Nicholas Kaldor on Adam Smith and Allyn Young

ABSTRACT

Nicholas Kaldor was much influenced by the Smith-Young view of increasing returns. The objective of this paper is to critically examine Kaldor’s interpretation of Smith and Young. In particular, five questions are addressed: (1) Does Smith’s Wealth of Nations have nothing much to contribute in terms of disequilibrium theory or increasing returns after the middle of chapter four? (2) Did Smith and Young have a sectoral view of increasing returns in the sense that they saw increasing returns being confined to manufacturing only? (3) Does the Youngian growth mechanism need to be supplemented with Keynesian aggregate demand so that growth does not fizzle out? (4) What are the important policy differences between Kaldor and the Smith-Young analysis of increasing returns? (5) Finally, what explains Kaldor’s interventionist bent of mind and his dirigiste approach to policy making?     

Marx on division of labour,mechanization and technical progress

The paper reconstructs Marx's analysis of the development of the forces of production in terms of the interaction among division of labour in particular processes of production, social division of labour and technical progress. It also brings out Marx's conception of technical progress and establishes his view of the essential interdependence among the development of the forces of production, the process of capital accumulation and the expansion of markets; it further brings out the role of competition as a fundamental driving force in the interrelated processes of accumulation and of development of the social productivity of labour.     

Adam Smith and Alexis de Tocqueville on the division of labour*

Abstract

Adam Smith and Alexis de Tocqueville dealt with the division of labour as a characteristic feature of commercial society. There are connections and similarities between the two-sided understanding they both had of the division of labour. One of these coincidences is their assessment of the effects it has, jointly with the extension of the market, that points to the vulnerability of the labouring poor. Exploring this coincidence brings light to their understanding of the social consequences of the market and the possible solutions they propose.     

Jacob Viner on Adam Smith: Development and reception of a theological reading

Abstract

Jacob Viner was one of the most important interpreters of Adam Smith's work, particularly for his emphasis in a classic 1927 article on Smith's theological framework, his discussion of the relationship between the Theory of Moral Sentiments and the Wealth of Nations and dismantling of a popular view of Smith as a doctrinaire advocate of laissez-faire. What is less well known is that Viner's theological reading of Smith developed over the next 40 years through intense study of eighteenth century natural theology, and some of his views changed. This article traces the development of Viner's interpretation of Smith. It assesses the suggestion of D.D. Raphael that Smith moved away from a theological framework over time and that Viner repudiated his theological reading of Smith. I argue instead that Viner's mature work broadened and strengthened the theological reading. Much of the literature on Smith and Viner wrongly assumes that naturalistic explanation and theological frameworks are mutually exclusive. This may be the dominant twentieth century view, but it was not so in the eighteenth century, as Viner well understood.     

知识经济与中国经济增长方式的战略性转变

本文依据中国经济发展面临的问题与世界经济结构调整现状,分析了科技进步、知识经济对经济增长的作用和影响,阐释了知识经济作为推动经济增长方式转变新要素的重要地位,进而探讨了面向知识经济时代的经济增长结构的战略性调整等问题。     

新型数字基础设施、空间溢出与经济增长

为探究新型数字基础设施对经济增长的影响,本文首先将新型数字基础设施资本存量及其拥挤性纳入总量生产函数,构建动态一般均衡模型,从理论上探讨新型数字基础设施对经济增长的影响;其次,对2002—2020年我国各省（市、区）的新型数字基础设施进行测算和分析;最后,构建静态面板数据模型和空间面板模型,实证检验新型数字基础设施对经济增长的影响。结果表明,新型数字基础设施对经济增长的影响呈现“倒U型”变化,新型数字基础设施对经济增长具有显著的空间溢出效应。求解“倒U型”顶点对应的最优基础设施资本存量占总资本存量的比例为48.60%,目前,我国所有省（市、区）均未达到48.60%,意味着加强新型数字基础设施建设将会促进本地区和其他地区经济增长。     

浅析现代经济增长理论的演变

经济增长不仅是经济学研究的永恒主题,更是全世界都普遍关注的问题。从亚当·斯密开始,经济学家就不断地对经济增长进行探索。正是由于经济增长与全世界人民的福利息息相关,所以我们对经济增长的研究就显得格外重要。然而随着经济全球化的发展,传统经济增长理论已经不能解释现代社会经济发展过程中出现的种种现象。理论和现实之间的矛盾促使我们探求现代经济增长理论,以更好地解释世界。因此,对现代经济增长理论的演变进行探索,具有积极的理论和现实意义。本文从经济增长的事实入手,首先界定了现代经济增长的概念,然后对现代经济增长理论的发展脉络进行梳理和阐述,分别对哈罗德一多马模型、新古典经济增长模型（外生增长理论）和新增长模型（内生增长理论）进行了详细分析。通过分析可见现代经济增长理论经历了由技术外生增长到内生增长、市场结构由完全竞争到垄断竞争的演变。     

From bounties on exportation to the natural and market price of labour: Smith versus Ricardo

Abstract

The scope of this article is to examine the foundations of Smith's arguments and of Ricardo's criticisms on the issue of bounties on exportation. These criticisms are examined in the light of the counter-criticisms provided by a fictitious subject called Smith redivivus. These counter-criticisms highlight Ricardo's neglect of the differences between vérité de raison and vérité de fait and between the points of view of an individual and of society behind Smith's treatment of money vs. real, temporary vs. permanent and natural vs. market price of labour as labour and of commodities as products of labour.     

