Labour employed in production and labour commanded: a Ricardian conjecture

This paper explains the origin of some important ambiguitiesin the analysis of value and prices put forward by Smith inhis Wealth of Nations by considering the possibility that theyreflect a previous draft of the book where the quantity of labouremployed in production was indicated as the sole determinantof real price and exchange ratios. This conjecture is evidencedindirectly by the way in which Smith presented his own analysisat the end of Book I, Chapter IV; by some passages containedin Book I and Book II which suggest that the quantity of labouremployed in production should play a crucial role within theanalysis of exchangeable value; and by the important modificationsintroduced by Smith in Book I, Chapter VI, after the first editionof the Wealth of Nations was published.     

Time use, work and overlapping activities: evidence from Australia

The overlapping of activities is an important dimension of timeuse that has previously received little attention in economicanalysis. Most time-use studies have looked only at primaryactivities, ignoring the fact that individuals often performtwo or more activities simultaneously. This seriously underestimatesthe time spent on several economic activities such as childcareand housework which are also performed as secondary activities.Using a two-adult household sub-sample from the 1992 NationalAustralian Time Use Survey, this paper examines the incidenceand determinants of overlapping activities among 3,966 adultmale and female household members. It first shows that inclusionof overlapping activities in time-use measurements providesa better estimation of the economic contribution of individuals,especially in non-market production. Tobit models are then estimatedto examine the effects of economic, social and demographic factorson the incidence of overlapped work activity. The findings,which are found to be robust, showed that gender, householdlife cycle and composition, education, cultural norms, employmentstatus and level of income earnings influence the extent towhich individuals, particularly women, perform secondary workactivities. Conclusions are drawn in the final section of thepaper.     

Marx's value forms and Hayek's rules: a reinterpretation in the light of the dichotomy between physis and nomos

This paper argues that both Marx and Hayek objected to the dichotomybetween physis and nomos, and offered concepts which integrate,or mediate between, the two. Marx's value forms and Hayek'srules aim to grasp something neither purely natural nor purelyartificial or social, but ‘socially natural’. Valueforms and rules are natural in the sense that they pre-existagents and are taken by agents as given. On the other hand,forms and rules are social in that production relations or spontaneousorder are reproduced as the unintended consequences of agents'using forms or following rules. Thus value forms and rules standas links between agents and production relations or spontaneousorder.     

Exploitation,international taxation,and global justice

Abstract

I investigate the central principle that underlies the OECDs tax base erosion and profit shifting initiative. The principle claims that (corporate) profits should be taxed where economic activities deriving the profits are performed and where value is created. First, I argue that its plausibility depends on establishing that states have an entitlement to the productive factors in their territory, and therefore to a share of the value created by employing those factors. Second, I maintain that this cannot presently be established. If states fail to discharge duties requiring wealth redistribution, they do not have an unqualified right to the productive factors in their territory. Even if they are not subject to such duties, states can only legitimately claim a share in the fair value of the goods created. I show that given widespread exploitation in global value chains, the market prices of (intermediary) goods do not reflect their fair value.     

Neutral Property Taxation

A major difficulty in implementing land/site value taxation is imputing the land value of built‐on sites. The literature has focused on two alternatives. The first, residual site value, measures postdevelopment site value as property value less structure value, with structure value measured as depreciated construction costs. Residual site value would be relatively easy to estimate, but a residual site value tax system, which taxes land value before development and residual site value after development at the same rate is distortionary, discouraging density. The second, raw site value, measures postdevelopment site value as “what the land would be worth were there no building on the site (though in fact there is).” Raw site value taxation is neutral (does not distort the timing and density of development), but the estimation of postdevelopment raw site value would be complex so that assessment would likely be less fair and more arbitrary, contentious, and prone to abuse. This paper asks the question: Is it not possible to design a property tax system (taxation of predevelopment land value, postdevelopment structure value, and postdevelopment site value at possibly different rates) that employs the administratively simpler residual definition of postdevelopment site value and achieves neutrality? Under restrictive assumptions and subject to an important qualification, the paper provides an affirmative answer, and characterizes the tax rates that achieve neutrality. It also briefly discusses issues of practical implementation.     

Rational drug design, the knowledge value chain and bioscience megacentres

This paper seeks to trace important shifts and cluster evolutionin the healthcare industry. Its key aim is to examine the implicationsof the rise of science-based clusters for economic geographyand related policies. A special focus is biosciences and therise of ‘biologics’ more generally at the expenseof fine chemistry in drug development. The old agglomerationsof pharmacy are no longer leaders in knowledge exploration,as universities, research laboratories and medical schools takeover research, they are beginning to lose prominence to dedicatedbiotechnology firms (DBFs) in knowledge examination, and retaintheir most important involvement as financiers and marketersof DBF exploitation knowledge. This has profound geographicalas well as industry organisation equilibrium effects. Over-concentrationof the bioscientific knowledge value chain has given rise tothe new spatial policy practice of developing regional sciencestrategies. Aspects of these are commented upon.     

Harmonisation of Old-age Security Within the European Union

Not sufficiently harmonised national pension systems withinthe European Union distort the allocation of labour and endangerredistributive activities. This paper identifies the most decentralisedlevel of harmonisation which guarantees efficient allocationand enables redistribution. For this, we build on theoreticalresults from the literature to evaluate the realised distributionof the legal power between the European Union and the MemberStates and the resulting level of harmonisation. We find thatharmonisation is sub-optimally low. Binding rules guaranteedby the European Union are needed implying that the Member Stateshave to concede more fundamental responsibilities to the EuropeanUnion. (JEL F22, H55, K33, N34)     

Formal and Informal Labour Markets: Challenges and Policy in the Central and Eastern European New EU Members and Candidate Countries

The paper aims at comparing the formal and informal labour marketsin the Central and Eastern European new EU Member States andcandidate countries of the European Union. First, the currentsituation of the labour market is described, focusing on therecent developments since the breaking up of the East. Thenthe policy design of these labour markets is depicted and itseffects on formal and informal labour markets. The most importantchallenges for employment policy as well as the effects of enlargementon the labour markets are analysed. The paper ends with a shortsummary. (JEL J21, J23, H26, H11, O17, O57)