The Emptiness of Peasant “Rationality”: “Demirationality” as an Alternative

This article discusses consumption as a social process that is part of social provisioning and is in an evolutionary interplay with other social processes. The analysis provides grounds for a context-specific research that explores consumption in the context of a culture-nature life process, and draws on material from various disciplines. The article seeks to contribute to the literature on social provisioning as an organizing concept in heterodox economics. The first section explains what is meant by social process and delineates its elements. The second section formulates a categorization of social processes, and locates a consumption process within a system of culture-nature life processes. The rest of the article delineates the elements of the consumption process, providing illustrations based on literature from various disciplines. Specifically, the third section discusses consumption activities. The fourth section discusses institutions and systems of provision of goods and services. The fifth section applies the concept of habits of life and thought to the consumption process. Finally, the article concludes that the formulated analysis transcends dualisms such as social-economic, cultural-material, society-nature, and micro-macro, and draws implications for heterodox economics.     

Constructing and mobilising futures knowledge in an organisation: foresight as a catalyst of dynamic strategic practice

The paper discusses foresight as a dynamic strategic practice and theorises the connections of foresight and strategic management. The paper argues that organisations have a rising need to foster relevant future-oriented knowledge in a continuous process that builds on the systemic understanding of the operational environment. For this purpose, the paper outlines a conceptual framework for continuous organisational foresight practice. The framework is based on two conceptual bedrocks. The first is the idea of continuity, referring to the long-term accumulation of organisational practices. The second bedrock is the notion of discontinuity as an organisational transformation factor. Furthermore, the framework builds on the notion of four knowledge spaces in an organisation, and it is constructed through six layers depicted in detail. The paper demonstrates this framework through a case study of a Finnish research and technology organisation, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.     

Growth,Distribution, and External Constraints: A Post-Kaleckian Model Applied to Brazil

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to analyze whether the Brazilian economy behaved under a wage-led or profit-led regime between 1960 and 2011, considering a Post-Kaleckian model in a context of external constraints. The time span is limited by data availability (i.e., 2011). To answer the question of whether the Brazilian economy works under a wage-led or profit-led regime, we propose a simple Post-Kaleckian model. The model suggests that a profit-led regime is more probable for Brazil. Moreover, a wage-led regime occurs when a balance of payments constrained growth model is taken into consideration. Likewise, the real exchange rate has a positive impact on economic growth through the export channel. This result is a novelty in the recent literature about the relationship between real exchange rate and economic growth within a Post-Kaleckian model. The Brazilian economy was chosen as it is one of the biggest economies in Latin America.     

Technology adoption and accumulation in a vintage-capital model

We present a model of capital accumulation and technology adoption in a vintage-capital framework. The model is an infinite-horizon/infinite-dimensional optimal control model: the firm employs a continuum of technologies (a continuum of heterogeneous capital goods). Capital goods are technology specific, their technology is related to vintage and technology progress. The entrepreneur maximizes the profits obtained by employing a continuum of technologies under the assumption of constant returns to scale and bearing adjustment costs for gross investments. The diffusion of a new technology is established by allowing the entrepreneur to invest in vintage capital goods.     

ANALYSIS OF POVERTY AND EFFICIENCY: AN EARNINGS FRONTIER APPROACH

The paper introduces the concept of an earnings frontier in explaining monthly consumption expenditure (a proxy for income) in terms of human capital and endowments of a household. Individuals who translate their potential earning into actual earnings enjoy a fully efficient position. In contrast, individuals who earn less than their potential earnings suffer from some kind of earnings inefficiency. The paper estimates an earnings frontier using the Corrected Ordinary Least Square (COLS) method and classifies households in terms of efficiency scores. Splitting the sample into an efficient and an inefficient part based on the estimated frontier and a bench mark efficiency score, the status of poverty in the two parts (groups) is studied. The poverty gap between the groups is then decomposed into a characteristics effect and a coefficients effect using the familiar Oaxaca decomposition methodology. The paper also tries to establish a link between the notion of efficiency and the coefficients effect in the Oaxaca decomposition methodology. The results obtained are interpreted in light of the poor but efficient hypothesis.     

Evaluating technology disruptiveness in a strategic corporate context: A case study

This study examines how firms interpret new, potentially disruptive technologies in their own strategic context. The study uses a propositional framework for evaluating the amount of radical change in the companies' business models with two middle variables, the disruptiveness potential of a new technology, and the strategic importance of a new technology to a firm. The framework is used in a cross-case analysis of four potentially disruptive technologies or technical operating models: Bluetooth, WLAN, Grid computing and Mobile Peer-to-peer paradigm. The technologies were investigated from the perspective of three mobile operators, a device manufacturer and a software company in the ICT industry.The data was gathered in group-discussion sessions in each company. The results of each case analysis were brought together to evaluate, how firms interpret the potential disruptiveness in terms of changes in product characteristics and added value, technology and market uncertainty, changes in product-market positions, possible competence disruption and changes in value network positions. The results indicate that the perceived disruptiveness in terms of product characteristics does not necessarily translate into strategic importance. In addition, firms did not see the new technologies as a threat in terms of potential competence disruption.     

