Productivity, employment and labor demand in Polish industry in the 1980s: Some preliminary results from enterprise-level data

The paper uses annual data from a panel of 334 Polish industrial enterprises over the period 1983–1988 to test empirically a simple neoclassical approach to the socialist labor market. First, an enterprise production function is estimated. The paper finds that for most enterprises, the resulting estimated marginal product of labor exceeds the wage paid by the enterprise by a considerable margin, suggesting general excess demand for labor. The paper then looks at how the difference between the MPL and the wage is related to the rate of change of employment, and finds that firms where the MPL is higher than the wage — firms which in a neoclassical model would have a large excess demand for labor — do not shed labor any more slowly than other firms.     

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Ohne Zusammenfassung     

After Chayanov and Lenin: New paths of agrarian capitalism

The theory of peasant economy is dominated by two classic authors of largely contradictory views A.V. Chayanov and V.I. Lenin. This paper begins by setting forth their contrasting interpretations of differentiation among the Russian peasantry at the end of the nineteenth century, and the contrasting theoretical frameworks of marginalism and Marxism which underlie those interpretations. It then proceeds to set its debate against certain aspects of current transformations in the agrarian structures of Latin America which call for a transcendence of this classic debate. In particular, it is pointed out in conclusion that ‘family farms’ far from being a feature of ‘peasant’ societies, are more common and more dominant in countries and regions which have experienced a relatively dynamic process of capitalist development.     

International fragmentation: Boon or bane for domestic employment?

In this paper, we introduce the fairness approach to efficiency wages into a standard model of international fragmentation. This gives us a theoretical framework in which wage inequality and unemployment rates are co-determined and therefore the public concern can be addressed that international fragmentation and outsourcing to low wage countries lead to domestic job-losses. We develop a novel diagrammatic tool to illustrate the main labour market effects of international fragmentation. We also explore how preferences for fair wages and the size of unemployment benefits govern the employment effects of outsourcing and critically assess the role of political intervention that aims to reduce unemployment benefits under internationally fragmented production.     

Prize decoys at work — New experimental evidence for asymmetric dominance effects in choices on prizes in competitions

In a controlled domain replication of the well-established prize decoy experiment, we provide new evidence for the recently disputed robustness of asymmetric dominance effects (ADEs). Specifically, using real choices between – according to pretests – meaningful options that trigger tradeoff considerations, we find an ADE sized 16% which remains robust across demographic groups. Therefore, our findings indicate that the failures to replicate the ADE in previous studies might be due to variations in the experimental choice setting.     

Shady business: On the history of white-collar crime

Abstract

White-collar crime is a daily topic in the news but by no means a new phenomenon. The article invites readers to explore the historical dimensions of these very specific offences. It discusses how to define white-collar crime and how to analyse it. It names six characteristics of white-collar crime, namely the preponderance of upper and middle-class delinquents, the motivation of financial gain, non-violence, systemic character, the breach of trust, and diffuse victimisation. It also highlights additional aspects for a working definition which can be applied to various and even rapidly changing historical contexts. The history of white-collar crime draws attention to the intersection of business and the law, and to its interaction with innovation, moral discourse and public perception, as well as with the changing nature of state policies during the past two centuries. The article introduces the special issue and discusses methods and approaches suited to analysing ‘shady business’.     

20 Jahre Deutsche Einheit

Am 1. Juli 1990 trat die Wirtschafts-, W?hrungs- und Sozialunion der beiden deutschen Staaten in Kraft. Der Prozess des ?konomischen Zusammenwachsens von Ost- und Westdeutschland erwies sich jedoch als schwieriger als erwartet. Warum ist das so? Und was k?nnte getan werden, um in Ostdeutschland eine eigenst?ndige Wirtschaftsdynamik zu etablieren?     

The role of beliefs in inference for rational expectations models

This paper discusses inference for rational expectations models estimated via minimum distance methods by characterizing the probability beliefs regarding the data generating process (DGP) that are compatible with given moment conditions. The null hypothesis is taken to be rational expectations and the alternative hypothesis to be distorted beliefs. This distorted beliefs alternative is analyzed from the perspective of a hypothetical semiparametric Bayesian who believes the model and uses it to learn about the DGP. This interpretation provides a different perspective on estimates, test statistics, and confidence regions in large samples, particularly regarding the economic significance of rejections in rational expectations models. A suggestive application to the equity premium puzzle is examined.