How to pay for the war in times of imperfect commitment: Adam Smith and David Ricardo on the sinking fund

The paper proposes a comparative analysis of Smith's and Ricardo's views on the sinking fund. It shows that Smith and Ricardo agreed in stressing the ineffectiveness of the sinking fund as a policy instrument targeted at public debt repayment and tax-burden relief, pointing out that its actual workings had paradoxically helped to increase rather than reduce British total debt-load. Moreover, their explanation of the sinking fund paradox integrates a defective fiscal commitment technology with powerful politicians’ incentives to siphon off the money stored in the sinking fund to meet sudden increases of public expenditure whenever the occasion arose.     

Money,exchange and division of labour in Rousseau's economic philosophy

Abstract

This paper examines the arguments advanced by Rousseau to explain his rejection of monetary exchange. First we show that the rejection of money as mean of exchange expresses a dismissal of any form of exchange, motivated by a need for independence. In Julie, the community of Clarens exemplifies an autarchic, paternalistic economy that is at once unequal and deceptive. To understand why Rousseau chose such a downbeat solution to the problems arising from the organisation of the division of labour, we make a parallel between the economic and amatory themes, showing in each case the dependence upon others produced by the development of amour-propre.     

Smith on Ancient Egypt and the Arab Islamic World: A Tale of Two Statist Models

This paper endeavors to portray Egypt, the Arab, and Islamic worlds in the eyes of Adam Smith as implied in his work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations from the perspective of the extent and desirability of state intervention in the economy. In other words, the paper attempts to analyze why Smith's stance on ancient Egypt changed from an example of opulence to an eighteenth-century Egypt that—together with other Arab and Islamic countries—represents a model with many challengeable aspects, although the extent of the state action was remarkable in both models, the ancient and the contemporary. Our premise is that Smith did not defend or attack the models based on the extent of state intervention in the economy, but on whether its intervention was conducive to, first, raising the person's well-being and, second, promoting the morals of Smith's “commercial” society.     

中国经济增长的特征、可持续性与潜在增长率估算:一个综述

在本文通过对中国经济增长的表现特征、可持续性和潜在增长率估算三方面的理论综述,进一步论述了中国经济增长的发展脉络,并在此基础上提出研究中国经济增长理论尚需改进的空间.     

制度转型、经济增长和交易费用——来自中国各省市的经验分析

交易费用的测量是新制度经济学里面最核心的问题。中国的制度转型及其经济增长为检验新制度经济学的核心理论提供了很好的样本。本文力争在国内外文献的基础上做出如下贡献。第一,我们采用沃利斯和诺思（Wallis,North,1986）的基本思路,首次对中国各省的交易费用进行了测算。第二,我们对制度转型、经济增长和中国的交易费用的关系进行了实证分析,发现制度转型降低了中国的交易费用,证实了好的制度就是节约交易费用;但是经济增长却没有显著地促进交易费用的增加,这与正统的新制度经济理论预期不符;第三,我们证实了交易也存在一定的规模效应,当市场上的交易费用达到一定的程度时,由于规模效应可能会节省每笔交易的交易费用,从而导致每笔交易的交易费用减少。     

Resource constraint,sustainable economic growth pattern and transformation of economic system in China

Over the past 20 years, China has made spectacular achievements in economic growth as well as in thetransformation of economic growth pattern. Industrial structure is being updated, and technology is playing a more andmore important role in economic development. The energy and resource consumption in many industries and enterprisesare reducing. However, we should realize that there are still many problems in changing the economic growth pattern,such as high input, high consumption, high discharge, inharmony, recycling difficulty, and low efficiency, which havegreatly impaired and restrict Chinese economic development. Therefore, the fundamental change of the economic growthpattern is inevitable. Based on the analysis on the status quo and the exploit of resources, this paper suggests that thetransformation from unsustainable to sustainable growth is the only choice in changing the economic growth pattern. Inaddition, the transformation should not completely rely on the fundamental effects of market mechanism. We should makefull use of the power of governments to speed up the transformation of economic system.     

The impact of artificial intelligence on economic growth and welfare

Focusing on the self-accumulation ability and the nonrival characteristic of artificial intelligence (AI), this paper develops a three-sector endogenous growth model and investigates the impact of the development of AI along the transitional dynamics path and the balanced growth path. The development of AI can increase economic growth along the transitional dynamics path, and can increase household short-run utility if an increase in the accumulation of AI is due to the rising productivity in the goods or AI sector, but can be detrimental to household short-run utility if an increase in the accumulation of AI is because firms use more AI to replace human labor. In addition, the development of AI is not necessarily beneficial to household welfare in the long run. The main results are unaffected when considering the case where AI can improve the accumulation of human capital, the traditional research and development model, and different kinds of physical capital.     

