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Abstract It is argued if [x.sub.t] ~ I(1) and [y.sub.t] ~ I(1), then running a regression [x.sub.t] on [y.sub.t] would produce spurious results because [e.sub.t] would generally be I(1). However, [...]

In early 2013 the prominent mainstream economist, Judith Sloan, claimed that the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) was 'ignorant' about both economics and statistics (Sloan, 2013). The cause of Sloan's [...]

Karl Marx formulated his ideas in the middle of the 19th century when much of Europe, particularly England, was well along in what is often referred to as the Industrial [...]

The state of knowledge about finance and credit in Vietnam remains fragmentary despite the interest that economists have shown in the topic over the past fifteen years. This paper explores why informal finance continues to enjoy great popularity among rural households despite its high price and risks in Southern Vietnam. This research note examines in detail three modes of credit, and shows that borrowers' perception of informal credit does not always correspond to that of government financial and international institutions. The social dimension of informal finance is crucial to understanding its prevalence, adaptability and continuity in Vietnam. From the point of view of the borrowers, informal credit is not perceived as an evil but rather an economic necessity. Keywords: Informal finance, credit, household, Vietnam., I. Introduction The state of knowledge about finance and credit in Vietnam remains fragmentary despite the interest that economists have shown in the topic over the past fifteen years. A [...]

This is the 40th anniversary of the summer when I first met Marty Feldstein and went to work for him. I learned from working under Marty's auspices that empirical economics [...]

In many academic settings, undergraduate economics majors are asked to do an independent project or thesis in their final year. Because doing research is very different from learning economics in a classroom, students are frequently unprepared for this endeavor. This article describes a seminar course intended to ease this transition by preparing students to embark on such a project. The first goal of the course is to assist students in developing a sound economic research project. The second goal is to help them develop the research skills to execute their project. In essence, the course is an abbreviated and accelerated version of some of the learning that takes place alongside the standard curriculum in graduate school. The article describes a course that has been designed for a liberal arts setting, and also discusses other possible variations. Keywords: Capstone, Project, Curriculum, Senior, Thesis, Research, Introduction An undergraduate honors thesis can provide a valuable opportunity for students to build on the knowledge they have gained in college, to ask an interesting question, and to use [...]

Possible reasons behind data discrepancies regarding African economic growth are examined with focus on Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia. The probability that economic growth data in Africa is reliable has been lessened by deficiencies in basic data collection and resources in preparing official statistics.

Presented in two parts, this article proposes a research programme devoted to examining 'processes of economization'. In the first instalment, published in Economy and Society 38(3) (2009), we introduced the notion of 'economization'. The term refers to the assembly and qualification of actions, devices and analytical/ practical descriptions as 'economic' by social scientists and market actors. Through an analysis of selected works in anthropology, economics and sociology, we discussed the importance, meaning and framing of economization, unravelling its trace within a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. This second instalment of the article explores what it would mean to move this research programme forward by taking processes of economization as a topic of empirical investigation. Given the vast terrain of relationships that produce its numerous trajectories, to illustrate what such a project would entail we have limited ourselves to the examination of processes we call 'marketization'. These processes, which constitute but one modality of economization, are discussed here from five vantage points: the things in the market, agencies, encounters, prices and market maintenance. Keywords: market; anthropology; sociology; marketization; economization; economy. DOI: 10.1080/03085140903424519

The mathematical and statistical complexity of economic research increased remarkably over the past century. While criticisms of the trend abound, the 'wisdom of crowds' argument creates a presumption that the profession's acceptance of increasing mathematical sophistication is a net improvement. I provide a contrasting 'market failure' argument for the excessive mathematization of economics. Academic research is not a cash-based economy, and this limits economists' ability to contract for assistance with technical research. Consequently, production of mathematical and statistical research must use the firm--the department--instead of the market. This alters the composition of the faculty and ultimately the economics curriculum, and the resulting level of sophistication may be greater than optimal.

An analysis of Charles Goodhart's and Boris Hofmann's work entitled 'House prices, money, credit, and the macroeconomy' is presented. It is believed that their study established strong empirical links between house prices, liquidity, and activity. It is concluded that the main practical issues involve the identification of the source of shocks and the interpretation of results.

An analysis of David Miles' and Vladimir Pillonca's work entitled 'Financial innovation and European housing and mortgage markets' is presented. It is believed that their work neglects the role of differential surges of financial innovation in explaining differences in house-price inflation. It is concluded that the risk-reducing potential of their preferred instrument deserves further analysis.

