Does the invisible hand hold or lead? Market adjustment in an entrepreneurial economy

Adam Smith's “invisible hand” is one of the best-known phrases in economics, but its meaning is somewhat ambiguous. The invisible hand might be viewed as holding the economy close to equilibrium, yet Smith actually says that individuals are led by an invisible hand. Entrepreneurial forces lead an economy along a path that generates economic progress, and that path is determined by the disruptive forces of entrepreneurship. Rather than viewing an economy as tending toward an equilibrium, it is more accurate to view an economy as characterized by continuing progress, led by the invisible hand of entrepreneurial activity. JEL Code B53, D21, E32, O31     

经济系统引力论——市场·道德·政治结构体系的经济均衡规范场理论研究论纲

本文秉承瓦尔拉斯的“普遍的相互依赖性”研究原则,运用思想实验的理论研究方法,拟订一个探索性研究纲领,研究一种比亚当·斯密那只“看不见的手”更为普遍的经济秩序：看不见的手（市场力量）＋看得见的左手（道德力量）＋看得见的右手（政治力量）,试图构造一种引力场方程,表述经济世界中市场力量、精神世界中道德力量、社会结构中政治力量构成的三极统一体的相互作用。首先,通过引入Smale的均衡流形概念统一处理市场均衡、人性均衡、社会均衡同时达成的整体的、统一的均衡状态;然后,建立一种正义空间概念范畴,而正义空间恰为一种引力空间,且是商品空间（拓扑空间）的推广;再运用Debreu的超额需求函数法,建构了一种市场·道德·政治三极世界四维空间的经济均衡规范场方程;最后,提出广义一般经济均衡机制统一处理“看不见的手”与“看得见的双手”之间的耦合问题,通过定义“看不见的手”为基本相互作用力,“看得见的右手”为强相互作用力,“看得见的左手”为弱相互作用力,这就形成了一种新的秩序。对这种秩序下的资源配置机制的数学表达式我们称其为四维流形的几何与拓扑．太文给出了i专一糖槌的一种数学证明．     

国际短期资本流动对我国经济的影响

本文在介绍国际短期资本流动概念的基础上,总结了国际短期资本流入我国的可能渠道,尤其是隐性的与非法的流入渠道。针对国际短期资本流动对我国宏观经济可能带来的影响,本文提出了加强风险监管力度,构建宏观层面的风险管理框架;建立有效的间接监管机制以及适当的预警机制;加强与各国政府在监管方面的合作;发展直接融资渠道等若干政策建议。     

What should classical liberal political economists do?

In 1964 James Buchanan famously asked “What Should Economists Do?” He argued that economists should focus their intellectual attention on exchange and the institutions within which exchange takes place. This paper reflects on Buchanan’s message and looks at the development of that argument, and its implications in the wake of post-socialist political economy on the one hand, and the post-financial crisis of 2008 on the other. Following Buchanan, the paper argues that classical liberal political economists must embrace the intellectual and practical challenges of the day, and bring a robust theory of political economy to bear on questions of justice, questions of freedom and responsibility, and questions concerning the invisible hand and the appropriate institutional framework which results in peaceful social cooperation and productive specialization in a society of free and responsible individuals.     

The convergence dynamics of a transition economy: The case of the Czech Republic

In this paper we develop a two-country dynamic general equilibrium model by means of which we seek to explain the long-run path of a transition economy. The model's novel feature is the inclusion of quality investment in the standard framework of applied general equilibrium two-country models. This feature is necessary to explain the trend in the real exchange rate. We present an application to the Czech economy.     

Waiting for an echo: the revolution in general equilibrium theory and the paralysis in introductory economics

The current framework for the introductory microeconomics course is predicated on the Invisible Hand lessons of mid-twentieth century General Equilibrium Theory. During the final decades of the century, however, the theory changed. Proofs of the path-dependent instability of general equilibrium, the multiplicity of equilibria and the problem of equilibrium selection, and the failure of asymptotic convergence to the properties of equilibrium (The General Theory of the Second Best) provided a sweeping disconfirmation of the Invisible Hand. This paper argues that these topics are fully teachable, even at the principles level, and that they point toward a new framework for the curriculum in which institutions can reclaim much of the explanatory space now occupied by market analysis.     

