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The Biden administration’s initiative to modernize regulatory review, while attempting to incorporate various criticisms of cost-benefit analysis (CBA), was hobbled by an insufficient theoretical analysis. Specifically, the administration failed to address its implicit naturalization of the economic subject, under which subjects and their preferences are regarded as exogenous givens. The justification for CBA is that it can use information regarding individual “willingness to pay” (WTP) or “willingness to accept” (WTA) to discern these preferences, and thereby create efficient policy. But if the naturalized subject is fictional, then there is nothing to discern. Subjects and their preferences are not waiting to be found; rather, they are endogenously shaped. Recognition of this endogeneity would allow for preferences, or values, constituted through democratic spaces to be no less salient to policy than those ostensibly exogenous to the market. Further, it would allow for regulatory institutions themselves to serve as those democratic spaces.

The doubtful tendencies of neoclassical economics towards labour market intervention put it at odds with trade unions, whose raison d’etre is worker protection through de-linking compensation from market dynamics. Therefore, the recent ‘economic professionalisation’ of the Histadrut, Israel's main Labour Federation, is puzzling. Against economists’ traditional involvement in unions, in advisory roles and macro-level policymaking, Histadrut economists have gained a pivotal position in micro-level collective bargaining. What drives such economic professionalisation of trade unions, and what are its consequences? We argue as their traditional power resources have weakened and industrial relations have become highly complex, unions rely on professional economists as an alternative power resource. In the Histadrut, whose political-economic position has transformed dramatically, economic professionalisation was accompanied by other novel strategies of union revitalisation. We also argue union empowerment through economic professionalisation nurtures within them a particular approach to collective bargaining, characterised by depoliticised view of industrial relations and ‘market-friendly’ tendency in collective agreements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term financialisation gained prominence to describe the increasing role of finance, particularly since the 2008 financial crisis. However, a common critique is the lack of consensus on its definition. Some works suggest that these discrepancies are the result of the changing nature of economic reality, while others highlight the distinct research methods applied. In this article, we propose that the understanding of the existence of competing views on financialisation requires methodological awareness, that is, the consideration that each school of thought has distinct perspectives about the nature of economic relations. We argue that the use of different methodological backgrounds by each school result in the plurality of understandings of financialisation. Similarly, methodological aspects not only cause different views among schools, but within the same school. Finally, we argue that, because of these disparate conceptualizations, economists propose different policy strategies to deal with financialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although neoclassical economics faces frequent criticism, it remains the dominant paradigm, largely due to its immunisation strategies that rely on unfalsifiable concepts of utility and rationality. In this paper, I use Karl Popper’s philosophy to assess whether these strategies are justified. Firstly, I reconstruct Popper’s ideas on immunisation strategies, situational analysis, the rationality principle, and the metaphysical research programme. Next, I examine how neoclassical economics’ immunisation strategies counter critiques from behavioural economics. I conclude that neoclassical economics’ method does not produce empirical conjectures. I assess and evaluate this finding in relation to the “rationality principle”, as it parallels neoclassical economics’ optimisation axiom. Furthermore, I explore Popper’s relevance in the context of neoclassical economics’ recent incorporation of behavioural economics’ insights to show that my analysis is not purely historical.

