Search

The capitalism and slavery debate is among the most significant in world historiography. This essay suggests that its main perspectives still use nation-based approaches and employ analytical categories of classical and neoclassical economics that obscure the very notion of capital. As a result, the material relations of slavery are reduced to the problem of profitability within national or colonial contexts, an approach that depicts the nineteenth-century nexus between slavery and capitalism as a transhistorical one. Against this backdrop, this essay proposes that the rise and fall of slavery can be better understood by examining the changing material composition of capital as well as its equally changing cluster of global circuits. Based on critical value theory, it argues that industrialization consistently reshaped spatial and material relations between town and country, capital and labor, and production and consumption, engendering world geographies of accumulation that both fueled and challenged the reproduction of slave labor in the Americas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has been written about the value of law, mostly in ideational terms. In this article, I draw attention to law's pecuniary value. Law, I argue, is the very stuff from which many wealth generating, or capital, assets are made, foremost among them intangible assets that account for most of the private wealth today. For law to serve as a fountain of wealth, it must be backed by state power, and indeed, sovereign states have been more than willing to offer a helping hand. They have found intellectual support in neoclassical economics and in its off-spring, law and economics, theoretical approaches that have sought to ground law in the scientific analysis of the economy, in efficiency rather than in justice. In doing so, they have averted their eyes from the fact that the most critical source for wealth, that is law, is itself of the state and should be subject to social norms enshrined in our constitutions, not abstract welfarism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical demonstrations that people's behavior often deviates from predictions of models based on the assumption of coherent preferences highlight the possibility that people's choices systematically misrepresent what they genuinely want. Thus, the concept of welfare as preference satisfaction becomes more questionable than ever. The essay addresses the alternative to neoclassical welfare economics proposed by the libertarian paternalists. It shows the centrality of the idea of 'true preferences' for the libertarian paternalist program. However, the existing proposals on how to uncover true preferences are found lacking. This effectively undercuts the idea that the government could intervene in a transparent, non-arbitrary fashion to correct 'behavioral market failures.' The essay concludes with a plea to the benevolent policy-makers to retain a humble, skeptical attitude towards the use of tools of psychological manipulation which is legitimized by vague welfare criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German government aims to achieve virtually climate-neutral building stock by 2050 to tackle climate change. To realise this goal, comprehensive policy packages based on neoclassical economic theory are in place to foster energy efficiency investment. However, in the building sector, there is increasingly a gap between this aspiration and the reality. It is claimed that one of the main reasons for this is that the existing policy framework fails to address the specific characteristics and needs of different groups of building owners. This is a particular challenge in Germany, where 80% of all dwellings are owned privately and 37% are rented out by small private landlords (SPL). Despite the significant numbers of SPL, they often follow black box decision-making processes when considering energy renovations. In this study, the author uses an explanatory model to understand the decision-making processes of SPL, combining theoretical aspects from different research disciplines. This model was applied to a low-demand housing market in a neighbourhood in the Ruhr area. Eighteen semi-structured interviews (each lasting between 37 and 115 min) were conducted, demonstrating that in addition to economic factors, the values, beliefs, norms and routines of SPL—as well as their personal capabilities and contextual factors—play an important role in their decision-making. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for enhancing the effectiveness of existing energy efficiency policies and other supporting instruments (e.g. tenancy law and social legislation), tailored to the specific needs of SPL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reexamines the prevailing perception of traditional economics as the science of rational choice among contemporary economists and sociologists, especially rational choice theorists. It proposes that conventional economics is not exclusively the theory of rational choice but also one of irrational choices in the economy. The article aims to contribute toward a fuller understanding and appreciation of classical and neoclassical economics, especially among sociologists, as composite rational choice-irrational choice theory and in that sense a multi- rather than single-paradigm science, thus no different from sociology and other social (and physical) sciences. This may be relevant or interesting to sociologists given that their rational choice colleagues, like economists, extol the “virtues" of conventional and modern economics as a single-paradigm, theoretically unified science around “rational choice” and criticize the “vices” of sociology as plagued by competing paradigms and theoretical disunity. The article supports many economic sociologists’ view or intuition of conventional economics as complex rational-irrational choice theory and multi-paradigm science, and disconfirms rational choice theorists’ interpretation and generalization of it as “rational choice theory” only and single-paradigm unified science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ariane Fischer, David Woodruff, and Johanna Bockman have translated Karl Polanyi's 'Sozialistische Rechnungslegung' ['Socialist Accounting'] from 1922. In this article, Polanyi laid out his model of a future socialism, a world in which the economy is subordinated to society. Polanyi described the nature of this society and a kind of socialism that he would remain committed to his entire life. Accompanying the translation is the preface titled 'Socialism and the embedded economy.' In the preface, Bockman explains the historical context of the article and its significance to the socialist calculation debate, the social sciences, and socialism more broadly. Based on her reading of the accounting and society that Polanyi offers here, Bockman argues that scholars have too narrowly used Polanyi's work to support the Keynesian welfare state to the exclusion of other institutions, have too broadly used his work to study social institutions indiscriminately, and have not recognized that his work shares fundamental commonalities with and often unacknowledged distinctions from neoclassical economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study begins with a brief presentation of the Neoclassical Model of economic growth and continues with the inclusion of two additional variables that affect welfare in opposing ways: pollution and abatement expenditures. The optimal steady-state conditions are derived allowing for a preliminary comparison of the resulting balanced growth paths under the criterion of welfare maximization with and without environmental externalities. Finally, using a balanced panel data of 43 countries and for the time period 1990-2011 we test the validity of including the environment in the neoclassical growth model approximating pollution abatement with the electricity production from renewable sources and pollution with carbon dioxide emissions. With the help of adequate econometric panel data methods we test the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for the full sample, as well as for the OECD and non-OECD countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay outlines selected psychological attitudes towards taxes. We argue that the application of behavioural economics methodology to taxation is more than justified because, in their decision-making, taxpayers seem to be influenced by the perception of taxes rather than solely by their existence. We also discuss several real life examples of how tax salience affects the perception of taxes in various settings. The conclusion points out that the tax non-salience contributes to fiscal illusion, which allows governments to grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to determine whether health (measured by life expectancy at birth) contributes to economic growth and the functional form in which it influences per capita income. This links our study to the debate between neo-classical and endogenous growth theorists on whether investment in human capital can sustain growth indefinitely. Data on 216 countries for the period 1980-2009 has been obtained from World Development Indicators dataset. This enables us to focus on a period characterized by globalization and demographic transition manifested in the form of population graying. Our findings confirm the importance of investment in human capital. But, in contrast to conclusions of endogenous growth models, we find evidence that benefit from increasing longevity tapers off. We conclude by pointing out that it is necessary to extend this study further by incorporating other dimensions of health that are not captured by life expectancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to other factors, the role of the age distribution of the population as a key endogenous determinant of economic growth trajectories has traditionally been overlooked. This is unrealistic, especially when dealing with major epochs of structural change, such as demographic transitions. We set up a model combining a simple representation of the economy, based on the neoclassical growth model of Solow, with a comprehensive representation of population dynamics. The model is used to investigate the structure of balanced growth states of the population and the economy in the presence of demographic transitions. The analysis shows that proper inclusion of age structure enriches the spectrum of the long-run equilibria of the neoclassical model, allowing up to five states of balanced growth, and shows the onset of 'poverty' and 'low-fertility' traps as different facets of fertility transitions. The role of different timing of fertility, mortality and savings transitions, and of more realistic demography of capital, is also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reconsiders classical and neoclassical economics' significance for or affinity and convergence with sociological theory. The paper identifies certain types or elements of classical and neoclassical economics that are potentially significant or convergent with sociological theory: pure market economics, the economics of society cum the 'rational choice model', and social or sociological economics. First, it argues that as pure economics economic theory's significance for or affinity and convergence with sociological theory is low because the first is inconsistent with or divergent from the latter, notably theoretical economic sociology. Second, the paper suggests that as the economics of society economic theory's significance for or affinity and convergence with sociological theory is non-existent or minimal, because the 'rational choice model' is missing or an exception within conventional economics. Third, the paper proposes and demonstrates that classical and neoclassical economics' main significance for or affinity and convergence with sociological theory lies in social economics as its second