Economic Analysis in Talmudic Literature: Some Ancient Studies of Value

A bstract . The Talmudic Sages displayed a remarkable understanding of economic laws and practices. A knowledge of this understanding would be useful for the development of western economic thought. Especially is this true of the insight these Jewish scholars won into the nature of value , one of the most controversial economic concepts today. The Talmud —a compilation of studies, disputations and interpretations from Palestinian and Babylonian academies from the 3rd century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E.—contains a complex system of value concepts in which economic aspects are part of a larger set of ethical and legal doctrines. This includes "ideal" and "market value," the value of human life and its link to man's productive capacity, the derivation of present value from calculations of expected income flow from the person's labor, the nucleus of the concept of "human capital," of "free labor" as against "slave labor," subjective and objective value with the latter made subjective and the former objective, psychic value and marginal utility. The most intriguing doctrine is that of a "valueless value"; the Talmudic sages attempted the quantification of a negative value couched in positive and psycho-economic terms, an idea which, it is held, has no parallel in western economic thought. This idea, it is argued, has significance for modern welfare economics; it is a distinct category in which the valueless subject is given a positive numerical value (1) (2).     

From Cardinal to Ordinal Utility Theory

A bstract .   This paper examines the transition from cardinal to ordinal utility. We begin with the egalitarian utilitarianism of J. S. Mill and Herbert Spencer, in which everyone was supposed to count as one. That is their phrase to explain how the happiness of existing people was to be maximized. We compare Spencer's goal with Darwin's goal of the "general good," in which the number of perfect people was to be maximized. Spencer's goal was egalitarian, while Darwin's entailed biological perfection or hierarchy. We consider Edgeworth's hedonic calculus, in which the notion of hierarchy enters economics. For Edgeworth, agents have differential capacities for happiness. Throughout, we consider normative aspects of Darwin's work, in particular Darwin's challenge to the early utilitarianism of Mill and Spencer. We suggest that the Paretian principle returns utilitarianism to its egalitarian roots.     

加强党内文化建设 树立党员“四种”形象

加强党内文化建设是加强企业党建工作的必然要求,是推进企业可持续发展的有力法宝。文章论述了加强"对党忠诚、公道正派、务实创新、团结和谐"的党内文化建设,以树立党员干部"可靠、可信、可用、可亲"的四种形象,对推动企业党内文化管理,提升党员干部队伍素质,促进企业长足发展具有一定的借鉴作用。     

The Anti-Benthamism of J. M. Keynes: Implications for The General Theory

A bstract Keynes severely criticized the "Benthamite tradition," the overvaluation of the "economic criterion" He found "the love of money" corrosive of community and esthetic values and an encouragement to reckless exploitation of places that should be in the public domain In "Art and the State," he proposes the rebuilding of large sections of modern cities to rekindle popular feelings of beauty and community values
One of the factors behind this philosophy was G E Moore's Principia Ethica (1903) It criticizes Bentham for committing "the naturalistic fallacy" of confusing means with ends and idealizes two "goods" in themselves, the pleasure of human relations and the enjoyment of beauty in nature and art These ideals Keynes saw undermined by the Benthamite tradition
Such criticism is the "moral-political paradigm" on which The General Theory is erected Minute calculation of advantages and disadvantages, on which classical economics is based, is rejected Behind consumption and investment functions are sociological and psychological factors, "animal spirits," and the like Calculation prevails in the stock and bond markets ( liquidity preference )–to everybody's sorrow The proposed slow elimination of institutions that make liquidity preference possible, and of the rentier , follow logically Econometrics , viewed as the tool of the overvaluation of the economic criterion, is also rejected. In many articles Keynes aimed at much more than revolutionizing political economy , he aimed at weaning England from Benthamite utilitarianism and raising the cultural values of the populace By 1938 he knew that he had failed.     

The Pelagian Controversy: An Economic Analysis

A bstract .   In recent years economic theory has been used to analyze the introduction of new religious doctrines as innovations that further the objectives of religious organizations and their leaders. The present study analyzes the decision of church authorities in the early fifth century to reject the doctrine advanced by Pelagius in favor of the position taken by Augustine. Accounts of the controversy reveal two self-interested motives for the church hierarchy to reject the Pelagian doctrine: (1) the Pelagian view would have undermined the authority of the church hierarchy; and (2) by making greater demands for moral conduct, it would have raised the "cost" of being a Christian and thereby discouraged growth in church membership, particularly among the Roman upper class.     