An analysis of a study by Kate Barker on planning policy and housing supply was conducted. It is believed that the planning system in the United Kingdom does not operate on the supply of housing directly, but indirectly through the constraint imposed on land supply. The need to review policies covering non-urban land is also discussed.

In this paper we report the results of an experiment designed to study the behavior of a laboratory macroeconomy with two stable steady states. The economy has the structure of an optimal growth model in which resources are allocated between consumption and investment over a sequence of time periods. The economy is decentralized, with a market for capital in operation. We find that the economy often falls into the Pareto-inferior steady state, which can be viewed as a poverty trap. The initial endowment of capital stock is varied as a treatment variable in the experiment, and the economy is more likely to reach the optimal steady state when its initial endowment is high than when it is low. Organizing the economy with a central planner directing economic activity fails to induce it to reach the optimal steady state. JEL Classification: C92, O10, 1. Introduction One of the most influential literatures in economics is the theory of growth (for surveys see Azariadis 1993; Barro and Sala-i-Martin 1995; Romer 1996; Sala-i-Martin 2002). The basis [...]

Observations on the future of tax research are presented in terms of the need for more interdisciplinary research that can benefit from the comparative advantages of the various disciplines. Major unanswered tax questions from the perspective of economics are provided.

In his seminal paper Malkiel (1962) rigorously developed and proved five theorems showing the relationship between changes in yield to maturity and bond price movements. These theorems are important in the eyes of the academicians and practitioners and find a place in virtually all finance textbooks dealing with the pricing of bonds. The proofs of the theorems are based entirely on calculus and seem to be challenging for finance professionals and students. Hence, finance textbooks usually describe these five theorems using figures and numerical examples to illustrate the results instead of providing any logical proof In this paper we prove the Malkiel (1962) theorems using simple algebra and provide an alternate way of understanding the results., Introduction In his seminal paper Malkiel (1962) rigorously examined the relationship between the yield to maturity of bonds and their market prices. He developed and proved five theorems and showed [...]

Most monetary economists today conduct their analysis within some version of a rational expectations model. A well-defined equilibrium in such a model requires that the private sector understand policy goals [...]

The views of Robert A. Mundell, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics for 1999, on the trends of research in Economics, are presented along with a description of his life and achievements.

The paper explores the relationship among factors believed to influence the economic development potential of Russian cities in the post-Soviet period, based on a detailed case study of small and medium-sized urban places in Leningrad Oblast. Relying on rarely utilized statistical data (including local town censuses) collected during on-site research and interviews, the author constructs an economic development index that provides a reference for inter-urban comparisons and analysis. The significance of accessibility for post-Soviet urban development is statistically demonstrated and the role of inherited spatial economic structures (economic-geographical endowment) is discussed along with other factors influencing urban performance. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O11, O18, R11. 3 figures, 4 tables, 30 references. Key words: Leningrad Oblast, Russian cities, Russian towns, economic-geographical endowments, St. Petersburg, urban competitiveness, economic development.

1. Introduction For the last couple of decades, the U.S. economy has invested in information technology (IT) equipment and software at an extraordinary rate relative to other types of inputs. [...]

This paper reviews both theoretical and empirical issues regarding inflation and evaluates the contribution of Kyrtsou and Labys. Analytically it is very difficult to propose a general theory of inflation because as economies evolve over time both new causes of inflation emerge and the consequences of inflation become more complex. Kyrtsou and Labys perform several tests between the Primary Commodity Price component of the PPI and the CPI and construct a noisy chaotic multivariate model that describes the relationship between these two measures of inflation. JEL classification: C22; C23; E31; E60 Keywords: Inflation; Commodity prices; Chaos; Non-linear causality; Dynamic non-linearity; Mackey-Glass model

This article examines the factors that affect state adoption of environmental audit legislation and self-policing policies. The results of both a cross-section probit and a Weibull proportional hazard model suggest that political context and state-federal relationships are key factors in adoption decisions while environmental conditions are less significant and institutional capacity is the least important. Overall, the results for audit privilege and immunity legislation are very similar, but several explanatory factors affect adoption of audit legislation and self-policing policies in opposite ways. Finally, these results also suggest that EPA opposition to audit legislation has had a significant deterrent effect. (JEL D78, Q28, K32), An environmental audit is a voluntary internal review of all of a facility's operations and practices that relate to its environmental performance. Environmental audits can be designed to verify compliance [...]

