Eagles and Turkeys: Human Capital Externalities,Departmental Co‐authorship and Research Productivity

Lucas (1988) hypothesised that human capital externalities explain persistent productivity growth and become manifest via interactions between workplace colleagues. Consistent with the first part of this hypothesis, Fox and Milbourne (2006) concluded that an increase in the average level of human capital in Australian economics departments raised the research productivity of departmental members. This paper tests the robustness of this finding by using a direct, rather than a proxy, measure of human capital and confirms the existence of human capital externalities within Australian economics departments. But we extend the analysis in two important dimensions. Firstly, we investigate the second part of Lucas' hypothesis by testing whether the externality becomes manifest via co‐authoring. We find no evidence that this type of interaction is associated with higher research productivity, especially for higher quality outputs. Secondly, we control for the likely endogeneity of one's peer group via instrumental variables estimation. In this case, we find that the peer group effect disappears completely for the highest quality outputs but remains for research output more broadly defined.     

A Critique of Economic Theory

Abstract:

Faced with home foreclosures, a stagnant economy, and weakly-effective federal programs of relief, Richmond, California, considered using eminent domain to acquire mortgages, modify loans to be more affordable, and thus prevent further erosion of the tax base. Strong objections have been lodged against such alteration of property rights, except through bankruptcy and foreclosure processes. The Richmond proposal is considered in the historical context of changes in the use of eminent domain as described by John R. Commons. Just as economic change forced U.S. courts to change the working definitions of property in the late nineteenth century, current contradictions in the way in which we think of households, and the systemic consequences of their management of debt, may produce changes in law and should alter the way in which economists analyze aggregate consumer spending and borrowing.     

An Integrated Model of the Adoption and Extent of E-Commerce in Firms

This work aims to explain firms’ decisions to adopt Internet-based e-commerce, and the extent to which the adopters subsequently implement e-commerce to commercialize their products and services. We examine various types of factors previously considered by the literature (competitive environment, organizational characteristics, strategic orientation, innovative capacity, managers’ characteristics, IT equipment possessed and the use made of it). The analytical model developed here on the basis of a sample of 2,038 firms suggests that the factors influencing the adoption decision are different from those that eventually influence the results of firms’ commercial operations on the Internet. Likewise, we discuss the contribution of each type of determinant and the implications.