Thorstein Veblen’s Financial Macroeconomics

The purpose of this article is to provide an exposition of Thorstein Veblen’s contribution to financial macroeconomics. I argue that Veblen conceptualizes and contextualizes how the financial structure of effective demand is predisposed to endogenous non-sustainable leverage processes, manipulation, and speculation. I stress that Veblen advances a cultural-financial theory of investment and brings forward the role that pecuniary and emulation instincts play in institutionalizing predatory and fraudulent activities which destabilize the macroevolution of monetary production economies. I underline that Veblen patterns financial macroeconomic fragility and instability within the institutions of the business enterprise system.     

Veblen’s Imperial Germany and the Industrialization of Latin America

Veblen’s Imperial Germany is a theory of development and industrialization, and the role the business enterprise played in these processes. Through a reassessment of Veblen’s Imperial Germany, this paper explores the main aspects that Veblen considered about the industrialization of England and Germany, deriving theoretical implications for the preconditions of a successful industrialization and development, based on an evolutionary Institutional perspective. Veblen’s analysis is then used to analyze the current state of the industrialization of Latin America, evaluating the last two decades since the 1990s, and comparing the orthodox approach, the neostructural view and the Veblenian perspective, arguing for the validity of a policy framework not reduced only to targeted protectionism but emphasizing the necessity of generating the institutional preconditions suggested by Veblen in his seminal work.     

浅谈无形资产管理问题

一个企业的资产是由有形资产和无形资产共同组成的。长期以来,人们关注的焦点只是有形资产,衡量一个公司的业绩也均是以有形资产为标准的,可以说是一切以有形资产的价值论英雄。随着中国加入世界贸易组织和经济全球化进程的推进,无形资产越来越被重视,无形资产质量的高低往往对一个企业具有决定性的影响。     

无形资产的分析评价

无形资产作为企业的一项经济资源，是企业竞争能力的主要表现和创造价值的源泉。无形资产分析评价是无形资产管理的重要环节。本文论述了无形资产分析评价的目的和特点，对无形资产分析评价的内容框架和指标，从投入、产出和价值等方面提出了构想，最后分析了分析评价中要注意的问题。     

企业品牌战略和品牌建设

凝聚着巨大无形资产的品牌，是在国际竞争中获得市场资源优先分配权的强大武器，其价值已从企业延伸到了国家。具有更大影响力、渗透力和竞争力的大品牌，是企业利润最大化和国家竞争力的载体。本文综述品牌、品牌价值的基本内涵。针对目前企业品牌国际化存在的问题，就企业品牌战略和品牌建设的问题，提出看法和建议。     

Financialization and Society’s Protective Response: Reconsidering Karl Polanyi’s Double Movement

Financialization challenges Karl Polanyi’s thesis of double movement, the thesis that efforts to extend the market evoke efforts to protect humans, nature, and means of production from market forces. Financialization refers to the increased power of financial institutions. The government protects the incomes and assets of financial institutions, but it does little to protect the incomes and assets of households, which are necessary for people to afford healthcare, education, emergencies, retirement, and so on. Polanyi criticized nineteenth-century civilization for transforming land, labor, and the means of production into commodities, using economic insecurity to motivate humans. The development of intangible property allowed business to expand the market in two ways: (i) restricting output to drive up profits and (ii) liquefying consumer assets to provide credit to consumers to increase spending. The implications of that process manifested themselves in the financial crisis of 2008. Market capitalism represented the attempt to organize commodities based on economic rationality. Similarly, the twentieth- and twenty-first-century capitalism represents the effort to “rationally” organize society according to the value of intangible assets. Both efforts failed, indicating the continued relevance of Polanyi’s thesis.     

Financialization and Vested Interests: Self-Regulation vs. Financial Stability as a Public Good

I propose an institutionalist analysis of financialization through the lens of Thorstein Veblen, built on some peculiar characteristics of money and related financial instruments in a market-based capitalist economy. Following the case of the overcapitalization of farmlands, studied by Veblen (1919), I argue that modern capitalism is a financialized society dominated by vested interests that rely on financial liberalization-led speculative overcapitalization, often leading to a perverse accumulation process and resulting in systemic catastrophes. Consequently, one of the major constituent institutions of liberal finance, market-dependent selfregulation, proves unable to deal with society-level issues like financial stability. This latter issue must be handled at a systemic level, as a public good. Therefore, specific public regulation and action mechanisms must be designed to maintain society (and dominant vested-interests) within some viability limits to ensure a smooth functioning of the economy.     

What If There Are No Conventional Price Mechanisms?

