Convergence Towards the Normal Rate of Capacity Utilization in Neo‐Kaleckian Models: The Role of Non‐Capacity Creating Autonomous Expenditures

Neo‐Kaleckian models of growth and distribution have been highly popular among heterodox economists. Two drawbacks of these models have, however, been underlined in the literature: first, the models do not usually converge to their normal rate of capacity utilization; second, the models do not include the Harrodian principle of dynamic instability. Some Sraffian economists have long been arguing that the presence of non‐capacity creating autonomous expenditures provides a mechanism that brings back the model to normal rates of capacity utilization, while safeguarding the main Keynesian message and without going back to classical conclusions. The present article provides a very simple proof of this, showing within a neo‐Kaleckian model that the Harrodian principle of dynamic instability gets tamed by the presence of autonomous consumer expenditures.     

Inconsistencies in the note of Dávila‐Fernández,Oreiro and Punzo

This rejoinder is a rebuttal of the claims made by Dávila‐Fernández, Oreiro, and Punzo ( in press ) in their comment on Lavoie ( 2016 ). All three points that they make are mistaken: I did not pretend that the introduction of autonomous noncapacity expenditures would on its own allow the neo‐Kaleckian growth model to converge toward the normal rate of capacity utilization; the ‘Keynesian’ message is not eliminated when investment expenditures are essentially induced in a neo‐Kaleckian model; and the equations that they provide to endogenize the normal rate of capacity utilization are meaningless.     

Inconsistency and over‐determination in neo‐Kaleckian growth models: A note

This short note argues that the canonical neo‐Kaleckian growth model does not yield a balanced growth path due to the absence of an inbuilt mechanism by which desired and actual rates of capital accumulation are equalized. Introducing non‐generating capacity autonomous demand does not solve such inconsistency. Contrary to what Lavoie ( 2016 ) claims, we show that the latter is also unable to bring capacity utilization to its normal level. In light of recent contributions (e.g., Nikiforos, 2013, 2016 ), we suggest that making normal capacity utilization an endogenous variable is an alternative better suited to deal with the issue.     

Demand‐led growth with endogenous innovation

This paper contributes to the recent macro‐dynamics literature on demand‐led growth, drawing upon the seminal idea that the implications of Harrodian instability may be tamed by a source of autonomous expenditure in the economy. Contrary to the other contributions in this literature, real autonomous expenditure is not growing at an exogenously given rate, and partly consists of a flow of profit‐seeking R&D and innovation expenditures raising labour productivity through time. If the state of distribution, hence the wage share, is exogenously fixed and constant, the model gives rise to dynamics in a two dimensional state space, that may converge to, or give rise to a limit cycle around, an endogenous growth path. An exogenous rise of the profit share exerts negative effects on long‐run growth and employment, showing that growth is wage led.     

Socio‐demographic determinants of gambling participation and expenditures: evidence from Malaysia

This study examined the socio‐demographic determinants of participation and expenditure decisions on gambling among non‐Muslim households in Malaysia using data from the 2005–2006 Malaysian Household Expenditures Survey. Heckman's sample selection analysis was used to obtain consistent (unbiased) empirical estimates for the regression equation of gambling expenditures in the presence of censoring (observed zeros) in the dependent variable. Marginal effects were also calculated to further explore the effects of socio‐demographic variables on the probability and levels of gambling expenditures. The results indicated that non‐Muslim households in Malaysia who are more likely to participate and spend more in gambling include Chinese, affluent, male‐headed, younger and non‐white collar households. Specifically, households of Chinese descent have higher gambling probabilities and expenditures than Indians and those of other ethnic backgrounds. While education reduces and age increases the likelihood and expenditures of gambling among Chinese households, these effects are non‐extant for Indians and other ethnic groups. Higher income and male‐headed households were more likely to partake and have higher expenditures in gambling among all non‐Muslim ethnic groups. Finally, Chinese and Indian households headed by a white‐collar worker have lower gambling likelihoods and unconditional expenditures than their blue‐collar cohorts. Based on these results, several anti‐gambling policies were suggested to target those more likely to participate and spend more in gambling activities.     

US aggregate demand for clothing and shoes: effects of non‐durable expenditures,price and demographic changes

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the changes in total non‐durables expenditures, prices and US demographics on demand for different clothing categories and shoes in a time‐series framework. The basis for the demand model was the almost ideal demand system model. Demographic variables included in the model were age distribution of US population (median age and variance) and proportion of non‐white population to the total US population. The results indicate that total non‐durable expenditures and price variables are significantly related to consumers’ non‐durable budget allocations for clothing categories and shoes. The results of the study also show that, among the demographic variables examined in the study, the median age and non‐white population were significant variables affecting US aggregate non‐durable expenditure allocation on men's and boy's clothing and shoes. All the demand elasticities with respect to total expenditures, own, cross‐price and demographics were also estimated.     