Entrepreneurship,institutions and skills in low-income countries

This paper develops a model of costly firm creation in an economy with weak institutions, costly business environment as well as skill gaps where one of the equilibrium outcomes is a low-productivity trap. The paper tests the implications of the model using a cross-sectional dataset including about 100 countries. Both theoretical and empirical results suggest that to move the economy into a productive equilibrium, complementarity matters: reforms to improve the business environment tend to be more effective in creating productive firms when accompanied by narrowing skill gaps. Similarly, more conducive business regulations amplify the positive impact on firm creation of better education and reduced skill mismatches. To escape a low-productivity trap, policymakers should thus create a pro-business framework and a well-functioning education system.     

A small continuous time macro-econometric model of the Czech Republic

In this paper we estimate a continuous time macro-econometric model of the Czech economy. The model is built as a system of twelve non-linear differential equations. We illustrate how the model can be used to determine the nominal equilibrium exchange rate of the Czech koruna in a macro-economic framework. The paper also investigates the effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policies in the presence of a fixed exchange rate regime and massive capital inflows. The search for an equilibrium path is outlined and stability and sensitivity analyses are provided, along with in-sample static and dynamic predictions with the approximate discrete analogue.     

Evenly rotating economy: A new modeling technique for an old equilibrium construct

In the middle of the twentieth century, just five years before Arrow and Debreu proved the existence of an equilibrium for a competitive economy in the Walrasian system, Ludwig von Mises introduced the English-speaking world to his alternative equilibrium construct: the evenly rotating economy. In contrast to Arrow and Debreu, which characterizes equilibrium as a unique vector of prices and quantities, Mises depicts equilibrium as a pattern of behavior. After reviewing the Misesian conception of equilibrium and its failure to take hold in the profession, I turn to the modern literature. I contend that the evenly rotating economy is a special case of the now-prevalent class of search-theoretic exchange models. As such, I argue that this class of models is particularly well suited for applications considered by economists working in the Austrian tradition.     

Exploitation and time

This paper analyses exploitation and class formation in a dynamic context. An intertemporal model of a subsistence economy is set up and, among other results, it is proved that, in an interior equilibrium, Differential Ownership of (Scarce) Productive Assets is an inherent feature of a capitalist economy, while exploitation tends to disappear in the long run. Asset inequality is therefore proved to be a normatively secondary (though causally primary) wrong. It is also argued that these results raise several doubts about the possibility of providing robust micro-foundations to Marxian concepts by means of Walrasian general equilibrium models.     

收入分配不平等与经济增长:回到库兹涅茨假说

本文运用一个政治经济模型,研究在财政支出同时具有生产性和消费性,同时进入总生产函数和代表性个人的效用函数时收入分配不平等对经济增长的影响。本文的分析表明:在经济均衡时,增长率与税率呈倒U型关系。随着税率增加,经济增长率先升后降;在政治均衡时,收入分配越不平等,实际资本税率就越高,因此收入分配不平等与经济增长间存在一定程度的库兹涅茨倒U型关系     

The economics of production systems: Segmentation and skill-biased change

In this paper, the concept of production systems is introduced. I assume a standard thick-market externality together with the idea that higher quality goods also require higher skills from workers. Firms face a trade-off between low-quality goods with low skill-requirements for which the potentially abundant labour force generates strong thick-market externalities and higher quality goods with higher skill-requirements. In equilibrium, the economy is partitioned into production systems, i.e., clusters of firms producing the same quality. The distribution of skills determines the boundaries of the production systems, which in turn determine the wages. In this framework an increase in the supply of skilled workers can induce first higher wages for all workers and then higher wages for the skilled but lower wages for the unskilled. This is consistent with the late 20th century evolution of the US labour market.     

Wage Flexibility and Unemployment: The Keynesian Perspective Revisited

Keynes' main concern in the General Theory is about the capacity of an economy to return to full employment equilibrium when subject to a (negative) demand shock. He maintains that money wages cuts may not help reabsorb unemployment, as they do not necessarily imply a fall in real wages. On the contrary, wage rigidity may be necessary for avoiding that a cumulative process propels the economy far away the full employment equilibrium. Co‐ordination failures in the investment‐saving market are behind this conclusion. However, the analysis is carried out within a static equilibrium framework. This paper is an attempt to focus on the problems of intertemporal co‐ordination arising within the context of a sequential economy. Our analysis of the out‐of‐equilibrium process of adjustment stirred by a shock allows to generalize the original Keynesian intuition. Unemployment emerges as the result of a lack of co‐ordination due to irreversibly constrained choices, and not only nominal but also real wage flexibility does not necessarily help to restore equilibrium. As a matter of fact, it may even be harmful, by triggering processes that make the economy diverge from equilibrium. Our analysis has important analytical implications as regards the role of market imperfections and the interpretation of the effects of monetary policy.     

