguistics, political sciences, legal studies) to analyze qualitative data (texts, images, videos) but is relatively unknown to heterodox economists. Content analysis takes several forms: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. It is argued that content analysis is not only compatible with the methodology of heterodox economics through critical realism but has a potential to contribute to its further development. With the help of content analysis, heterodox economists would be better equipped to collect and process qualitative data that prevail in social realms. A content analysis of a sample of articles published in Journal of Economic Issues (N = 763) in 1967–1969 and 2010–2019 informs the discussion of applications of content analysis to heterodox economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often argued that Richard Nelson and Sydney Winter's evolutionary theory is an alternative to neoclassical economics and is compatible with or complementary to Veblenian evolutionary economics. This article subjects such arguments to critical examination. I argue that while Nelson and Winter's theory provides a more realistic account of the firm behavior than Marshallian-neoclassical theory does, it is a neoclassical evolutionary theory in much the same sense as Marshall's economics is quasi-evolutionary, "neo-classical" economics according to Veblen. Therefore, Nelson and Winter's evolutionary theory is in fact a protective modification of neoclassical economics and is antithetical to Veblen's evolutionary economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]