Social capital and social economics

The “discovery” of social capital in the early 1990s led to an upsurge of research into the economic impact of social cohesion and governmental effectiveness. This paper outlines key developments in the social capital literature over the past 13 years. It then examines theory and evidence of the links between social cohesion, quality of governance, economic performance and human welfare. The literature indicates that social capital makes a measurable contribution to economic development and overall wellbeing, particularly in developing countries. Partly in response to this emerging body of evidence, there has been increased interest in the application of community development principles to economic development initiatives. This paper argues that the advent of social capital theory represents a partial convergence between social economics and mainstream economics, and signifies an increased acceptance that economic activity cannot be meaningfully “disembedded” from social and political context.     

Social capital and social economics

The “discovery” of social capital in the early 1990s led to an upsurge of research into the economic impact of social cohesion and governmental effectiveness. This paper outlines key developments in the social capital literature over the past 13 years. It then examines theory and evidence of the links between social cohesion, quality of governance, economic performance and human welfare. The literature indicates that social capital makes a measurable contribution to economic development and overall wellbeing, particularly in developing countries. Partly in response to this emerging body of evidence, there has been increased interest in the application of community development principles to economic development initiatives. This paper argues that the advent of social capital theory represents a partial convergence between social economics and mainstream economics, and signifies an increased acceptance that economic activity cannot be meaningfully “disembedded” from social and political context.     

Social ecology,sustainability, and economics

What mode of analysis might be employed, that captures the confluent action of material and social systems acting together? The framework of Social Ecology, which first emerged as a rejoinder to the Chicago School of Human Ecology of the early 1900s, evolved over subsequent decades as an attempt at such integration. We revisit social ecology's historical origins and foundational assumptions. We propose that the social ecological framework can offer useful conceptual grounding to scholars of ecological economics. We illustrate how this analytical lens affords a deeper understanding of unsustainable systems and valuation problems.     

Social choice and welfare economics under representative government

In his Impossibility Theorem, Arrow demonstrated logically that certain a priori conditions cannot all be satisfied by a rule of social choice. Those conditions, however, are admittedly value judgments, and how ethically impelling they are remains in dispute. To appraise that matter, the theorem is properly seen in a political context, and Arrow himself has seen it so, but he focuses in effect on ‘direct democracy.’ Further clarification may result from reference instead to different forms of ‘representative government.’ The same inquiry may also illuminate another still controversial matter: the import of the theorem for welfare economics.     

Social economics and the new world order: A roman-catholic perspective

Revised version of a paper presented at the 1993 Midwest regional meetings of the Association for Social Economics, Indianapolis, IN.     

Social innovation and Austrian economics: Exploring the gains from intellectual trade

The Review of Austrian Economics - The Austrian school of economics has played a key contribution toward an improved understanding of the characteristics of economic innovation. Over recent decades...     

On Hegel,imperialism, and structural stagnation

The essentials of the economic theory of imperialism à la Hobson-Luxemburg are anticipated in two paragraphs of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Marx did not pay attention to this aspect of Hegel's thought, perhaps because it implied a longer survival probability for capitalism than Marx cared to acknowledge. The second part of the paper shows the formal similarity between the economic theory of imperialism and the theory of structural stagnation that was proposed in Latin America in the 1960s. The blindspots and early demise of that theory have the same psychological root as Marx's neglect of Hegel's insights.     