AbstractThe paper reexamines early neoclassical economics' adoption of and basis in marginal utility theory. It especially explores whether and to what extent early neoclassical economics in respect of its theory of value and prices accepted and was based on marginal utility theory without discussion. The paper first reconsiders the relationship between early neoclassical economics' theory of value and prices and marginal utility theory. It identifies certain prominent marginalist economists during the 1880-90s and summarizes the main elements of marginal utility theory. It concludes that early neoclassical economics with regard to its theory of value and prices adopted and was based on marginal utility theory mostly without critical or skeptical discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of the article is to present the differences in the research approach concerning consumer behaviour from the perspective of neoclassical economics and the Austrian school of economics. Research Design & Methods: The article applies the qualitative approach based on comparative analysis of the subject literature. While selecting research material, the author considered major works presenting the neoclassical theory of a consumer's choice as well as those representing the Austrian school, criticizing neoclassical views. Findings: The article explains the methodological approaches leading to alternative interpretations of indifference in neoclassical economics and the Austrian school. Implications & Recommendations: Indifference constitutes the key category that enables readers to understand positions adopted by neoclassical economists and representatives of the Austrian school of economics. The conducted analysis implies that different understanding of indifference constitutes the main source of the dispute regarding the theories of a consumer's behaviour in the analyzed concepts. Contribution & Value Added: The value added of this article lies in showing the causes of divergence between the theory of a consumer's choice developed in neoclassical economics and its criticism expressed by representatives of the Austrian school of economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the one‐sided intellectual influence of Economics on Urban Studies & Planning, the case of two social science disciplines with different epistemologies and approaches to policy advice. Subsequently, it presents the emergence of the so‐called evidence based policy (EBP) approach in Economics, comprising experimental (randomized control trial) and quasi‐experimental (difference‐in‐differences and propensity score matching) methods. The article shows that even though EBP claims to be exempt from normative/political, and even theoretical, considerations, it builds upon two features of neoclassical economics: sufficiency and separability. These conditions comprise its normative neoclassical theory background. We discuss the neoliberal turn in development narratives and their influence on urban planning, which coincides with the emergence of EBP. We analyze some EBP examples in the urban planning scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In After Neoliberalism Michael Jacobs makes a compelling case for the systematic failures of neoliberal economic policies and in the neoclassical theories that justified them. He calls for an economics rooted in ontological institutionalism and for the (re)development of varied institutions charged with diverse social purposes. This response takes Jacobs' critique further and states that neoliberalism fails because the neoclassical economics that underpins it is fundamentally utopian; and it is doomed to fail for the same ontological and epistemological reasons that condemned Soviet socialism. What these politically opposed doctrines hold in common is closed‐system economic reasoning from axiomatic deduction presented as 'a governing science'. It follows that both must tend to fail on contact with a three‐dimensional reality in an always evolving, open‐system world, subject to Knightian uncertainty. The dark historical joke is that a machine models of the economy, both Soviet and neoclassical neoliberal economics, converge on the same statecraft of quantification, output‐planning, target‐setting, forecasting and the presumption of only 'rational'—socially productive—firms. The result in both systems is state and economic failure and the creation of production regimes that are a grotesque caricature of those promised, only now in the midst of an ecological emergency. It follows that we need an urgent revival of analytical pluralism in government and a non‐utopian scientific realism about the true scope of the ecological crisis, so that Jacobs' rich institutional ecosystem will have resilient foundations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mainstream economic theory and policy have struggled to address (and in some cases have made worse) the multiple economic crises since 2008—global financial crash, austerity, stalled productivity, wage stagnation, rising inequality, inflation, climate and environmental breakdown. At the root of this failure is the 'ontological individualism' which underpins neoclassical economic theory: the belief that individual households and firms are sovereign actors. It proposes in its place a premise of 'ontological institutionism'—the view that economic behaviour is primarily influenced by the institutional structures and rules within which it occurs. Commonplace in other social sciences, this view radically changes economic analysis and policy prescription. Based on an explicit ethical definition of policy objectives, the article offers an 'institutionally pluralist' view proposing different kinds of institutions for five different spheres of economic life. Arguing that economic policy should be seen as a process of institutional design (not simply making markets more efficient), it offers some illustrative policy proposals in key fields, from climate change to business investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mainstream economic theory and policy have struggled to address (and in some cases have made worse) the multiple economic crises since 2008—global financial crash, austerity, stalled productivity, wage stagnation, rising inequality, inflation, climate and environmental breakdown. At the root of this failure is the 'ontological individualism' which underpins neoclassical economic theory: the belief that individual households and firms are sovereign actors. It proposes in its place a premise of 'ontological institutionism'—the view that economic behaviour is primarily influenced by the institutional structures and rules within which it occurs. Commonplace in other social sciences, this view radically changes economic analysis and policy prescription. Based on an explicit ethical definition of policy objectives, the article offers an 'institutionally pluralist' view proposing different kinds of institutions for five different spheres of economic life. Arguing that economic policy should be seen as a process of institutional design (not simply making markets more efficient), it offers some illustrative policy proposals in key fields, from climate change to business investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mülkiye Dergisi is the property of Mulkiye Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Polish Journal of Economics / Gospodarka Narodowa is the property of SGH Warsaw School of Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article offers a critical review of the post-pandemic inflation debate. The first section organizes the debate by categorizing the arguments into two broad perspectives: the neoclassical view and the critical political economy view, along with several subcategories. This classification is guided by the positions that participants in the debate took regarding the origins and propagation mechanisms of inflation, as well as the economic policy solutions proposed to address the current inflationary period. The second section highlights that the dominance of contractionary monetary policy as the primary response to contemporary inflation rests on weak foundations, with its theoretical and empirical justifications having been consistently and convincingly challenged by critical political economy circles over the past decades.