The authors examine the impact of environmental and political variables on two measures of species imperilment across 49 U.S. states: the fraction of all species in a state identified by NatureServe as being 'at-risk' of extinction, and the fraction of species in a state listed under the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's (FWS) Endangered Species Act (ESA). A highly significant determinant of both measures is the fraction of species endemic to the state. Population growth increases the at-risk measure, but not the ESA listings. There is a significant concern for plant imperilment by NatureServe, but not by the FWS., I. INTRODUCTION There are two principal sources of data on ecologically imperiled species in the United States: (1) listings of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA, [...]

The authors use experimental surveys to investigate the association between individuals' knowledge of particular wildlife species and their stated willingness to allocate funds to conserve each. The nature of variations in these allocations between species (e.g., their dispersion) as participants' knowledge increases is examined. Factors influencing these changes are suggested. Willingness-to-pay allocations are found not to measure the economic value of species, but are shown to be policy relevant. The results indicate that poorly known species, e.g., in remote areas, may obtain relatively less conservation support than they deserve. (JEL Q51, Q57, Q58), I. INTRODUCTION Wild biodiversity decline is of global policy concern (McNeely and Scherr, 2003, Ch. 2), and economists have given increasing attention to it. Nevertheless, economists remain uncertain of the [...]

Abstract The objective of this paper is to discuss the possibilities of attaining a time-space harmonization of the consumer price indexes that are elaborated by the 12 European Union (EU) [...]

Abstract As a result of recent problems with corporate reporting and management, renewed interest in Corporate Governance has arisen. We analyze economic value alignment as a form of Corporate Governance, [...]

The 1987 academic market was strong, whereas the 1997 market was weak. A multimarket theory of optimal search suggests that job seekers will respond to a weakening market by changing their search strategies at the extensive margin (which markets to enter) and the intensive margin (how many applications to submit per market). Employers respond to the weakening market by raising their hiring standards. High-quality applicants will obtain an increased share of academic interviews in weak markets while applicants from weaker schools will increasingly secure interviews outside of the academic market. Empirical results show that in the bust market, graduates of elite schools shifted their search strategies to include weaker academic institutions, while graduates of lower-ranked schools shifted their applications away from academia and toward the business sector. In bust conditions, academic institutions increasingly concentrate their interviews on elite school graduates, women, and U.S. residents. JEL Classification: J44, J60, 1. Introduction The market for Ph.D. economists has attracted a great deal of attention in the literature. This is not surprising given the personal stake that many economists hold regarding [...]

Vicious cycles of war, disease, and poverty currently plague much of Africa. With regard to poverty, economic development, mutual aid, and even better self-reliance, are discussed. Two positive examples are [...]

Abstract Systematic, large discrepancies exist between direct measures of well-being and the measures that economists largely concentrate on, notably income. The paper assesses and rejects claims that income is satisfactorily [...]

Abstract The paper compares two prominent approaches to assessing Human Well-Being, the Capability Approach and the Subjective Well-Being Approach. It investigates the differences and the similarities between these approaches. An [...]

Abstract Most analyses of social protection are focussed on public arrangements. However, social effort is not restricted to the public domain; all kinds of private arrangements can be substitutes to [...]

Abstract We demonstrate that a different causal relationship exists between the current and financial accounts in developed and developing countries. Using the Granger causality test, we clearly determine that the [...]

Abstract John Taylor's rule for setting interest rates provides a framework for studying the global monetary policy generated by individual countries pursing their own policy goals. The study reflects the [...]

This article explores the consequences of various approaches to the conduct of monetary policy. A small, calibrated model of the Norwegian economy is used, which highlights the short-run trade-off between [...]

A critical view of Andre Kliman's study is presented. Kliman's research cast doubts over the previous studies showing strong correlation between market prices and labour charges. The effects of deflation of sectoral prices and values on the correlation are also examined.

The critical view by W. Paul Cockshott and Allin Cottrell's critique on Andre Kliman's study is examined and refuted. It may be recalled that Kliman's research cast doubts over the previous studies showing strong correlation between market prices and labour charges and Cockshott and Cottrell had presented a critique on it. The effects of deflation of sectoral prices and values on the correlation are also examined.

The way in which a reputation-seeking economist allocates his time between research and nonresearch activities to publish papers in domestic and international journals is discussed. A model for the same is presented.