A simple model of macroeconomic policy

This paper develops a simple model of macroeconomic policy in which the government minimizes a loss function with inflation and unemployment as arguments, subject to a Phillips curve constraint. The model is solved and a discrete time approximation taken. The model's empirical predictions are derived and some test results are presented.     

Hedging effectiveness of fertilizer swaps

The fertilizer swaps market is a potential tool to protect against fertilizer price risk. The swaps evaluated here are cash settled using The Fertilizer Index. Hedge ratios and hedging effectiveness are calculated for urea and DAP diammonium phosphate (DAP)) swaps. Urea and DAP swaps perform poorly as a hedging tool over a one-week horizon. As the hedging horizon increases, the hedging effectiveness of swaps improves. The swaps are more effective in mitigating risk across ocean freight routes than across inland routes. The limited hedging effectiveness is due to high spatial basis risk in fertilizer markets.     

金融生态、金融创新与金融监管关系新辩

金融生态、金融创新与金融监管三者之间存在着辩证统一的关系。金融生态与金融监管是协同统一关系．金融监管与金融创新是对立统一关系．金融生态与金融创新是依存统一关系。金融生态、金融创新与金融监管三者相互影响、相互作用、相互促进．统一在金融生态系统之中．共同推进金融业发展。     

科技创新与绿色治理协调效应评价及动态关系研究

基于2004-2016年中国内地30个省市面板数据,采用耦合协调模型和PVAR模型,实证检验科技创新与绿色治理的协调效应及动态关系。结果显示：2004-2016年全国各省市科技创新与绿色治理的协调水平偏低,并且由东向西的区域阶梯递减特征显著,多数省市科技创新滞后于绿色治理发展,协调等级处于濒临失调水平以下;东部地区科技创新与绿色治理之间存在双向因果关系,科技创新对绿色治理的影响不显著,长期看呈现为负向冲击效应,绿色治理对科技创新呈现出显著正向、持续影响;东北地区科技创新与绿色治理存在单向因果关系,科技创新对绿色治理的冲击效应不显著,绿色治理对科技创新呈现出显著正向、持续影响;中部和西部地区科技创新与绿色治理不存在因果关系,绿色治理对科技创新的冲击作用具有相似性,但科技创新对绿色治理的冲击效应存在较大差异。     

How to measure competition in an economy in transition

This paper attempts to find a robust method of measuring competition when firms' operational activities are subject to frictions. The first part theoretically tests the indicative quality of two competition measures, the price‐cost margin (PCM) and the profit elasticity, in a model of monopolistic competition. The second part studies the empirical performance of the indices for a panel of Ukrainian manufacturing firms. This study offers a new approach to measuring profit elasticity that relies on structural estimation of a production function. The estimation methodology retrieves a productivity index that is adjusted to imperfect competition. The proposed method of measuring profit elasticity is found to be robust to frictions, but the PCM and traditional profit elasticity are biased, especially when the intensity of competition is low. Empirical findings show that competition exhibits a significantly positive correlation with aggregate productivity performance, while its impact on firm productivity is nonlinear.     

外债风险预警模型及中国金融安全状况评估

本文提出了一个用于预警一国外债风险的动态模型 ,即多元累计和模型。模型的用户 (债权人和债务国 )能很早地预测到可能导致债务国重订债务期限的金融危机。实证分析结果表明 ,模型具有提前 3年探测到债务国潜在的还债困难的能力。对中国经济金融安全状况的评估结果表明 ,模型可提前 1年发出预警信号。     

A comparative study of environmental amenity valuations

The paper reports on a comparative study of direct and indirect approaches to valuing environmental amenities (i.e., public goods), specifically, air quality in terms of its human health effects. The application of three indirect valuation methods (via market goods) is reported here: the health production method, a consumer preferences (for nonmarket goods) model, and the cost of illness method. The first and second methods are (economic) behavior-based approaches where willingness to pay for an environmental good is derived by exploiting relationships in consumption between the public good and market good(s). The third method is based on a physical relationship—a dose-response function—between the environmental good and health. The direct valuation approach encompassed three contingent valuation elicitation formats: open-ended, modified iterative bidding game, and referenda-style binary choice. The application of all four methods was based on data from a survey of a large, stratified sample of households from the Haifa metropolitan area in northern Israel. The estimates of welfare change derived by the various methods are discussed and compared.     

