The effect of housing allocation on social inequality in Hungary

The main characteristics of the present Hungarian housing sector are as follows: there are state-owned apartments with rents centrally fixed at a very low level and privately owned houses and condominiums sold at high prices on the free market. In cities chronic housing shortages prevail. This paper investigates the impact of the dual housing market on social inequalities. After surveying the ethical principles of contemporary Hungarian socialism, we examine the factual distribution of dwellings and the variables explaining it. It is shown that the redistributive effect of state subsidies in housing does not reduce, but, on the contrary, increases inequality.     

The dynamics of inequality and social security in general equilibrium

This paper analyzes the dynamic politico-economic equilibrium of a model where repeated voting on social security and the evolution of household characteristics in general equilibrium are mutually affected over time. In particular, we incorporate within-cohort heterogeneity in a two-period Overlapping-Generation model to capture the intra-generational redistributive effect of social security transfers. Political decision-making is represented by a probabilistic voting à la Lindbeck and Weibull (1987). We analytically characterize the Markov perfect equilibrium, in which social security tax rates are shown to be increasing in wealth inequality. A dynamic interaction between inequality and social security leads to larger social security programs. In a model calibrated to the U.S. economy, the dynamic interaction is shown to be quantitatively important: It accounts for more than half of the social security growth in the dynamics. We also perform some normative analysis, showing that the politico-economic equilibrium outcomes can be fundamentally different from the Ramsey allocation.     

The growth–inequality association: Government ideology matters

This note suggests that the association between income inequality and economic growth rates might arguably depend on the political ideology of incumbent governments. Estimates indicate that under leftwing governments, inequality is negatively associated with growth while the association is positive under rightwing governments. This may provide a qualification to recent studies of inequality.     

Situational logic in social science inquiry: From economics to criminology

Karl R. Popper proposed that the method of explanation in economics, or situational logic, should become the general model for analyses across the social sciences. This article makes good Popper's proposal by extending situational logic to a social problem outside the traditional scope of economics: crime. Specifically, the discussion reviews models developed by economist Gary S. Becker and criminologist Ronald V. Clarke. Becker's ‘economic approach’ to crime incorporates essential features of situational logic. Clarke's ‘situational crime prevention’ offers an even better demonstration; it explicitly incorporates the ideas of piecemeal social engineering and unintended social repercussions. Popper took situational logic from Menger and the Austrians, making this emerging area of criminology an extension of Austrian economics.

The technological determinants of long‐run inequality

I explore the effect of skill‐biased technological change and unbiased technological progress on long‐run inequality using a theoretical model in which the supply of skilled and unskilled workers is endogenous. The main assumption of the model is that young agents can finance their education and become skilled workers by borrowing against their future income on an imperfect credit market. I show that whenever the rate of unbiased technological progress is sufficiently high there is no steady‐state inequality, independent of the degree of skill bias. If instead the rate of unbiased technological progress is low, then the long‐run skill premium increases with the technological skill bias. Therefore, similarly to the short run, in the long run higher technological skill bias may cause higher inequality. However, contrary to the short run, in the long run unbiased technological progress is more important than technological skill bias in determining inequality. I also discuss how the efficiency of the educational technology and the degree of financial development affect long‐run inequality.     

From contract to mental model: Constitutional culture as a fact of the social sciences

This paper develops the concept of constitutional culture—the attitude, thoughts, and feelings about constitutional constraints and the nature, scope, and function of constitutionalism. Constitutional culture is approached as a complex emergent phenomenon bridging Hayekian cognitive and institutional insights. It can be studied as a mental model, a series of expectations and understandings about the constitutional order, how it is, and how it ought to be. The “map” and “model” approach from Hayek’s Sensory Order (1952) is employed to understand how individuals and (cautiously) groups of individuals at the national level approach constitutionalism. This paper goes beyond the more traditional one-size-fits-all approach where all individuals respond uniformly to incentives, as provided by the constitution qua contract. Instead, constitutionalism is tied up in the individual’s vision of the world, that is, what Hayek (1948) labels “the facts of the social sciences.” The paper concludes with four areas where constitutional culture can further the insights of constitutional political economy: comparative political economy, constitutional stickiness, constitutional maintenance, and the new development economics.     

The measurement and trend of inequality: An amendment to a basic revision

A variety of revisions and adjustments to our standard measures of inequality have been proposed in recent years. This note corrects a serious error in that work which could reverse conclusions in instances of great inequality.     

From Vienna to Virginia: Exchange,rules, and social cooperation an introduction to the symposium

Serving as an introduction to the essays in this volume, we put forward an intellectual hardcore for a shared research agenda between Austrian and Virginia political economy. This research agenda rests on three pillars: exchange, rules, and social cooperation. Each of these pillars forms the distinctive flavor of Austrian and Virginian political economy with respect to theoretical approach, types and applications of empirics, and even to normative questions. Our essay explores the meaning of these pillars with respect to the broader study of political economy, as well as the intellectual superstructure of each respective school.     

