From Judicial Sovereignty to Collective Democracy: The Development of J.R. Commons’ Perspective on Progressive Institutional Change

Abstract:

This article clarifies the significance of “collective democracy” in the works of John R. Commons by comparing it with “judicial sovereignty” in terms of its contribution to “progress.” We can thus answer two issues that Paul D. Bush does not clearly address: (i) what setup for policy formation contributes to progress and (ii) what is the role of economists within a collective democracy? Based on the comparison, the answer to the first question is collective democracy, and regarding the second question, the roles of economists as both economists and “institutional” economists are extrapolated.     

The Dynamic ‘Diamond’: A Technological Innovation Perspective

A firm's local environment can constitute a source of national or regional cornpetitive advantage. An important question, therefore, is how these environments come about and how they can be lost. In this paper, we argue that a local environment is a function of the process of technological evolution. It is a function of how certain initial and prevailing conditions, the type of innovation, and chance events, influence the processes of uncertainty resolution, capabilities building, and survivor selection that are characteristic of technological evolution. We also argue that a region can lose its advantage when a dominant design emerges or when a technological discontinuity obsoletes the localized technological capabilities of not only manufacturers, but also of their suppliers, customers and related industries. The environment is dynamic as firms and nations, in response to their performances, also influence it by changing their strategies or policies.     

10 Q&A: Experienced Advice for “Lost” Graduate Students in Economics

Editor's Note: Oftentimes economic theorists have insightful things to say about methodology and policy as they relate to teaching, but those insights are often lost to more pedagogically-focused professors who do not follow theoretical developments. This section is the first in a series of occasional pieces by economic theorists and researchers that the editors believe may be of general interest. These informal comments are those of Ariel Rubinstein delivered at a Wine and Cheese party at NYU, October 28, 2011, and were expanded on by the author at the invitation of the editors (revised January 2013). Readers who find Rubinstein's comments interesting are encouraged to go to his Web site, http://arielrubinstein.tau.ac.il, and to look at his new book, Economic Fables, which raises a number of issues directly related to teaching. Readers with suggestions for additional pieces for this series are encouraged to e-mail: Colander@Middlebury.edu.     

Post-Crisis Experiments in Development Finance Architectures: A Hirschmanian Perspective On ‘Productive Incoherence’

Abstract

The Asian and especially the global crisis of 2008 have catalyzed decentralization of the developing world’s financial governance architecture. I understand this state of affairs via the concept of “productive incoherence” which is apparent in a denser, multilayered development financial architecture that is emerging as a consequence of heterogeneous practical adjustments to changing circumstances rather than as the embodiment of a coherent doctrine. Drawing on Albert Hirschman, I argue that the absence of an encompassing theoretical blueprint for a new economic system—i.e. a new “ism” to replace neoliberalism—is in fact a vitally important virtue. If we cannot live without a new “ism,” I propose “Hirschmanian Possibilism” as a new doctrine—one that rejects an overarching theoretical framework from which to deduce the singly appropriate institutional structure of the economy. Hirschmanian Possibilism asserts instead the value of productive incoherence as a framework for pursuing democratic, ethically viable development institutions.     

The pyramid of Okun’s coefficient for Italy

Our aim is to propose a pyramid of Okun’s coefficient by age and gender in the Italian labour force using a varying-coefficient model. The unemployment rate by age and gender—useful information for estimating Okun’s relationship—is not available for Italy from official statistics. Therefore, we provide an estimation of the indicator using microdata for the 2005–2014 period from ISTAT, the Italian labour force survey. Okun’s law is investigated using two measures of the unemployment rate: a traditional measure based on a labour force with and without work experience, and a new measure restricted to the labour force with experience. When Okun’s relationship is estimated using the unemployment rate restricted to the labour force with experience, the young population is less sensitive to business cycles. As the workforce ages, this gap in sensitivity tends to shrink. We also found that there are no significant differences by gender in the magnitude of Okun’s coefficient among the youngest population when considering the unemployment rate restricted to the labour force with experience.     

The Stable Mechanism and Motive System for the Development of Green Enterprises

Green Enterprises are a modernized enterprise mode. The paper analyzes the internal stable mechanism and motive system for the sustainable development of green enterprises in three aspects： environment, culture and innovation. The paper discusses the three subsystems respectively in the light of green enterprises. The green innovation is not a static and stable system, but is always in a dynamic state of nonequilibrium, where the existing order is broken. Meanwhile, the great reaction of the green innovation on environment also brings about a great advance in the sustainable development of green enterprises.     

