Are Social Costs the Outcome of Struggles over Truth?

Abstract:

This article critically examines the institutional economics theory of social costs by way of reviewing The Dark Places of Business Enterprise: Reinstating Social Costs in Institutional-Economics (2019). In particular, the article assesses the proposal to re-root institutional economics in the theoretical synthesis of “Veblen-Kapp-Mirowski” to better understand the social costs of neoliberalism. One of the findings is that while such a synthesis seems justified on the grounds of significant commonalities and the merits of deeper insights, it nevertheless runs into difficulties due to divergent philosophical foundations. One of the conclusions is that further philosophic clarification is needed on how an alternative economy would understand the relationship between “social costs” and Truth.     

Early labor market outcomes of university graduates: Does time to degree matter?

Using university administrative and survey data drawn from the AlmaLaurea Consortium, we analyze the effect of time to degree on the early labor market performance of Italian graduates. The empirical strategy allows identifying separately the impact of elapsed time to degree on the transition from university to work and on earnings from other determinants specific to the academic path completed. Findings suggest that delayed graduation reduces the employment probability (0.8% points for each year of delay), and this effect is still persistent five years after graduation. Once employed, graduates not completing their degree within the minimum period are also penalized in their net monthly earnings, even five years after graduation. The most penalized groups are women and graduates in non-scientific fields.     

地方政府环境支出行为的空间策略互动研究*——传导机制与再检验

本文从理论和实证两个维度检验了地方政府环境支出行为的空间策略互动的传导机制。结果表明，环境支出存在明显的空间策略互动与时间滞后效应。其表现为相邻省级地区之间环保财政支出行为的互相模仿和路径依赖。外商直接投资和财政分权并不是导致地区间环境支出“逐底竞争”的直接原因。在构建多维度政绩考核体系来引导政府财政支出竞争的同时，建立地区间环境支出的协调机制和对外开放等途径，有利于实现均衡和绿色发展。     

Consumption,asset wealth,equity premium,term spread,and flight to quality

We link transitory deviations of consumption from its equilibrium relationship with aggregate wealth and labor income to equity returns on the one hand, and to two characteristics of bond investors—the premium demanded to hold long‐term assets, and “flight to quality” behavior—on the other hand. Using a panel of 10 euro area countries over the period 1984Q1–2017Q4, we show that a rise in the consumption–wealth ratio predicts both higher equity returns and the future term spread, while a fall in the consumption–wealth ratio explains a large fraction of the rise in the spread between the “risky” and the “safe‐haven” bond.     

Wage returns to education in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we aim to provide robust estimates of wage returns to education in Ethiopia. Previous estimates vary widely based on the scope and size of the study sample, variables employed, and estimation method. We use two recent rounds of national labour force survey data and a pseudo- (or synthetic) panel framework to address the well-known potential endogeneity of schooling in wage regressions. Birth-year cohort based pseudo-panel estimate of the return to an additional year of education is between 14 percent and 16 percent, 4 to 5 percentage points higher than that from ordinary least squares (OLS). The significant downward bias in OLS is further confirmed by two-year pseudo-panel estimates and remains robust, to a large extent, as we use an alternate model, change the estimation sample, and address selection bias concurrently with endogenous schooling using a novel approach. We discuss some possible explanations in the context of Ethiopia.     

宅基地使用权转让合同效力探究--基于30个宅基地使用权转让纠纷的实证研究

近年宅基地使用权转让合同效力纠纷案件大量发生,其中不乏当事人"恶意"起诉的案件。但因宅基地使用权制度规定与法院对宅基地相关法条强制性规定分类的不同理解,导致案例判决结果差异较大。对比学说且结合实际案例,提出将公法权益与私法权益的对比权衡作为强制性规定分类的主要标准,赋予法官在此类案件中的自由裁量权,即依据实际情况认定转让合同效力。     

基于DEA方法的安徽省地方财政科技投入绩效评价

安徽省近年来一直很重视财政科技投入力度,但财政科技投入的逐年增加并没有引导全社会研发投入有相应幅度的增加,这是因为对财政科技投入的效率和产出效果没有专业的评价,导致投入产出效率不高。本文运用数据包络(DEA)方法,通过建立绩效评价指标体系,从横向和纵向两个维度分别对安徽省16个地市和2007-2017年安徽省地方财政科技投入产出进行绩效评价,评价结果显示2007-2017年安徽省地方财政科技投入总体上的投入产出综合效率表现不错,但是分地区的投入效率不够理想。因此建议政府部门优化财政资金管理体系、增加对基础性研究的财政投入、加强对市级财政科技投入的监管等,进一步提高安徽省地方财政科技投入效率。     

政府质量、科技创新与绿色GDP——中国省际空间溢出效应及区域差异对比

通过构建嵌入政府质量和科技创新因素的经济增长模型，利用中国30个省份2004~2017年的平衡面板数据，实证检验政府质量、科技创新对绿色GDP发展的影响。研究发现：中国绿色GDP存在显著的空间集聚性及明显的区域差异性。在经济权重矩阵影响下，不同地区的政府效率、市场化程度、公平程度和腐败程度对绿色GDP的影响不同，其中政府效率、公平程度能有效促进经济发展较好地区的绿色GDP增长，却会抑制比较落后地区绿色GDP的增长；市场化程度对大部分地区绿色GDP呈现促进作用；腐败程度对地区绿色GDP增长呈阻碍作用。科技创新对各地区绿色GDP均起到积极的促进作用。因此，提升绿色GDP发展水平不仅需要提高地方政府质量，为绿色GDP发展提供符合实际的政策指导意见，还需激活企业科技创新能力，为绿色GDP发展提供有力科技保障。     

恩格斯对《资本论》方法的贡献——纪念恩格斯诞辰200周年

恩格斯对待《资本论》的态度是将其看做科学作品和历史作品的统一，坚持由“科学品性”提升“历史品格”——这就是对唯物主义路径的着重阐发；恩格斯进而希望通过自己的扎实辛勤工作，全方位展示他和马克思共同的理论思维——辩证法，用以“伟大逻辑”的建构。要之，恩格斯的工作和《资本论》方法关联的线索有三：一是以《自然辩证法》研究和《资本论》商品章“工作呼应”，希图在马克思主义理论中彻底肃清“蒲鲁东主义”；二是坚持《资本论》的由“自然过程”向“历史过程”进军，对其总体方法论和理论逻辑主张——自然历史过程——进行学理性阐发，又主要归结于发生学的工作逻辑；三是恩格斯晚年的历史唯物主义思考，以耄耋之年推动“《资本论》增补”工作，进行巨大的认识推进。换言之，从广义的工作角度看，恩格斯是尝试把《资本论》当作马克思自身要完成而未能完成的“《辩证法》”（即唯物辩证法）的一个全面预演。经由恩格斯的唯物史观化的“辩证法”努力，《资本论》逐渐成为指导科学思考和进行意识形态战斗的武器，这为《资本论》“俄国化”和“中国化”打下了牢靠的基础。