Foreclosure with Incomplete Information

We investigate the robustness of the new foreclosure doctrine and its associated welfare implications to the introduction of incomplete information. In particular, we let the upstream firm's marginal cost be private information, unknown to the downstream firms. The previous literature has argued that vertical integration is harmful because it allows an upstream monopolist to limit output to monopoly levels, whereas a disintegrated structure will "over-sell," producing more in equilibrium. By contrast, we find that with incomplete information, high-cost firms will often "under-sell" in equilibrium, that is, supply less than their monopoly output. Low-cost firms continue to over-sell, so all types of firms have a reason to integrate downstream, but this is socially harmful only for low-cost types. For high-cost firms vertical integration can be Pareto-improving, resulting in higher output, profits, and consumer surplus.     

Institutional Stickiness and the New Development Economics

A bstract .   Research examining the importance of path dependence and culture for institutions and development tells us that "history matters," but not how history matters. To provide this missing "how," we provide a framework for understanding institutional "stickiness" based on the regression theorem. The regression theorem maintains that the stickiness, and therefore likely success, of any proposed institutional change is a function of that institution's status in relationship to indigenous agents in the previous time period. This framework for analyzing institutional stickiness creates the core of what we call the New Development Economics. Historical cases of postwar reconstruction and transition efforts provide evidence for our claim.     

文化产业热潮来袭

这是一个没人关心"文化"但所有人关心"产业"的时代。"文化造富"正演绎着新一轮的悲喜剧浙商创投合伙人李先文最近被朋友称为"拼命三郎"。作为浙江投资圈内最勤奋的投资人之一,他最忙碌的时候平均一天看四个项目、飞三个城市,"忙得连孩子都顾不上生。"李先文开玩笑说。但即使这样,他还是感到很焦虑,"害怕在这个领域被对手超过。"     

从“黄金周”看我国的旅游法制建设

众所周知,旅游对经济发展所做的贡献日益突出,并改变着人们的生活观念,更新了休闲理念,而且增加了人们的幸福感。同时,旅游中出现的问题也不容忽视。尤其是自1999年国庆开始实施旅游"黄金周"以来,不断暴露出我国旅游业法制的不健全。文章通过对我国旅游立法现状的分析,重点探讨旅游法律、法规建设存在的问题,并试图提出一些构想。     

Comments on Four Papers on Economics and Human Heterogeneity

A bstract .   These comments focus on some issues raised in the papers by Dimand, Peart and Levy, Cot, and Leonard. These papers are fascinating, but not without weaknesses. It is argued that Dimand's presentation of what he calls the "general principle" of classical economics is misconceived. There is a confusion in this paper between the classical view of equal capacity and the much newer concept of equally rational actual performance. Peart and Levy discuss the idea of unequal capacity for pleasure in Edgeworth, but do not draw a link back to the idea in J. S. Mill of different qualities of pleasure. Cot and Leonard provide informative accounts of the American eugenic movement and its links to progressivism, but with an insufficient degree of distinction between the various positions and agendas that were concerned.     

定点采购存在的问题与对策分析

“定点采购”方式在全国各地使用的比较普遍,将其作为政府采购的一种重要补充形式,也很有适用价值。本文分析了定点采购中存在的一些亟待解决的突出问题,并提出了“二次竞争”机制、“采购卡”约束机制、“背靠背”评审机制等切实可行的对策,对定点采购的规范运作提供了思路。     

Henry George Under the Microscope: Comments on "Henry George's Political Critics"

The annual supplement of the AJES for 2008 titled Henry George: Political Ideologue, Social Philosopher, and Economic Theorist had as its first and longest essay "Henry George's Political Critics" by Professor Michael Hudson. It offered a multitude of criticisms, most of which Prof. Hudson seemed to agree with. All purported to be criticisms of George as a political strategist, though some seem more to originate from Hudson's disagreement with theoretical positions George was bound to take. The purpose of this short paper is to show that Professor Hudson's long article fails to do what it seems intended to do. That is, it fails to show that trade unionists and especially socialists were "natural allies" of the Georgist movement, that it was George's fault that that they were not, and that George "allied" his movement irrevocably to "capital," rejecting its "natural allies."     

The Division of Labor Under Homogeneity: A Critique of Mises and Rothbard

A bstract .   Even the most passionate defenders of free trade, such as Mises and Rothbard, claim that trade cannot occur under conditions of strict homogeneity of land, labor, and capital. We show that specialization, trade, and the division of labor can emerge even when resources are initially homogenous, due to "natural heterogeneity," economies of scale, and learning.     