Inspired by Frederic (“Fred”) S. Lee’s theoretical contribution to institutional-heterodox economics, I make the case that the neoclassical price mechanism is not only flawed, but also irrelevant for the study of actual coordination mechanisms, hence the price mechanism — as a theory as well as a way of thinking — should be discarded. While this position was addressed by early institutionalists, starting with Thorstein Veblen, later institutionalists have not completely rejected the price mechanism. The sympathy for the price mechanism has prevented institutionalists (and other heterodox economists) from fully developing an alternative theoretical framework concerning how actual economic activities are organized. I, therefore, provide an institutionalist-heterodox framework of the provisioning process focusing on business enterprise activities. This framework shows how institutional economics becomes more refined and useful when it is married to other traditions in heterodox economics, in particular, Marxian, social, and post-Keynesian economics. Such an integrative approach is what Fred Lee showed through his work toward producing a better theory and policy for the underlying population.     

技术背景首席执行官对企业金融化的影响——一个有调节的中介模型

近年来，中国经济脱实向虚趋势愈发明显，出现企业过度金融化现象。在上述背景下，基于烙印理论，以沪深A股2010—2019年上市公司为样本，实证研究技术背景CEO对企业金融化的影响机理与作用效果。结果发现：技术背景CEO对企业金融化行为具有显著负向影响；创新投入对企业金融化具有挤出效应，且在技术背景CEO抑制企业金融化的作用路径中发挥部分中介效应；企业社会责任和数字化程度正向调节技术背景CEO对创新投入的促进作用。进一步分析发现，在高不确定性环境中，整体样本企业技术背景CEO依然坚持弃虚从实，但民营企业技术背景CEO对企业金融化的影响不显著。从管理者行为视角，拓展烙印理论在企业投资决策中应用，丰富高管特征与企业金融化关系研究，防范企业脱实向虚，从而为实体经济高质量发展提供管理启示。     

风险投资驱动企业“脱虚向实”了吗

近年来，企业金融化现象在学术界备受关注。国内外研究表明，风险投资对企业投资和企业创新均具有积极影响，那么风险投资能否影响企业金融投资行为？以2009—2019年沪深两市首次公开发行的A股上市公司为研究样本，实证分析风险投资对企业金融化的影响。结果表明：风险投资对企业金融化具有显著抑制作用，且这种抑制作用存在异质性。具体而言，风险投资对企业金融化的抑制效应主要体现在制造企业、盈利能力较弱企业、非国有企业以及东部区域企业中。同时，机构投资者持股比例越高，风险投资对企业金融化的抑制作用越强。机制分析结果表明，风险投资通过促进企业实体投资抑制企业金融化。进一步分析发现，风险投资能够缓解被投企业融资约束，而融资约束的改善并未促进企业金融化，而是促进企业创新。结论可丰富风险投资与企业金融化相关领域研究，证明风险投资能够驱动实体企业“脱虚向实”，对政府发展多层次资本市场，引导金融回归实体具有一定的参考价值。     

Contracts between a Firm and Its Constituents during Bankruptcy Crises

Thorstein Veblen highlighted a number of human instincts, one of which was the “parental bent.” In contrast to the other “positive” instincts, the parental bent is specifically other-regarding in that Veblen described it in terms of utilizing knowledge for the betterment of society. Veblen’s “parental bent” stresses the social embeddedness of humanity and the human instinct to care. Our ability to care is partially predicated on our social roles and the values embedded within those roles. Critically, this is influenced by the configuration of institutions within a society. Care is grossly under-valued. By drawing upon recent contributions to care in the context of an increased financialization of the economy and society, we seek to expand upon Veblen’s insight, and to argue that the most significant deficit confronting our capitalist society is not of the fiscal variety, but resides in care.     

An Ayresian View of Gandhian Economics

Economic waste stems from the abuse of power that interferes with the process of social provisioning. For Thorstein Veblen, waste stems from individual efforts to show superiority, corporate efforts to increase pecuniary returns without increasing industry, or national efforts to exert military dominance. For John Maynard Keynes, waste assumes the form of idle factories, unemployed workers, and unsold goods resulting from insufficient demand. From a broader perspective, waste results from the efforts of rentiers to increase their returns. Both dimensions of waste relate to the Fed and other central banks’ efforts to address the problem of social provisioning through the wealth effect. The ideas of Veblen and Keynes provide guidance for evaluating policy directed at enhancing the provisioning process. Based on Veblen’s ideas, policies should promote the life process and not conspicuous consumption. Based on Keynes ideas, policies should stimulate demand, increasing profits and, in turn, creating jobs.     

Evolution of the Corporation in the United States: Stabilized Scarcity and Vested Interests

The widening of markets beginning in the late nineteenth century in the United States involved changes in the financial and legal institutions supporting production for large-scale markets. The evolution of the corporation under these circumstances reflects the role of the legal system in formulation of formal rules which favor vested interests. As Thorstein Veblen said, “A constitutional government is a business government.”

