Beyond the principle of population: Malthus's Essay

Abstract

After an introductory section, this article reviews reasons and arguments establishing the invalidity of Malthus's construct of a ‘principle of population’. Section 3 propounds that Malthus's theory is located beyond the principle of population, with the oscillation figure as its centre. Section 4 takes note of the trajectory which the Essay describes between natural and moral science, assesses inequality and growth as the two focal points of Malthus's theory and eventually observes Malthus looking forward to a state beyond the dictates of growth.     

Malthus versus Condorcet revisited

The article poses some counter-factual questions concerning the intellectual relationship between Condorcet and Malthus in the light of the latter's attack on Condorcet's Esquisse, bearing in mind the common ‘Smithian’ basis of their thinking and their background as ‘social Newtonains’ with an interest in placing the science of morals and politics on a rational basis. Malthus's reasons for opposing Condorcet's solutions to the population problem and their divergence over redistribution of income through social insurance are considered. Some stereotypical and ideological interpretations of Malthus as a bioeconomic determinist with demoralizing and reactionary tendencies are also discussed.     

Professors Malthus and Jones: Political economy at the East India College 1806–1858

Abstract

T. R. Malthus was the first Professor of Political Economy in Britain, being appointed in 1805 to the new East India College, whose purpose was to provide an education fitted to the training of East India Company recruits prior to their departure for India. Malthus was succeeded on his death in 1834 by Richard Jones, whose own period at the College ended just before the College closed in 1858, consequent upon the conversion of the Company into the Indian Civil Service and the introduction of entry by competitive open examinations. This paper considers the function and nature of the teaching of political economy within the College, and emphasizes the manner in which institutional imperatives constrained the development of political economy as an administrative pedagogy.     

The scientific limits of understanding the (potential) relationship between complex social phenomena: the case of democracy and inequality

This paper outlines the methodological and empirical limitations of analysing the potential relationship between complex social phenomena such as democracy and inequality. It shows that the means to assess how they may be related is much more limited than recognised in the existing literature that is laden with contradictory hypotheses and findings. Better understanding our scientific limitations in studying this potential relationship is important for research and policy because many leading economists and other social scientists such as Acemoglu and Robinson mistakenly claim to identify causal linkages between inequality and democracy but at times still inform policy. In contrast to the existing literature, the paper argues that ‘structural’ or ‘causal’ mechanisms that may potentially link the distribution of economic wealth and different political regimes will remain unknown given reasons such as their highly complex and idiosyncratic characteristics, fundamental econometric constraints and analysis at the macro-level. Neither new data sources, different analysed time periods nor new data analysis techniques can resolve this question and provide robust, general conclusions about this potential relationship across countries. Researchers are thus restricted to exploring rough correlations over specific time periods and geographic contexts with imperfect data that are very limited for cross-country comparisons.     

Some personal reflections on the history of Bioeconomics

This is a rather impressionist report of my recollections of the history of the bioeconomics field.     

Between X and Y: how process tracing contributes to opening the black box of causality

ABSTRACT

This article maps the methodological debate on process tracing and discusses the diverse variants of process tracing in order to highlight the commonalities beyond diversity and disagreements. Today most authors agree that process tracing is aimed at unpacking causal and temporal mechanisms. The article distinguishes two main types of use for process tracing. Some are more inductive, aimed at theory building (i.e. at uncovering and specifying causal mechanisms) while others are more deductive, aimed at theory testing (and refining). The paper summarizes the main added value and drawbacks of process tracing. It ends by providing ten guidelines for when and how to apply process tracing.     

Hodgson on Hayek: a critique

In his book Economics and Evolution, Geoffrey Hodgson offersa detailed critique of F. A. Hayek's writings on cultural evolution.Certain aspects of Hodgson's treatment appear to be inaccurate.This paper criticises Hodgson's critique.     

Alfred Marshall on Socialism

William Godwin had a dual influence on Thomas Robert Malthus. First, Malthus wrote the premier (1798) edition of his Essay on the Principle of Population to refute Godwin's thesis that institutional reforms could halt the growth of population and thereby pave the way toward universal affluence. There were only two checks on population, said Malthus in 1798: vice and misery. Second, pursuant to his discovery of virtuous checks on population in Scandinavia, Malthus reread Godwin's principal works. He now accepted Godwin's dual proposition that population growth could be stopped, even reversed, by the virtuous check of moral restraint and that this check could be made operational through institutional realignment. In the second (1803) edition of his Essay, Malthus argued, therefore, that poverty could be replaced by prosperity through institutional changes in the form of the introduction of universal education and gradual abolition of the poor law.     

Cyclicality of commodity markets with respect to the U.S. economic policy uncertainty based on granger causality in quantiles

Given the importance of the U.S. in global commodity markets, the goal is to explore whether U.S. economic policy uncertainty impacts the price performance of certain commodities. The analysis uses the Granger causality in quantiles method that allows us to test whether there are different effects under different market conditions. The results document that economic uncertainty impacts the returns on the commodities considered, with the effects clustering around the tail of their conditional distribution. Robust evidence was obtained under alternative definitions of uncertainty.     