ingredient, alongside market economics. The paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between economic and sociological theory and economics and sociology overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the nature of paths in the standard neoclassical aggregative model of economic growth that are maximal according to the Suppes-Sen grading principle. This is accomplished by relating such paths to paths which are utilitarian maximal when an increasing (but not necessarily concave) utility function evaluates each period's consumption. Dynamic properties of Suppes-Sen maximal paths, which lie entirely above or entirely below the golden-rule, are analyzed. An example is presented in which an explicit form of a consumption function is described, which generates only Suppes-Sen maximal paths. This consumption function is shown to generate consumption cycles, and violate the Pigou-Dalton transfer principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For five years of his premiership, Jun’ichiro Koizumi bravely fought against politicians, bureaucrats, and interest groups to promote his structural economic reform. Fortunately, by the time he retired, Japanese economy got out of the depression. But the tide changed. In the July 2007 Upper House elections, the public was opposed to structural reform that Koizumi and Abe had advocated. Now it is not clear where Japanese political economy is likely to go. This paper will take a long-term view on the evolution of Japan’s political economy, and try to understand Jun’ichiro Koizumi’s structural reform in that long-term context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an analysis of the plight of Bihar, India's poorest state, based on Rawlsian microfoundations as contrasted with those underlying neoclassical economics and rational choice theory. While these two disciplines conceive of the individual as a rationally self-interested utility-maximizing agent, Rawls credits the individual with a reasonable as well as a rational capacity. A Rawlsian analysis, therefore, identifies and explains the principles upon which political action in Bihar has been based. Rather than focus on the failure to establish conditions for competitive markets or the maximizing strategies of political actors, this article identifies conflicts between democratic principles of equality and hierarchical principles of caste as central causes for Bihar's stark conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critiques the notion of embededness as a paradigm for economic sociology, suggesting that while the concept proved useful during the subfield's productive first decade and a half, it may now be appropriate to explore the implications of the way the concept has been developed and deployed within economic sociology. The notion of embededness enjoys a privileged and as of yet, largely unchallenged position as the central organizing principle of economic sociology. Indeed, economic sociology stands out among subfields of sociology for its clearly defined research program and internal coherence. The main objective of this essay is to focus on the way in which economic sociology has been shaped by the idea of embededness. The notion of embededness has deflected attention away from important theoretical problems. The relative neglect of the concept of the market in economic sociology is a result of the way in which the notion of embededness has been formulated. In conclusion, this article has suggested that the concept of embededness has contributed to the lack of an adequate theorization of the market in economic sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies some deficiencies in the theory of value as found in traditional economics, specifically the fallacy of absolute value and its spurious resolution that treats prices as a priori parameters rather than as variables to be explained. One is a fallacy of omission, the other of commission, which together comprise the epistemological paradox of the modern neoclassical theory of value. This paper advances a different, sociological approach to economic value or market prices as a possible corrective to this paradox. Such an approach has origins in sociological economics or economic sociology, the main premise of which is that social influences in the economy affect the formation of value or price. This paper therefore explores the seldom examined social underpinnings of price formation and of market processes generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review Symposium on Sunny Y. Auyang's Foundations of Complex-System Theories in Economics, Evolutionary Biology, and Statistical Physics . Author's Outline. By Evelyn Fox Keller. By Jeremy C. Ahouse. By Michael Redhead. By David Colander. By Stephen H. Kellert. Author's Response [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

That was the sole lesson of their world: how to make waste, how to make machines that made more waste, how to make wasteful products, how to talk waste, how to study waste, how to design waste, how to cure people who were sickened by waste so they could be well enough to endure it, how to mobilize waste, legalize waste and how to despite the culture that lived in cloth houses and shit on the ground far away from where they ate. And it would drown them one thy, they would all sink into their own waste and the waste they had made of the world and then, finally they would know true peace and the happiness they had been looking for all along. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the failure of neoclassical economic theories to explain the nature and significance of the phenomenon of technological change. Epistemic significance of technology; Technological change as knowledge change.

Explores the history of the theory of agricultural self-sufficiency. Evolution of bourgeois capitalist development in third world countries; Discussion on the theory of dependency; Explanation of the neoclassical economic principle of scale.