The local best response criterion: An epistemic approach to equilibrium refinement

The standard refinement criteria for extensive form games, including subgame perfect, perfect, perfect Bayesian, sequential, and proper, reject important classes of reasonable Nash equilibria and accept many unreasonable Nash equilibria. This paper develops a new refinement criterion, based on epistemic game theory, that captures the concept of a Nash equilibrium that is plausible when players are rational. I call this the local best response (LBR) criterion. This criterion is conceptually simpler than the standard refinement criteria because it does not depend on out-of-equilibrium, counterfactual, or passage to the limit arguments. The LBR is also informationally richer because it clarifies the epistemic conditions that render a Nash equilibrium reasonable. The LBR criterion appears to render the traditional refinement criteria superfluous.     

Using justice principles to resolve the ‘Impossibility of a Paretian Liberal’

A simple, but general, possibility result is presented showing how ‘justice’ principles can be effectively used to resolve Amartya Sen's ‘The Impossibility of a Paretian Liberal’ (1970a).     

The use of linear difference equations in manpower planning: A criticism

Systems of linear difference equations have been used extensively to project educational and manpower needs. The dynamic properties of such models appear never to have been considered. A number of these models were examined and, without exception, were highly unstable. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the source of model instability is not in parameter estimation error. The consistently unsatisfactory results suggest that linear difference equations do not adequately model manpower needs. The more general point made is that validation of any dynamic model should always include an investigation of the dynamic characteristics.     

增长失衡与政府责任:基于社会性支出角度的分析

There exists a kind of growth imbalance in China’s current development process, which is essentially characterized by the imbalance between the nation’s wealth and the people’s welfare. This paper points out that growth imbalance results mostly from insufficient government social spending on people’s welfare. Consequently, the government should shoulder the basic responsibility for the provision of education, health and social security, quicken the transformation of government expenditure structure and increase the share of social spending, in order to improve the people’s welfare and achieve the rebalancing of growth. The increase in social spending can also promote the accumulation of human capital, which will help the conversion of economic growth pattern and the realization of sustainable and healthy economic development. Translated from Jingji Yanjiu 经济研究 (Economic Research Journal), 2006, (10): 4–17     

Income gap between poor families and others: Signs of individual freedom or proof of social inequality?

In 2001 the mean income deficit for poor families was $7,231. The mean income surplus for nonpoor families was $57,841. The sum of those two estimates—$65,072—represents what we call the family income gap. Between 1993 and 2000—the period marking the longest expansion in U.S. economic history—the real family income gap grew on average by $1,143 every year. This article examines the difference in income between poor and nonpoor families, 1988–2001; transitions into and out of poverty; the income gap in 2001 by race and type of family; and three remedies for closing the gap. Concluding remarks call attention to the linkage between our understanding of human nature and the way in which poverty is defined and measured. Mayo Research Institute     

Heavy tails and upper-tail inequality: The case of Russia

Motivated, in part, by the recent surge of interest in robust inequality measurement, cross-country inequality comparisons, applications of heavy-tailed distributions and the study of global and upper-tail inequality, this paper focuses on robust analysis of heavy-tailedness properties and inequality in the upper tails of income distribution in Russia, as measured, mainly, by its tail indices. The study is based on recently developed approaches to robust inference on the degree of heavy-tailedness and their implications for the analysis of upper-tail inequality discussed in the paper. Among other results, the paper provides robust estimates of heavy-tailedness parameters and tail indices for Russian income distribution and their comparisons with the benchmark values in developed economies reported in the previous literature. The estimates point out to important similarity between heavy-tailedness properties of income distribution and their implications for the analysis of upper-tail income inequality in Russia and those in developed markets.     

从马尔萨斯到索洛:工业革命理论综述

不发达国家的经济怎么才能实现长期而稳定的增长,并达到发达经济,这是经济学家所长期追寻的目标。19世纪以来接连出现的大量国家相继走上富裕之路,给经济学家提供了丰富的研究素材,但受制于分析工具的不完备,该领域的研究长期未取得大的进展。20世纪90年代中后期,对该问题的研究有了新的、统一的分析框架,形成了工业革命的研究领域,这项研究试图统一人口增长理论、制度经济学、经济增长理论和发展经济学。本文就该理论的进展进行了综述,并对可能的发展方向做了简要评述。     

收入范畴的演化:从斯密到马克思

斯密根据他的外在观察法提出了收入范畴,但他并没有真正理解收入,并将收入与内在观察法的研究混为一谈,以至于给自己带来灾难。对于斯密的双重观察法,马克思既肯定了他的合理之处,又批判了他的肤浅性。在此基础上,马克思发现了社会表面上的收入现象是资本运动内在规定的颠倒反映。据此,对收入进行切近的规定之后,开始研究资本运动,最后又回到收入上,既再现了具体总体,形成了《资本论》的第五大范畴,又批判了资产阶级及其理论家的错误。