Keynes on the nature of capital: a note on the origin of The General Theory's chapter 16

In The General Theory, unlike Keynes's previous works, we find a chapter explicitly devoted to a discussion of capital. It's title, however, does not accurately reflect the actual content of the chapter itself; and the text, which contains a discussion of the concept of roundaboutness, may leave the reader uncertain about Keynes' attitude towards that concept and on the actual focus of the chapter. In this paper a study of the surviving drafts of The General Theory and of other sources relevant to the purpose of elucidating the process of composition of the chapter allows us to show how and why those peculiarities emerged and helps to cast light on their meaning.     

论人力资本与智力资本的"虚拟资本"性质

本文认为人力资本、智力资本理论的产生,本质上是提出了"虚拟资本"问题,是对这些过去被看作是费用或成本的东西进行"资本化定价".在当代企业的资本范畴中实际上已经形成了以实体资本为一方的"硬资本"和以虚拟资本为另一方的"软资本"两大部份,而这两大部份是建立在"资本三要素"--物质资本、人力资本、智力资本基础上的.由"资本三要素"的基础概念,我们可以推解出一系列新的资本概念和形态,从中我们可以较清晰地辨别虚拟资本与实体资本的构架与层次,并可直观地厘清它们的边界与关系,这有利于我们更好地理解人力资本与智力资本的特性和功能.     

On the Nature of Capital Adjustment Costs

This paper studies the nature of capital adjustment at the plant level. We use an indirect inference procedure to estimate the structural parameters of a rich specification of capital adjustment costs. In effect, the parameters are optimally chosen to reproduce a set of moments that capture the non-linear relationship between investment and profitability found in plant-level data. Our findings indicate that a model, which mixes both convex and non-convex adjustment costs, fits the data best.     

The Economic Problem of Happiness: Keynes on Happiness and Economics

By stressing the substantial continuity of vision between John Maynard Keynes’s early unpublished essays and his more mature writings, the paper discusses Keynes’s ethics and focuses on his thoughts about happiness. In particular, we emphasize the anti-utilitarianism of Keynes’s vision and his belief that material wealth is but a precondition to enjoy the possibilities of a good life, and direct attention to problems of incommensurability raised by the multidimensional nature of happiness as considered by Keynes. We then argue that the rediscovery of Keynes’s legacy in this respect may be a precious counterweight to the most controversial aspects of today’s happiness research.     

The Economic Problem of Happiness: Keynes on Happiness and Economics

By stressing the substantial continuity of vision between John Maynard Keynes’s early unpublished essays and his more mature writings, the paper discusses Keynes’s ethics and focuses on his thoughts about happiness. In particular, we emphasize the anti-utilitarianism of Keynes’s vision and his belief that material wealth is but a precondition to enjoy the possibilities of a good life, and direct attention to problems of incommensurability raised by the multidimensional nature of happiness as considered by Keynes. We then argue that the rediscovery of Keynes’s legacy in this respect may be a precious counterweight to the most controversial aspects of today’s happiness research.     

组织资本与企业的性质

本文对企业组织资本的概念进行了辨析,将组织资本的内涵确定为在生产经营和管理活动中.通过企业长期实践积累起来的,不依赖于个体而存在的内含于组织中的共享资源或资产.组织资本与企业的性质存在密切的联系,因为组织资本能降低交易成本,企业的产生、并购及多元化经营很大程度上都体现了组织资本的作用.在企业的生产经营活动中,组织资本同其他资本共同发挥作用,有效的组织资本能使企业实现资本和劳动力等资源的节约,因此,加强对企业管理者和员工的激励,促进组织资本的形成具有重要意义.     

资本结构动态调整研究综述

目前,很多学者纷纷采用动态资本结构模型,来证实资本结构具有动态调整的特性.资本结构动态调整理论认为公司并不是在任何时候都处于最优资本结构状态,随机事件的发生和调整成本的存在使得企业的实际资本结构偏离了其目标资本结构.企业在不断地向目标资本结构进行部分调整,且调整速度与企业规模、盈利能力等企业特征变量,与资本市场类型等宏观经济变量和企业偏离目标资本结构的程度等有关.     

From Keynes to Hayek: The marvel of thriving macroeconomies

Inherent ignorance of and uncertainties about the future may translate into doubts about the overall viability of market mechanisms. However, these doubts are quelled by a broad empirical observation: market economies thrive. Hayek sometimes abstracted from such ignorance and uncertainties in order to identify the market mechanisms that are essential to thriving economies. His often-overlooked “interest-rate brake,” for instance, keeps the rate of implementation of new technologies in line with peoples willingness to save. A careful reading of macroeconomic history suggests that artificial booms often ride piggyback on genuine booms. During a period of technological breakthroughs, the central bank's adherence to the Real Bills Doctrine overrides the interest-rate brake and engenders an unsustainable boom. JEL Code B22, E30, E50     

The economics of Frank H. Knight: An Austrian interpretation

This paper interprets, in the modern Austrian economics perspective, Frank H. Knight's three core contributions; namely, economic methodology, theories of human action, uncertainty and entrepreneurship. Though Knight is regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Chicago School of economics, this paper argues that Knight's contributions are essentially Austrian. Influenced by William James, Henri Bergson and Max Weber, Knight's subjectivist economics can be seen as a link between Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises in the history of Austrian subjectivism. This paper further suggests that Knight may be more appropriately located in the Austrian-German School, for the reason that the term “Austrian School” is too narrow to accommodate german influences. This paper concludes that Knight's legacies have left much to be appreciated by neoclassical mainstream economists in general and Austrian economists in particular. The author thanks Dian Kwan for her proof reading in this essay.     