The global labor market has experienced significant transformations due to technological advancements, globalization, and evolving socio-economic dynamics. Despite predictions from neoclassical economics, anomalies such as wage rigidity, involuntary unemployment, and underemployment persist. This article aims to critically analyze the neoclassical model's assumptions of rationality, perfect information, and utility maximization, contrasting them with insights from behavioral economics. A review of studies addressing labor market issues from a behavioral economics perspective was conducted using key terms such as "behavioral economics," "labor supply," and "neoclassical economics." The results indicate that behavioral factors, including bounded rationality, cognitive biases such as risk aversion, and social preferences, significantly influence labor supply decisions. These factors provide a more realistic interpretation of economic behavior, addressing anomalies that neoclassical theories fail to explain. In conclusion, behavioral economics offers a robust framework for understanding labor market dynamics, particularly in wage dynamics, where cognitive biases impact decision-making. This approach challenges traditional economic models and underscores the importance of incorporating psychological factors into labor market policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smith and Wilson endeavor to humanize the study of economics by using axioms from Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) to create a new model of human action that builds upon previous experimental work. Their model emphasizes that human action is context dependent: Human beings are not wholly solipsistic but adjust their behavior to earn approbation and avoid disapprobation from their peers. Whereas both neoclassical and behavioral economists have attempted to account for such behavior through utility functions, the authors instead do so by incorporating Smith's insight that all human action is social. The authors' deep analysis of TMS underscores the valuable insights that modern economists can find in Smith's writings and uncovers the underlying foundation that the Austrian tradition has in Smithian political economy. For that reason, Austrians will find Humanomics to be both a valuable guide for understanding Smith's world and a reminder that the future of humanomics will rely on the insights already gathered and explored by their tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether economic motivations are a key factor in international migration decisions. Applying the selectivity-corrected expected income for migrants and stayers, the difference in expected income for an individual in origin and destination countries was analyzed. This study used data from the U.S. and Canada to empirically test the role of income gaps in migration decisions. The main difficulty in analyzing the role of the gaps lies in collecting both income streams for the same individual, since once an individual migrates to a different country, their potential income in the origin country cannot be observed; and vice versa for stayers. Therefore, directly applying the average income of migrants (conditionally relying on their observed characteristics) to estimate the income of stayers if they had migrated results in a biased estimate of stayers' income. Hence, there is a need to account for selectivity in the migration decision and calculate selectivity-corrected income. The key finding in this study is that the expected income gap is positively associated with, and statistically significant for, international migration decisions for the U.S. and Canada. One of the main reasons may be the easy transfer of labor skills between countries that have similar labor environments and cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of the article is to present the differences in the research approach concerning consumer behaviour from the perspective of neoclassical economics and the Austrian school of economics. Research Design & Methods: The article applies the qualitative approach based on comparative analysis of the subject literature. While selecting research material, the author considered major works presenting the neoclassical theory of a consumer’s choice as well as those representing the Austrian school, criticizing neoclassical views. Findings: The article explains the methodological approaches leading to alternative interpretations of indifference in neoclassical economics and the Austrian school. Implications & Recommendations: Indifference constitutes the key category that enables readers to understand positions adopted by neoclassical economists and representatives of the Austrian school of economics. The conducted analysis implies that different understanding of indifference constitutes the main source of the dispute regarding the theories of a consumer’s behaviour in the analyzed concepts. Contribution & Value Added: The value added of this article lies in showing the causes of divergence between the theory of a consumer’s choice developed in neoclassical economics and its criticism expressed by representatives of the Austrian school of economics.