Vilfredo pareto and contemporary economics: Social equilibrium, fiscal decentralisation and economic growth

During the second decade of the twentieth century, Vilfredo Pareto’s influence on the fiscal scholarship of Guido Sensini, Gino Borgatta and others in Italy was significant. In the 1920s a unique approach to fiscal thought developed which was grounded in the Paretian notion of social equilibrium. This study highlights the main features of this approach and considers why it went into decline from the 1930s and terminated in the 1950s. The paper also points to a potential benefit from integrating Aldo Scotto’s pioneering work on fiscal decentralisation with the Paretian fiscal thought of Sensini and Borgatta as part of a modern research program on the relationship between fiscal decentralisation and economic growth. (JEL:A12, B31, H00)     

Social preferences and public economics: Mechanism design when social preferences depend on incentives

Social preferences such as altruism, reciprocity, intrinsic motivation and a desire to uphold ethical norms are essential to good government, often facilitating socially desirable allocations that would be unattainable by incentives that appeal solely to self-interest. But experimental and other evidence indicates that conventional economic incentives and social preferences may be either complements or substitutes, explicit incentives crowding in or crowding out social preferences. We investigate the design of optimal incentives to contribute to a public good under these effects would make either more or less use of explicit incentives, by comparison to a naive planner who assumes they are absent.     

女性主义经济学与中国经济学的本土化

经济学研究的是具体社会关系下人的理性行为以及人类行为造成的经济现象,因而具有强烈的人文性;而且,随着经济学研究领域的不断拓宽,人们已经开始引入了制度、文化等社会性因素,经济学的人文性已日益明显.正是基于这种人文性特征引发了人们对具体社会中人之理性的重新审视,以及对社会中人之行为的关注,并导致20世纪80年代之后女性主义经济学的勃兴;经济学领域的性别差异又进一步引发了社会性的思考,从而引发了对经济学本土化的探讨.事实上,不同社会文化下的经济学是有差异的,经济学本质上无法像自然科学那样科学化、客观化和通用化,而是具有强烈的本土化的色彩;而且,如果经济学理论没有本土化,就没有根植性,也就没有创新性,当然也就没有现代性和世界性.     

经济学视角的社会网络研究述评

社会网络是社会学研究的核心领域,在发展过程中逐渐受到了其他领域学者的关注。近些年来,有关社会网络的经济学方面的研究越来越多。在阐述社会网络的基本概念及表述方法的基础上,重点从社会网络成因以及社会网络结构对经济个体行为的影响两个方面对相关理论进行回顾,指出现有研究的不足,并对社会网络理论的进一步研究做出展望。     

Ethics and economics

The author suggests that one way to better manage the burgeoning costs in acute care settings and improve patient care is by the earlier use of ethics case consultations and end-of-life support from ethics teams. This study determined that, in several very diverse clinical scenarios, timely facilitation of meaningful communication and decision making between patients, families, and health care providers can result in the more appropriate use of health care resources. While few of the patients in this study had recorded advanced directives in place, and there was initially a lack of family consensus in some cases, compliance with the ethics team recommendations led to a more appropriate clinical unit placement; and improved family support helped manage the costs of care and focus on the patients' quality of life. The decrease in the use of medical interventions and therapies after ethics consultations was consistent in all cases presented here.     

The new institutional economics and its relevance to social economics

There has been a quiet revolution in economic theory, led by the New Institutionalists. Pioneered by Douglass C. North, this group argues that institutions are the main determinants of economic performance, yet neoclassical economics has no role for institutions. Contrary to many misconceptions, this theory of institutions can be integrated with neoclassical economics, leaving mainstream economic theory in tact, but broader and more relevant. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, the main arguments of the New Institutionalists are summarized. Second, the bridge between institutions and social economics is explored. The article concludes by arguing that the New Institutional approach is fruitful, and that the theory will gradually be integrated with neoclassical economics, until the two merge into a single body of theory.     

Can neoclassical economics become social economics?

This essay has both a general and a specific purpose. Its general purpose is to pose the question: Can neoclassical economics be social economics? Its answer to this general question is: Yes, but only if it abandons its methodological soul; that is, by abandoning methodological individualism, positivism, and ahistoricism, and expressly and systematically adopting a methodological perspective which is holistic, normative, and historical. Its specific purpose is to identify and examine the major elements in the economics of one leading figure in the historical development of neoclassical economics who self-consciously attempted to combine, to paraphrase Schumpeter, a neoclassical head with a social economics heart: Alfred Marshall.