社会保障支出对人力资本培育有效性分析

利用2000—2010年的时间序列数据,通过Eviews分析对社会保障支出和人力资本的动态关系进行实证分析。研究表明,社会保障支出与人力资本之间存在长期协整关系,社会保障支出变化确实是人力资本变化的原因。提出社会保障支出在对人力资本培育中的一些建议。     

货币视角下的“大危机”——凯恩斯与弗里德曼的理论阐释对比及启示

在回顾20世纪30年代的大危机的基础上,从货币视角,阐述了凯恩斯和弗里德曼对于经济危机形成原因的不同阐释,并且对两者在预期理论、长期与短期取向、货币政策传导机制和货币政策主张四个方面的分歧做了详细的论述,最后结合当前由次贷危机引发的金融危机得出了诸多启示。     

Adam Smith on colonies: An analytical and historical interpretation

It is our conclusion that Adam Smith advocated and justified policies of anticolonialism and antiprotectionism. Smith was opposed to the theory and policy of mercantilism, which involved an emphasis on the imperialistic exploitation of colonies as a method of accumulating the precious metals within the boundaries of mercantilistic nations. Smith led British public opinion into a period when little-Englandism replaced colonialism and free trade replaced protection. This period continued as long as the Industrial Revolution enabled England to dominate world trade. After 1875, however, the industrialization of the United States, Germany and Japan intensified the competitiveness of international trade and threatened to destroy British domination of world markets. These developments caused a resurgence of the new imperialism and motivated the British government to participate in the partition of Africa and to impose British hegomony over Asia. This new imperialism ran its bloody course of military aggression before it self-destructed at the end of the Second World War.     

资本结构的行业特征:基于中国上市公司的实证研究

本文根据中国证监会《上市公司行业分类指引》 ,将沪深A股上市公司进行行业分类 ,全面深入地实证研究了资本结构的行业特征。研究结果表明 :(1 )中国上市公司存在最优资本结构 ,行业是其重要影响因素之一 ;(2 )不同行业上市公司的资本结构具有显著差异 ,约 9.5%的公司间资本结构差异可由公司所处行业门类的不同来解释 ;(3 )同一行业上市公司的资本结构具有稳定性 ;(4)同一行业门类内不同行业大类的公司间资本结构无显著差异。     

国际资本流动对经济增长的影响分析——基于国际数据的实证研究

基于1994～2009年68个国家的年度数据构建Panel Data变截距固定效应模型,通过对资本流向和流动方式的进一步细分,来考察资本流动对不同发展水平国家经济增长的影响。结果显示:境外国际资本流入对转型国家经济增长的促进作用明显强于发达国家,对发展中国家经济效应不显著;国际资本流出仅对发达国家经济增长有显著的促进作用,对发展中国家和转型国家的经济效应均不显著。     

Religion,economics and politics: The Bishops and Keynes in the post-Keynesian ERA

This paper makes a proposal for reintroducing sociological or social economics into contemporary economic science. Such a reintroduction is proposed to be substantive, by analyzing the social structuring of the economy, and formal, by including sociological/social economics in the current (JEL) classification system of economic disciplines (code A.15). Both epistemological and ontological arguments can be presented to support the proposal. Epistemological arguments invoke the presence of essential components of sociological economics in the development of economic thought, and ontological arguments stress the role of social factors in economic life. In this paper I present primarily epistemological (theoretical-methodological) arguments for sociological economics, and secondarily ontological ones. I show that the present designation, sociology of economics, is something different from sociological or social economics in that the former refers to economic epistemology (knowledge) and the latter to economic ontology (reality). I conclude that, in addition to a sociology of economic science, we need a sociology of economic life.     

农民工城市融入:人力资本和社会资本视角的实证研究

笔者利用1446个在沪农民工样本调查数据,建立logit模型,研究了人力资本和社会资本对农民工城市融入的影响。分析表明,以教育程度、职业培训为代表的人力资本对农民工城市融入有着显著正向影响;以老乡交往为代表的同质社会资本对农民工城市融入起阻碍作用,而与城市居民进行经常性互动建立起来的新型异质社会资本对农民工城市融入有正向影响。     

Dynamics of the economic transition in Poland: An attempt at interpretation

The objective of this analysis is to describe, interpret, and assess the socioeconomic changes that took place in Poland during 1989 to 1997. This is a dynamic approach that considers the relationships that exist between successive phases of transformation and is characterized by both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The study is in three sections. The first section sets forth analytical tools and methods to study systemic transformation at large. It searches for the promising manner of a transition appraisal. The second section discusses division of the economy into sphere of regulation and real sphere. In turn, the third section includes a dynamic analysis of interrelationships between those spheres that are subject to changes in the course of transformation and, in various ways, shape the economic performance in Poland. Finally, this paper draws conclusions concerning the failures and successes of the economic transition.