The Development of Community Tourism： A Relational View of Development Economics

By adopting the research method of documentary research, combining the related theory of development economics, and starting with the concept of community tourism, this paper brings forward the ＂Dual Structure＂ and the Kuznets Hypothesis of community tourism, and defines ＂the game theory＂ between the residents of community and tourists, as well as the increasing relationship between the per capita tourism income of community and the Geordie Modulus of community. Conclusively it puts forward the way of developing the tourism and community harmoniously, namely, taking the human as the dominant factor and being joined by the community.     

Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Development: 100 years of development

This article sheds light on the impact of Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Development over the last 100?years, and identifies insights from that work that are less well-known, but that have the potential for informing current developments in evolutionary economics. We identify these insights by tracing the development of Schumpeter’s ideas in Theory of Economic Development, which he revised heavily between the first and second German and the English editions. We not only report material lost in the process and developments in Schumpeter’s thinking that can be read off of the revisions, but also indicate how the newfound material can inform and inspire evolutionary economics today.     

Beyond ‘Poverty Reduction through Good Governance’: The New Political Economy of Development in Africa

The new political economy of development, characterised by the rising powers' new resource finds in many poor countries and the financial crisis, has driven development ideas and practices towards a paradigm shift, moving it beyond the post-Washington Consensus which marked the high point of development's ‘Poverty Reduction through Good Governance’ agenda. This has important implications for the extent to which developing countries remain governed by the institutional and ideological imperatives of development. Optimists suggest that this could herald a new era of sovereignty that enables African countries to take fuller control of their governance and development priorities, including a shift towards a ‘southern consensus’ around structural transformation, whilst pessimists argue that the hegemony of orthodox development ideas has only been partially reordered and that new problems of sovereignty are now emerging. Insights from Uganda suggest that both of these scenarios are currently unfolding, leaving the outcomes uncertain and much to play for. What remains of the ‘good governance’ agenda has yet to adapt itself to this new politics of development, which requires the emergence of new forms of developmental state in Africa.     

The New ‘Passive Revolution’ of the Green Economy and Growth Discourse: Maintaining the ‘Sustainable Development’ of Neoliberal Capitalism

This paper analyses the rapidly emerging discourse of a green economy based on green growth. It highlights inherent conflicts and contradictions of this discourse such as the myth of decoupling growth from the environment, pollution generations and resource consumption. Using key theoretical constructs of both Gramsci and Polanyi, the paper argues that the green economy/growth discourse can be seen as a Gramscian ‘passive revolution’ whereby the dominant sustainable development discourse, subsumed by capitalist hegemony, is protected in the context of global environmental, economic and development crises. The ‘neoliberalising of nature’, or in other words, the privatisation, marketisation and commodification of nature, akin to Polanyi's fictitious commodities, continues and intensifies with green economy/growth strategies. Greening the economy and associated strategies of green growth divert attention from the social and political dimensions of sustainability and issues of social and international justice. In this way, the inexorable march or ‘sustainable development’ of neoliberal capitalism is maintained. This paper goes on to argue that contesting the claims of green economy/growth discourse through political struggles by civil society against the neoliberalisation of nature is a sign of a slowly emerging counter-hegemonic ‘double movement’ which challenges capitalist hegemony and the commodification of society–nature relations.     

The Rational Development of Logistics in China

Logistics has become more and more popular in recent years in China. There are five reasons that can explain the phenomenon. It is a problem that logistics development neglects the trade or commerce. The trade flow guides the logistics. So the logistics should develop calmly. If not, it might cause the problem of irrational and aimless resources allocation.     

Professional ‘amateurs’ in the NCAA: the impact of downstream demand

We argue that student-athletes are amateur in title only; they are actually professional athletes in all accounts of their actions. This occurs because of the downstream demand of their athletic success: coaches are paid professionals. As a paid professional, these coaches are held accountable for the performances of their team, i.e. they are hired and fired based on this performance. Within the constraints of the National Collegiate Athletic Association guidelines, coaches make the rules for their athletes, which the athletes are required to follow. As such, the athletes themselves are professionals acting under professional incentives and are amateurs in title only.     

The Victims of Patriarchal Society —The Analysis of James Joyce's Eveline from the Perspective of Feminism

Eveline is of one of the stories ofDubliners by James Joyce. This paper attempts to analyze the cause of the miserable life of the heroine and her mother, and concludes that they are the victims of patriarchal society whom are depicted by Joyce to raise women's feminism consciousness.     

The Urbanization of Chinese Midland and the Development of SME

The dual structure of industrialization and urbanization in China causes domestic under-demand in recent years. The development strategy of the small town determines the economy can only meet lower equilibrium. The route that emerges in the Midland is chosen to develop the regional key city or city to enclose actively, but this process will lead to new non-equilibrium that is pulled by the investment of government. Establishing a two-product model, this paper verifies that the endogenous motive force of growth of the urbanization is the division of labor, which also promotes the SME. So we draw a conclusion that the SME is the main force that can promotes the urbanization of the Midland.