Although the subject of numerous contributions in the history of economics, the use of theoretical diagrams by economists is still quite misunderstood, as this practice is often characterized as a basic form of mathematization, soon replaced by more rigorous techniques of demonstration or exhibition. The present article attempts to challenge this view, focusing on a period of time, the 1930s, during which "diagrammatic economics" and other techniques coexisted, and on a specific community, that of students and young researchers from the London School of Economics with a keen interest in using diagrams as tools for economic reasoning. The cosmopolitan nature of research and education at the LSE, with its insistence on reading a vast amount of literature and attending seminars by a revolving cast of local and foreign lecturers, offered a favorable environment for a form of visual analysis that helped clarify concepts and resolve definitional issues, at a time when interest in various economic traditions had not yet given way to attempts to systematize and unify economic knowledge and its standards of production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A frequent justification in the literature for using stated preference methods (SP) is that they are the only methods that can capture the so-called total economic value (TEV) of environmental changes to society. Based on follow-up interviews with SP survey respondents, this paper addresses the implications of that argument by shedding light on the construction of TEV, through respondents' perspective. It illuminates the deficiencies of willingness to pay (WTP) as a measure of value presented as three aggregated themes considering respondents' unintentionality, their retraction once they understood that their WTP could be decisive in cost-benefit analysis and the inherent incompleteness of WTP. We discuss why the TEV discourse persists, how it conceals rather than reveals broader notions of value and in what ways our results support the development of alternative approaches that truly endorse plurality in environmental valuation and decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

In the debate for and against European integration economists had an important part in so far as from the beginning European integration took on an essentially economic connotation. Among them Francois Perroux had a rather original position: he based his critique of European economic integration on a series of analytical tools that he developed in his critical reflection on the limits of a part of the dominant economic theory. The link between Perroux's criticism of neoclassical economics and his position on European integration is particularly interesting because it makes Perroux's position original and provocative among the various reflections on Europe and it gives us some important hints to further reflect on the role of economic theory and especially on the important tie between economic theory and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a history of the 'Kaldor-Hicks' concept of economic efficiency from its European birth in the 1930s to its American resurgence in the 1970s to its widespread implementation in the Global South by the early twenty-first century. While philosophers, economists and legal theorists have written widely about Kaldor-Hicks – global-minded intellectual historians have not. As a result, scholars have yet to place its creation, dissemination and ascendency into a broader historical context or examine the reasons behind its global spread. As this paper will demonstrate through the rise of cost–benefit analyses based on 'willingness to pay' metrics, while Kaldor-Hicks efficiency was invented by neoclassical economists in the late 1930s, its ascent to policy dominance is part-and-parcel of the neoliberal revolution of the past half century. Linking the history of economic thought with the rise of global neoliberalism, this paper demonstrates how Kaldor-Hicks efficiency emerged as a central pillar of a new, interventionist, wealth-maximizing and market-based form of depoliticized technocratic governance that not only marginalizes distributive concerns but actively exacerbates the problem of global inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitigation policies during the COVID-19 pandemic were justified on benefit-cost-analysis (BCA) grounds, with the value of a statistical life (VSL) measuring the benefit of saving lives. This essay argues that a BCA and VSL framework is not a value-neutral basis for pandemic policy: first because the characterization of labor-market behavior as choices merely regarding money and risk of mortality implicitly endorses those institutions that constrain such choices, as illustrated by pandemic economic conditions; and second because this characterization assumes that individual subjects have exogenous preferences, and accordingly have one "true" valuation, thus ignoring how subjectivity is constituted by capitalist institutions. Such VSL estimates in pandemic scholarship illustrate the search for a single valuation regarding elderly life, whereas the "good" of human life warrants valuation in our capacity as citizens in democratic institutions rather than as market agents. The language of overdetermination highlights the contradictory effects of the mutual constitution of institutions and the individual subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an assessment of suggestions in international research and media that the modern construction cadetship experience is exploitative and, on that basis, problematises the growing trend of work integrated learning (WIL) in the Australian construction industry. Field research, aligning with the methodologies of major studies in this field, was conducted to examine the experiences of some construction cadets enrolled in construction degrees in six Australian universities. The data related to student experience and remuneration