The impact of household life‐cycle stages on subjective well‐being: Considering the effect of household expenditures in Hungary

The household life‐cycle stage is a significant contributor to the perception of subjective well‐being; however, the effect of household expenditures of life‐cycles on subjective well‐being has not been thoroughly explored. The life‐course perspective, specifically the study of family/household life‐cycles, emphasizes the understanding of subjective well‐being across the entire life‐span. Accordingly, in the literature subjective well‐being is often studied at different life‐stages considering the influence of variables such as age, cohabitation and fertility. The present study evaluates the level of subjective well‐being across the various life‐cycle stages using a matching method on a Hungarian national sample. This approach is appropriate for studies using observational data because the administration of a true experimental design is usually not feasible for this type of research. The main finding of the article is that controlling for the expenditure structure significantly modifies the effect of life‐cycle on subjective well‐being, which is varied across life‐cycle stages and shown to be highly dependent on household expenditures.     

Critical points of CSR‐related stakeholder dialogue in practice

This paper examines the roles of dialogue in the process of communication with stakeholders. The conceptual frameworks of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder relationships frequently present the initiation of a dialogue with stakeholders as a way for an organization to respond to criticisms of its social and environmental policies and actions. The paper discusses dialogue in the stakeholder and CSR literature. This is followed by the analysis of in‐depth semi‐structured interviews in the empirical section. Theoretical discussion and empirical examples demonstrate that the role of stakeholder dialogue in implementing CSR strategy is crucial in many ways. The case examples taken from the interviews with the heads of two large companies and two non‐governmental organizations illustrate the practical difficulties that may be encountered in applying the principle and practice of dialogue to the implementation of CSR programs in the real world.     

Export Premium,Self‐selection and Learning‐by‐Exporting: Evidence from Chinese Matched Firms

This study empirically focuses on examining the hypotheses of export premium (exporters are more productive than non‐exporters), selection‐into‐exporting (more productive firms are ones that tend to become exporters) and learning‐by‐exporting (new export market entrants have higher productivity growth than non‐exporters in the post‐entry period). The propensity score matching method is used to adjust for observable differences of firm characteristics between exporters and non‐exporters, allowing an adequate ‘like‐for‐like’ comparison. We also use the difference‐in‐difference matching estimator to capture the magnitude of different productivity growth between matched new export market entrants and non‐exporters in the post‐entry period up to two years. Drawing on 2,340 Chinese firms in the period 2000–02, we find evidence for export premium and self‐selection, and once the firm has entered the export market there is additional productivity growth from the learning effect, in particular in the second year after entry.     

Product Innovation and Irregular Growth Cycles with Excess Capacity

A non‐linear growth model is presented that provides a solution to Harrod's knife‐edge problem within the Keynesian multiplier–accelerator framework. The model introduces product innovation into a conventional investment function. Statistical analysis demonstrates that such an investment function matches the data better than the conventional one. Dynamic analysis shows that irregular growth cycles could occur with excess capacity.     

Viability and Corridor Stability in Keynesian Supply‐Driven Growth

In this paper we reconsider and generalize a two‐dimensional growth cycle model of Skott that is based on supply‐side adjustment mechanisms and a Kaldorian theory of income distribution. This model gives rise to degenerate Hopf bifurcations if behaviour (in terms of rates of growth) is linear close to the steady state. Furthermore full capacity limits lead to viable dynamics from the global point of view if the steady state is locally attracting and to corridor stability with persistent fluctuations when it is repelling. These findings can to some extent also be obtained for a three‐dimensional growth cycle extension of the Skott model, which includes real wage dynamics as in Rose's employment cycle, now turned into economically viable dynamics through appropriate non‐linearities in the assumed adjustment processes of output and prices in the case when the steady state is locally repelling.     

Detecting learning‐by‐exporting effects on firms' productivity distribution by accounting for heterogeneous macrofactors and panel attrition

This paper aims to verify the presence of the learning‐by‐exporting effect on total factor productivity growth. The study starts, as is typical in this context, by addressing the pre‐entry selection bias at firm level but differs from the literature by focusing on the distribution of the outcome and considering the presence of the different influences of macroeconomic factors on exporters and non‐exporters. Additionally, the paper addresses the panel attrition, a current source of estimation bias in longitudinal studies. The analysis is based on a panel of Italian manufacturing firms in the 1998–2007 period. We design an experiment by aligning and pooling cohorts of firms that allow us to obtain a sufficiently large group of firms entering the international market. Our results show that internationalisation affects firms' productivity and that the effect is heterogeneous over total factor productivity distribution and larger for the firms at the bottom section of the distribution itself. Furthermore, we observe that the learning‐by‐exporting effect may be confounded without (a) considering that domestic and exporter firms may afford heterogeneous demand cycles and (b) managing the dropout of some firms from the panel.     