史前经济学中的企业家思想

企业家理论的研究,最早可以追溯到史前经济学。康替龙意义上的企业家是从事商业投机活动的套汇者;魁奈视野中的企业家则是农民或是大规模农场的经营者;杜尔哥说明了企业家作为企业的独立组织者和管理者的一般职能;尼古拉斯则强调企业家作为革新者的特征。     

A Comment on “The Dilemmas of Technology”

This paper documents Hohfeld's influence on interwar American institutionalism. We will mainly focus on three leading figures of the movement: John Rogers Commons, Robert Lee Hale, and John Maurice Clark. They regarded Hohfeld's contribution on jural relations as a preliminary step toward the understanding of the adversarial nature of legal rights. Albeit with substantial differences in style, method and emphasis, Hohfeld's schema provided a powerful analytical and rhetorical tool for their analysis.     

The new views on demographic transition: a reassessment of Malthus's and Marx's approach to population

The purpose of this paper is to examine the divergence of views of Marx and Malthus regarding the family and the labour market. The paper analyses the divergences between them, as well as their common features. The main divergence is the way in which the two see the interaction between man and nature. We show that their divergence of views, and the specific difference in perception of the two thinkers regarding the place of children in the family over time, is related to the alternate ways of modelling demographic transition today. We analyse the debate between these two lines of reasoning by means of a formal model that differentiate between the two views.     

论药品侵权责任中的若干法律问题

药品侵权责任是一种特殊的产品责任,它是产品责任的下位概念。这种产品责任的构成与一般产品责任有所区别,主要表现在药品缺陷的判断标准应采用不合理危险标准,而非质量标准;在缺陷与损害之间因果关系理论的适用上提出疫学因果关系和市场占有率决定因果关系适用的可能性;为确保受害人的合法权益,发展缺陷或科技抗辩不能作为责任的免除事由。     

Addressing causality in the effect of capital account liberalization on growth

Evidence supporting the positive effects of capital account liberalization on growth is mixed at best. Even after conditioning on the quality of domestic financial institutions, a significant number of studies still find no effect. One possible explanation is reverse causation. If low growth countries liberalize in order to spur growth, the observed correlation between growth and liberalization will underestimate the impact of capital account openness. To eliminate this bias, I instrument capital account liberalization with the average level of openness of other countries to capture the “fad” element in financial liberalization. IV estimates indicate a significant positive effect of liberalization on growth, confirming the predictions of economic theory.     

The influence of causation and effectuation logics on targeted policies: the cases of Singapore and Israel

We examine the causation and effectuation logics for implementing targeted biotechnology policies using two case studies: Singapore (causation) and Israel (effectuation). After more than a decade of implementing targeted biotechnology policies, both Singapore and Israel have failed to create fully fledged biotech clusters. Singapore has been unsuccessful in creating vibrant entrepreneurial activity that will support its transformation into a knowledge economy. Israel has failed to turn its 1000 small, dedicated biotechnology firms into a substantial engine of growth and employment. The paper questions how these two policy approaches influenced the targeting of the biotechnology sectors and identifies the limits of these approaches in supporting targeting. We conclude that a combination of the two logics is needed, especially when targeting complex sectors with a yet unknown development path.     

我国科技人力资源开发的国际差异分析

自我国提出“创新型国家”战略以来,科技人力资源的开发与管理逐渐成为各界研究关注的一个焦点。本文选取一些反映科技人力资源开发状况的主要指标,分别从总量比较和相对比较两种角度,将我国与世界主要国家进行比较,分析我国在科技人力资源开发的投入和产出等方面存在主要差距,进而提出积极的政策建议。     

On Clustering in the Location of R&D: Statics and Dynamics

Empirical analyses of research and development find strong evidence that these activities tend to cluster geographically. Clusters are thought to emerge from the presence of localized positive externalities. This paper presents a model of this clustering behaviour. We find that phase changes in clustering exist both as the strength of local externalities changes and as the degree of heterogeneity among firms changes. The dynamics of the system are examined as it responds to shocks to the size of the market for R&D output, and the length scale of the spatially dependent externalities. Dynamic responses take place in two distinct stages: a rapid response to the change in market systems which takes place throughout the space, with litlle regard to externality effects; followed by a slow re-agglomeration process as producers change their spatial decisions to lower the costs of the new production level.     

效果推理和因果推理对新创企业绩效的影响——创业资源整合的中介作用

文章分析因果推理和效果推理两种决策逻辑对新创企业绩效的影响,及创业资源整合的中介作用。通过对407份新创企业问卷数据的实证研究发现,因果推理和效果推理对新创企业绩效都有正向影响,因果推理和效果推理对创业资源整合也都有正向影响,创业资源整合在因果推理和效果推理与新创企业绩效的正向关系中均具有部分正向中介作用。     

韩国应对劳工短缺的政策选择及其对中国的借鉴

劳工短缺现象已成为东亚许多国家的普遍问题。这个问题并不是经济自发调节便可消除的暂时现象,如长期持续下去,将对各国的产品出口以及经济发展构成严重的制约。韩国自20世纪80年代末起便开始了对劳工短缺问题的调查研究,积累了大量的文献与实践经验。在描述韩国劳工短缺现状的基础上,探讨其成因并介绍韩国政府对此问题所采取的措施及实施效果。提出了对解决我国劳工短缺问题的可借鉴之处。     

国外并购绩效评价方法研究综述

20世纪全球经历了5次企业并购浪潮,并购已经成为现代企业尤其是大型企业和高成长企业快速扩张和整合的重要手段之一.企业并购的之后的效果如何,如何来评价并购的绩效,国外学者从不同角度做了大量的研究,但数十年的研究至今没有一个统一的结论.本文总结了30多年以来国外学者有关企业并购绩效研究的重要文献,在此基础上将国外并购绩效的评价方法分为财务评价、股票评价和其他评价三类,并指出了并购绩效评价方法中存在的问题.