Spontaneous economic order

This paper provides attempts to formalize Hayek’s notion of spontaneous order within the framework of an Arrow-Debreu economy. Our study shows that, if a competitive economy is sufficiently fair and free, a spontaneous economic order will emerge in long-run competitive equilibria so that social members spontaneously occupy an unplanned distribution of income. Despite this, the spontaneous order may degenerate in the form of economic crises whenever an equilibrium economy approaches the extreme competition. Remarkably, such a theoretical framework of spontaneous order provides a bridge linking Austrian economics and neoclassical economics, where a truth begins to emerge: “Freedom promotes technological progress”.     

Competition as market progress: An Austrian rationale for agent-based modeling

Economists recognize competition as fundamental to economic science. General equilibrium is not competition; Austrians, like other economists, have sometimes confused the two. The socialist calculation debate and the elimination of competition by socialists in the Soviet Union offer insight into danger of using an equilibrium framework to study competition. Current policy models are based on a general equilibrium framework, but heterogeneous interactive agent-based models are rising to challenge them. Austrian economists should embrace this new direction and guide the creation of agent-based models of the economy.     

The Marshallian Market and the Walrasian Economy. Two Incompatible Bedfellows

The aim of this paper is to question a view which is usually taken for granted, namely that the Marshallian partial equilibrium and Walrasian general equilibrium analysis stand in a relationship of continuity. It will be claimed that the contrary is true: the generalisation of the Marshallian market does not lead to a Walrasian economy or, conversely, the Walrasian economy is not composed of Marshallian markets. To bring this point home, the basic methodological choices underpinning the analysis of the Marshallian market and of the Walrasian economy will be compared. The issue of why no full-fledged Marshallian representation of the economy has arisen which might stand as an alternative to the Walrasian account will also be investigated and a series of reasons for this lack of generalisation of the Marshallian market will be considered. Finally, it will be claimed that if the Marshallian economy concept has no explicit existence, it has nonetheless an implicit one. It forms the background against which a series of reasoning about the working of the economy as a whole, which cannot fit the Walrasian economy framework, are developed. No less prestigious names than those of Keynes, Hicks, Patinkin, Friedman, Clower and Leijonhufvud will be adduced as witnesses.     

A middle income trap in a small open economy: Modeling the Argentinean case

This paper presents a model of the conditions that may lead a small open economy towards a middle income trap. This situation has shown to be pervasive in Latin America. As Argentina is a salient instance of this phenomenon, we develop a stylized model of its economy at the first decades of the XXth century. It consists of a general equilibrium model of an open emerging economy, which is a price-taking primary goods exporter. A growth process is triggered by an increase of commodity prices, due to an upward jump of the world demand of these goods. The economy goes through several phases of growth, starting from a subsistence stage. Once decreasing returns set in, the economy reaches a steady state. Only a sustained high demand of its export products allows the economy to thrive. Otherwise, the economy gets entrapped in a middle income level.     

ECONOMIC NETWORKING AND STABILITY

Abstract. In this paper we discuss finite economies with the presence of transaction costs and with decreasing, constant or increasing returns. In general such an economy may have no general equilibrium existence and may even have an empty core. We analyse the trading networks of such an economy, introducing the concepts of locally stable network structure, un‐dominated locally stable network structures and most stable network structures. We point out that the set of most stable network structures could be treated as a solution concept for the empty core economies both in theoretical analysis and in application.     

Galtung meets Daly: A framework for addressing inequity in ecological economics

Since World War II, economic growth has been the leading policy goal in efforts to eradicate poverty. There is strong evidence that this strategy has gone hand in hand with increasing inequity and environmental degradation. We need concepts that will help us understand the inadequacies of the current economic system. We propose drawing from the ideas of sociologist Johan Galtung on social power structures, and those of economist Herman Daly on the physical features of the economy. A fusion of these perspectives creates a novel framework for analysis and a basis to formulate alternatives to the current growth strategy.