Is There a Free‐Market Economist in the House? The Policy Views of American Economic Association Members

A bstract .   People often suppose or imply that free-market economists constitute a significant portion of all economists. We surveyed American Economic Association members and asked their views on 18 specific forms of government activism. We find that about 8 percent of AEA members can be considered supporters of free-market principles, and that less than 3 percent may be called strong supporters. The data are broken down by voting behavior (Democratic or Republican). Even the average Republican AEA member is "middle-of-the-road," not free-market. We offer several possible explanations of the apparent difference between actual and attributed views.     

Social Anthropology in Economic Literature at the End of the 19th Century: Eugenic and Racial Explanations of Inequality

A bstract .   At the end of the 19^th century, Georges Vacher de Lapouge and Otto Ammon founded a school of thought denominated "social anthropology" or "anthropo-sociology," aimed at placing racism on a scientific basis. Their intent was to create a new discipline into which the themes of biological heredity, natural selection, social stratification, and political organization were to converge. This paper intends to demonstrate the wide resonance that anthroposociology had in the economic literature, analyzing the thought of authors such as Carlos C. Closson, Vilfredo Pareto, and Thorstein Veblen. A particular focus will be on the racial and eugenic arguments used as explanation of social and economic inequality.     

The Welfare Effects of the National Cooperative Research Act (NCRA) of 1984 and the National Cooperative Production Amendments (NCPA) of 1993

A bstract .   Cooperative R&D and production joint ventures may enable firms to achieve significant cost efficiencies. However, they can also be a means of controlling industry output and raising product prices. A review of the literature on the welfare implications of allowing rival firms to cooperate in the R&D and production stages indicates that the issue is controversial from a theoretical perspective. There is need to examine the motivations of R&D and production joint ventures in order to assess the welfare implications of the National Cooperative Research Act (NCRA) of 1984 and National Cooperative Production Amendments (NCPA) of 1993, which relaxed the antitrust treatment of R&D and production joint ventures. Using samples of 127 cooperative R&D joint ventures and 342 cooperative production joint ventures announced by U.S. domestic firms during 1979–1999, this article finds that these endeavors do not meet the criteria for collusive behavior specified by the market power doctrine. We interpret these findings as suggesting that cooperative R&D and production joint ventures are motivated by cost efficiencies and are, therefore, welfare enhancing. Our results pose some challenges to the doctrine that antitrust actions by regulatory authorities are always welfare improving.     

Classical Equality: On the Content of Analytical Egalitarianism

A bstract .   Sandra Peart and David Levy in The "Vanity of the Philosopher" champion a concept of "analytical egalitarianism." Equality is a difficult concept. Peart and Levy attempt to reconstruct analytical egalitarianism from the classical writing of British political economy from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill. Aspects of this reconstruction touch on a number of different egalitarian conceptions, including: (1) equality of capacity and talent, (2) racial equality, (3) equality in the marketplace, (4) equality of opportunity, (5) equality of material conditions, (6) equality of happiness, (7) equality before God, and (8) political equality. This paper briefly considers the relation of each of these equalities to Peart and Levy's analytical egalitarianism. The hope is that such exercises can help elucidate Peart and Levy's reinterpretation of classical economic's understanding of equality. A central theme does emerge. Peart and Levy, echoing the classical economists themselves, seem reluctant to follow their radical assumptions concerning talent and capacity for happiness to radical conclusions concerning the appropriate provenance of redistributional policies.     

中国顾客抱怨行为的文化成因及“疗法”研究

文化背景影响顾客抱怨行为。中国传统文化背景下的顾客在经历产品或服务失败之后,倾向于将其归因为"缘分"、运气等不可控因素,不满意程度较低;而重视面子和讲求中庸等观念使得他们往往不愿意直接向企业投诉;集体主义和人与人之间互相依赖的价值导向则使得他们可能会进行大量负面口碑宣传。因此,企业需要认真审视这些行为表现及其文化成因,采取相应措施,鼓励顾客直接向企业投诉;管理顾客负面口碑;同时,还需开发测量中国顾客满意度的新标准。     

“创先争优”推动科学发展跨越发展的研究

党的十七大提出在党的基层组织和党员中深入开展"创先争优"活动后,一股以"推动科学发展、促进社会和谐、服务人民群众、加强基层组织"为目标的"创先争优"风潮悄然兴起。如何使"创先争优"不拘泥于形式?如何使"创先争优"不成为空喊的口号?如何使"创先争优"成为推动科学发展跨越发展的强大动力?文章就此问题进行了探讨。