The structure of authority, federalism, commitment and economic growth

Summary. In a neoclassical growth model with many regions and a mobile factor, two federal arrangements are considered. In the first federal arrangement the central government chooses a uniform tax policy, whereas in the second each regional government chooses its own tax policy. The main result is that the first federal arrangement leads to high tax rates and economic stagnation, whereas the second leads to low tax rates and economic growth. This result stems from a time consistency problem. The lack of tax competition forces a time consistency problem on the central government under the first federal arrangement. In contrast, regional tax competition acts as a commitment device under the second federal arrangement. The fundamental feature in the environment that gives rise to different abilities of the state to commit is the different structure of authority within the state.Received: 10 February 2003, Revised: 2 December 2003, JEL Classification Numbers: H77, O41, E60, C73, E13.Ronald A. Edwards: This is a revision of Chapter 3 of my University of Minnesota Ph.D. I thank my advisor Edward C. Prescott for his encouragement and numerous helpful discussions. I also thank Tim Kehoe for many useful discussions as well as Beth Allen, Berthold Herrendorf, Arilton Teixeira and two anonymous referees for helpful comments. This research was assisted by an International Predissertation Fellowship from the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies with funds provided by the Ford Foundation.     

A research on the evolvement of industrial structure and economic growth of He'nan Province, China

This paper,based on the investigation of the statisties in the years of 1980-2005,using Shift-Share Method model,studies systematically the relation between the evolution of industrial structure and regional economic growth in five economic regions in He'nan to offer the foundation of policy for optimizing the industrial structure and promoting regional economic development in phase,and thereby comes to the conclusions:(1) the industrial structure level of He'nan,in comparison with the evolution of the industrial structure across the country,remains low,but yet the evolutional tendency of industrial structure in He'nan complies with the Clark law of the industrial structure evolution,(2)thespatial difference of He'nan industrial structure evolution is comparatively large,(3)the evolution of industrialstructure in He'nan that influences economic growth can be categorized into three types:in eastern and southern regions.the shift-share of the industrial structure is negative,and the shift-share model of competitiveness is negative:in western and central regions,the shift-share of the industrial structure is positive,and the shift-share model of competitiveness is positive;in northern regions,the shift-share of the industrial structure is positive,and the shift-share model of competitiveness is negative;(4) the evolution of industrial structure influences greatly the development of the regional economy of He'nan.As the results of the researches shown,it can claim that the technological innovation of He'nan traditional industry with high-tech,the vast development of the tertiary industry,the expansion of He'nan overall level of industrial structure,the growth of deep-processing manufacturing of agricultural products,and the increase of He'nan agricultural products subsidiary value will be the strategic choices of the rearrangement of He'nan industrial structure.     

A note on the theory and measurement of trust in explaining differences in economic growth

This paper takes issue with the trend to attribute differencesin economic growth rates to differences in interpersonal trust.I discuss the World Values Survey (WVS) measure that is usedto operationalise trust at the macro level. I hypothesise thatthere is a mismatch between the theoretical argument and theempirical operationalisation of trust. Instead of measuringtrust, the WVS measure may instead proxy the well-functioningof institutions. I provide circumstantial evidence for thisthesis by a principal components analysis of trust and institutionsand a robustness test of Zak and Knack's (2001. Trust and growth,Economic Journal, vol. 111, 295–321) seminal study ontrust and economic growth.     

经济制度安排、国际贸易与经济增长影响机理的经验研究

本文分析了经济制度安排和贸易流量之间的相互关系及其对该国经济增长以及影响经济增长的其他因素的影响。在九个经济制度安排变量中对一国贸易流量影响作用最大的经济制度安排变量是该国的贸易政策,对一国高技术产品出口影响最大的经济制度安排变量是该国的产权保护程度。从对影响经济增长的渠道分析发现,在所有的经济制度安排变量中,一国产权的保护程度对该国经济增长的影响作用最大;同时产权保护的程度和政府干预对技术进步和人力资本的影响最为显著。     

Entrepreneurship,entry and performance of new business compared in two growth regimes: East and West Germany

The paper provides an outline of the concept of regional growth regimes and empirically illustrates the relevance of the concept. The empirical examples are entrepreneurship, entry and the performance of new businesses in East and West Germany. The differences of the factors determining the formation of new businesses as well as their development between these two growth regimes are immense and clearly demonstrate the relevance of region specific factors.JEL Classification: O11, O18, P25, R11Michael Fritsch: I amindebted to two anonymous referees for helpful comments on an earlier version and to Pamela Mueller and Antje Weyh for energetic support in preparing the data. Correspondence to Technical University of Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Lessingstraße 45, 09596 Freiberg, Germany