GROWTH,AUTONOMOUS DEMAND AND A JOINT‐PRODUCT TREATMENT OF FIXED CAPITAL

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the idea of demand‐led growth by exploring the relation between growth and autonomous demands in a two‐sector model that includes fixed capital with variable efficiency. The paper considers disequilibrium only in relation to quantities, with prices set at their long‐period levels. Results of computer simulations suggest that where producers' expectations of future growth allow for dispersion in past growth rates, as well future growth in autonomous demand, this may have a significant stabilizing effect on the dynamics of output and demand.     

SIZE AND COMPOSITION OF PUBLIC SPENDING IN A NEOCLASSICAL GROWTH MODEL

This paper analyses the effect of public expenditures in a modified Solow model of capital accumulation with optimizing agents. The model identifies optimal government size and composition of public expenditures which maximize the rate of growth in the dynamics to the steady state and the long‐run level of per capita income. Different allocations of public resources lead to different growth rates in the transitional dynamics depending on their elasticities. However effects from fiscal policy are only temporary. Finally we argue that neglecting the non‐linear nature of the relationship between government spending and growth may lead empirical studies to biased results.     

Gender Characterizations in Entrepreneurship: A Multi‐Level Investigation of Sex‐Role Stereotypes about High‐Growth,Commercial, and Social Entrepreneurs

The purpose of this study is to cast new light on possible gender biases in implicit theories people hold about various forms of entrepreneurial activity. Using social role theory, we delve into sex‐role stereotypes associated with high‐ and low‐growth entrepreneurship and commercial and social entrepreneurship. Predictions were tested with an experimental design using both a between‐subject design to capture group‐level stereotypes and a within‐subject design to capture individual‐level stereotypes. Findings reveal that commercial and high‐growth entrepreneurs are perceived as more similar to men than to women and higher on agency than communality. Conversely, low‐growth entrepreneurs are perceived as more similar to women than men, and higher on communality than agency. Social entrepreneurs are uniquely perceived as similar to both men and women, though they are also considered higher on agency than communality. Interestingly, female, but not male respondents, perceive some overlap between the feminine gender role and high‐growth and commercial entrepreneurship. Notably, those higher on modern sexism perceive less overlap between entrepreneurship and femininity. Taken together, our results suggest that commercial high‐growth entrepreneurship is most strongly male‐typed, which is likely to be problematic for women (and non‐traditional men) wanting to start growth‐oriented ventures. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

The economics of the super‐multiplier: A comprehensive treatment with labor markets

This paper links the super‐multiplier to Keynesian macroeconomics, showing it to be the most Keynesian of growth perspectives. Next, the paper shows that the super‐multiplier is a micro‐economically coherent theory of investment and capital accumulation. Firms’ decisions regarding capital accumulation coordinate demand and supply growth in goods markets. The paper then explores the implications of incorporating the super‐multiplier in the neo‐Kaleckian and Cambridge growth models. Lastly, it shows how labor markets and unemployment can be added into super‐multiplier models to provide a comprehensive growth model that addresses Solow's (1956, Journal of Economics, 70, 65–94) labor market knife‐edge problem. Incorporating labor markets does not change the fundamental super‐multiplier result that growth is determined by the growth of autonomous demand.     

A Sraffian (no) trade‐off between autonomous demand and transfer payments

This paper explores the matrix demand multiplier in Sraffian frameworks and shows that it involves an autonomous demand‐transfer payments curve, which exhibits formal similarities with the well‐known consumption (wage)‐growth (profit) curve in steady‐state capital and growth theory.     

IMF‐Supported Programmes: Stimulating Capital to Non‐defaulting Countries

International Monetary Fund (IMF)‐supported programmes catalyse private capital to non‐defaulting countries. We find the IMF to be effective in stimulating private capital flows to middle‐income countries that participate in a Fund programme, but do not restructure their debt. IMF‐supported programmes help non‐defaulting countries to signal their willingness to reform and repay debts, thereby catalysing private capital. This signalling role appears to be more important for Fund catalysis, than the size of IMF lending.     

The Limits to Wage‐Led Growth in A Low‐Income Economy

Neo‐Kaleckian literature has actively debated whether growth is wage‐ or profit‐led in capitalist economies. However, existing studies tend to ignore the non‐tradable sector and heterogeneity within the tradable sector. This article shows that incorporating these features renders wage‐led growth in an open developing economy unfeasible in the traditional (Kaleckian) sense of the term. This result—which follows even if one sets aside the competitiveness considerations generally seen as impeding such growth—occurs due to the presence of a homogeneous goods‐producing tradable sector that sets the ceiling to steady‐state growth. A corollary, in light of findings from the ‘new new trade theory’ literature, is that increasing South‐South trade may tend to narrow room for wage‐led growth regardless of the other desirable effects of higher wages.