“十三五”时期海洋经济发展情况、问题与建议

海洋是高质量发展的战略要地。海洋经济的快速发展已成为带动东部地区率先发展、培育经济发展新动能、构建开放型经济的有力支撑。"十四五"时期是我国经济迈向高质量发展的重要时期,海洋经济发展应从科学利用与优化配置海洋资源、谋划构建现代海洋产业体系、提高海洋关键核心技术创新能力、高标准建设海洋生态文明、打造海洋经济对外开放新格局等方面综合施策,加快推进海洋强国建设。     

Econometrics as a Capstone Course in Economics

The author describes an econometrics capstone course design at a large public university that offers economics degrees in both business (BBA) and liberal arts (BS). The goal of the capstone is to provide a research experience similar to those in the honors college but on the smaller scale of a one-semester course. The revisions for converting an existing course to a capstone, the student activities adopted, and sample outcomes are addressed. The hurdles overcome within the respective colleges in order to create a capstone course are discussed. Summaries of several student projects as well as publication of faculty-mentored student research papers illustrate the viability of econometrics as a capstone course for institutions unable to establish a stand-alone research course for that purpose.     

Anchoring-Adjusted Option Pricing Models

Relying on a useful starting point and attempting to adjust it appropriately is a robust human decision-making heuristic. Evidence suggests that underlying stock volatility is such a starting point, which is scaled up to estimate call option volatility. The author adjusts the Black-Scholes, Heston, and Bates models for reliance on this starting point. The adjustment mechanism captures several option-return puzzles. The adjusted Black-Scholes generates implied-volatility skew. The adjusted Heston stochastic-volatility model matches the same data better, does so at more plausible parameter values, and generates a steep short-term skew. Furthermore, 2 novel predictions are empirically tested and strongly supported in the data.     

Beyond market failures: the market creating and shaping roles of state investment banks

The paper develops a typological framework of the roles of state investment banks (SIBs) in the economy. The typology identifies four different roles: countercyclical; developmental; venture capitalist; and challenge-led. The paper conceptually elaborates the typology by first providing a historical overview of SIBs, and then discussing how the mainstream “market failure theory” justifies them. It then advances a different conceptualization based on insights from heterodox economics, showing that all roles of SIBs are more about market creating/shaping rather than market-failure fixing. The paper concludes with a proposal of a new agenda for research on SIBs based on our typological framework.     

Does an Endogenous Relationship Exist between Environmental and Economic Performance? A Resource-Based View on the Horticultural Sector

The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between environmental and economic performance from the resource-based theory within firms of the fresh fruit and vegetables sector. This study considers that the adoption of environment-friendly practices has a greater influence on firms’ opportunities and abilities in the agricultural sector than in manufacturing sectors and leads to closer links between performance variables. The reference for this empirical analysis is a panel data of horticultural farming-marketing firms in Spain. The voluntary environmental programmes and the heterogeneity of their application lead us to regard acquiring a competitive advantage as a relevant driver to improve environmental performance in this sector. A simultaneous equations model is suggested reflecting the differential environmental effect and the assumption of endogeneity among variables. The results show a positive impact of environmental differentiation on profitability and market share, also suggesting that the perception of this positive experience implies greater environmental performance.      

吴文化旅游景观“史诗式”主题公园开发

首先,根据旅游吸引力情况对吴文化景观进行筛选和谱系整理;然后,采用"旅游景观文化选择矩阵"对吴文化旅游景观谱系进行评价;进而,根据公众吴文化景观偏好提出旅游景观开发的战略步骤;最后,结合公众吴文化标志物认知状况选择旅游景观开发的战略要点。结论认为:"史诗式"主题公园开发是吴文化旅游景观开发的重要战略,主要包括主题形象、意象空间和标志符号三个方面。     

A methodology for organizing and quantifying the results of environmental scanning exercises

This paper presents a methodology for organizing and quantifying the results of environmental scanning exercises. The first step of the methodology is to develop a simple systems model whose components capture the essence of the problem context under study. Then, a scan identifies leads that affect one or more components. The impact a lead may have on a component is rated on a numerical scale for any number of time periods of interest. Lower and upper probabilities are estimated for each impact rating for each time period. Lower and upper expected impact scores are then calculated to provide a range of potential impacts over time. An exponential function is used to aggregate the lower and upper expected impact scores upon a component to produce lower and upper expected component changes. The methodology also allows changes in components to impact other components. The methodology was implemented to explore impacts of demographic and technological change upon the future of human and ecological health in the United States.