were analysed within a Marxist-Polanyian dialectical framework. The results show there is limited consistency in construction students’ experiences and education while participating in this WIL. This indicates that the construction industry lacks a regulated and collaboratively driven program for cadetships. The findings also identify causes and consequences of the high rates of burnout of this cohort that have already been established in the literature. From a neoclassical economics human capital theoretical perspective, this WIL can offer some benefits to construction students. However, given the widespread ad hoc and unstructured employment arrangements, construction cadets can be exploited in ways akin to undocumented and other precarious labour. The construction students whose experiences are the focus of this study have a limited knowledge of their rights and support networks and can be exposed to wage theft extracted under the guise of providing education and experience. While individualistic ‘law and order’ frameworks may help improve material conditions for particular WIL workers whose experiences can be brought to the attention of authorities, greater collectivisation of labour could be more effective in ensuring more propitious conditions for those in cadetships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1980s, successive Australian governments began to pursue a program of microeconomic restructuring, taking their lead from the developing 'free market' reform projects underway in the United States and the United Kingdom. One of the prominent features of the emerging liberalisation agenda was the commercialisation and privatisation of government-owned companies and assets. In keeping with this trend, over the following decades, a series of changes have been introduced to Australia's container ports aimed at improving their productivity and efficiency. Drawing on a series of interviews and analysis of governmental and non-governmental reports, the purpose of this study is to examine how port policy has unfolded 'on the ground' in Australia. The paper considers some of the 'common sense' economic maxims expounded for reform in relation to actual outcomes for industry stakeholders, concluding that principles and practice have diverged significantly and that many of the assumed benefits have failed to materialise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether economic motivations are a key factor in international migration decisions. Applying the selectivity-corrected expected income for migrants and stayers, the difference in expected income for an individual in origin and destination countries was analyzed. This study used data from the U.S. and Canada to empirically test the role of income gaps in migration decisions. The main difficulty in analyzing the role of the gaps lies in collecting both income streams for the same individual, since once an individual migrates to a different country, their potential income in the origin country cannot be observed; and vice versa for stayers. Therefore, directly applying the average income of migrants (conditionally relying on their observed characteristics) to estimate the income of stayers if they had migrated results in a biased estimate of stayers’ income. Hence, there is a need to account for selectivity in the migration decision and calculate selectivity-corrected income. The key finding in this study is that the expected income gap is positively associated with, and statistically significant for, international migration decisions for the U.S. and Canada. One of the main reasons may be the easy transfer of labor skills between countries that have similar labor environments and cultural backgrounds.

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Whereas contracts are the legal tools for the substantiation of economic transactions, in order to respond to the needs of economic actors in accordance with the evolution of economic approaches, they have changed. Developments in economic schools can be classified in one sense in the form of classical, neoclassical and behavioral schools. The main purpose of the study is to examine the developments of contractual justice from the perspective of economic developments in the context of these schools. Recruiting a descriptive-analytical design, the study revealed that commutative and distributive justices are the foundations of contractual justice and complement each other. Commutative justice has always been the basic principle of contract law; however, its scope has expanded beyond the concept of fair pricing in the pre-classical era. Distributive justice, after the advent of neoclassical economics, became more prominent at the same time as the need for government intervention in the economy to address the side effects of a free economy. The school of behavioral economics, by questioning the hypothesis of rational choice and the neo-classical school of economics, raised the need to pay attention to the cognitive biases of individuals in decision-making, especially in the consumer market and in terms of standard terms. It has, despite the optimization of the concept of justice in contracts, at the same time, created fears of excessive government protectionist interventions in contracts. In general, commutative and distributive justice complement each other in establishing contractual justice.

The subject of this paper is Kornai’s concept as contained in Anti-equilibrium. The aim of the paper was to provide a critical analysis of this concept. The analysis focused on the methodological aspect of Anti-equilibrium, namely on the concept of the explanation adopted by the Hungarian economist. The research method used is textual analysis. The result of this analysis allows, as it seems, to see an important methodological flaw of Anti-equilibrium. The thesis of this article is that this defect did not allow Kornai’s proposal to be treated as a viable competitor to neoclassical economics.