This article examines the co-evolution of the legal system and the economic system as they relate to the merger movement at the turn of the twentieth century, the increased use of the corporate form, and the emphasis on pecuniary values over production to secure stabilized scarcity in the midst of cutthroat competition and deflation. The resultant financialization of the economy which continues today was reinforced by such legal rules as the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection of property, including intangible property, and the Rule of Reason accommodating some instances of monopolization. These stabilization policies have secured the rentiers’ return at the cost of the long term health of the national economy. John R. Commons’ observations on artificial selection and the use of law to make capitalism better offer a solution through laws regulating the detrimental aspects of financialization.     

技术市场发展、实体企业金融化与创新质量

以2005—2020年中国A股上市企业为样本，实证研究实体企业金融化对创新质量的影响效应和机制，重点关注技术市场发展对上述影响效应和机制的调节作用。结果表明，实体企业金融化对创新质量具有负向影响效应，技术市场发展能够强化这一影响效应，在技术市场发展较快的地区，实体企业金融化对创新质量的负向影响效应更加显著，融资约束和全要素生产率是实体企业金融化影响企业创新质量的有效机制；技术市场发展的调节效应主要作用于影响机制的前半路径，在技术市场发展较快的地区，实体企业金融化对融资约束的缓解效应较弱，对全要素生产率的负向影响效应更强；实体企业金融化对创新质量的影响效应在产品市场竞争、是否为家族企业和银企关系方面存在异质性，当产品市场竞争更激烈、银企关系较差和企业为非家族企业时，实体企业金融化对创新质量的负向影响更显著。     

Corporate Giantism,Degradation of the Plane of Competition,and Countervailance

Thorstein Veblen argued, in The Higher Learning in America, that universities were at risk of being captured by the same pecuniary aims as business enterprise. His argument remains relevant today, given that many observers claim that higher education is headed for fundamental transformation. These changes are occurring in response to a number of challenges facing higher education in the United States — financial, demographic, and cultural, aiming both to reform what is seen by many as a system resistant to change and accountability, and to take advantage of new technologies seen as improving accessibility and convenience for its consumers, the students. I briefly review Veblen’s argument by using its general contours as a lens for the major disruptions occurring in higher education today, and specifically the rise of for-profit universities, the expansion of online learning and massive open-online courses (MOOCs), and the growing movement to unbundle the educational experience.     

G VC嵌入、无形资产要素与装备制造企业价值创造效率

将GVC因素引入企业价值创造体系中,基于效率视角揭示无形资产对企业价值创造的影响机理,以及GVC对该影响的调节机理,构建机理框架模型并提出研究假设。基于效率视角,选择无形资产对企业价值创造影响的评价方法并构建相应测度模型。基于中国装备制造企业数据进行实证研究,测度各无形资产要素对企业价值创造的影响方向和影响强度,以及GVC对无形资产影响的调节作用。最后,提出GVC下提升中国企业价值创造效率的策略建议。结果发现：品牌资产、知识产权、技术创新、产品功能和人力资源质量对企业价值创造均具有正向影响,而人力资源数量和有形资产则具有负向影响;GVC因素对企业价值创造具有正向影响,但影响强度不大;GVC对无形资本对企业价值创造效率的影响具有正向调节作用;通过嵌入GVC、重视企业品牌建设、加强企业技术创新和知识产权积累、提升企业人力资源质量等策略,可以有效提升企业价值创造效率。     

The Capitalist Revolution in Latin America

This article argues that the business enterprise has evolved through successive stable organizational structures which correspond with instability for those falling outside its aegis. This is shown in the institutional and historical context of both managerial capitalism in the mid-twentieth century as well as the era of financialization that followed. Hence, the framework developed herein elaborates on the ceremonial characteristics of the business enterprise under money manager capitalism, and constitutes a contribution toward an updated going concern theory of the business enterprise.     

The Federal Budget and Social Reconstruction

Automakers are facing a growing process of financialization that can be characterized by the preference to value capital through financial activities as more profitable than by productive activities. The aim of this article is to study the financialization of the automotive industry by analyzing the five largest automakers in the world: Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, General Motors (GM) and Ford. The profitability of financial activities was compared to that of productive activities; shareholder structure; share acquisitions; origin of top managers; compensation to executives; employee salaries; dividend payments to shareholders and employment. The results showed that increasingly more financial activities are fundamental to businesses dominated by major shareholders. Dividend payments have shown compliance to shareholder value maximization principles. Compensation to executives has shown that there is a layer of highly paid top managers, while in the workforce, salaries are below the average of the countries in which the automakers operate. The proportion of times that a CEO’s earnings outweigh the average earnings of less skilled workers is hundreds of times. Employment has been changing, with significant increases in China, for instance. This article aims to improve the knowledge of this important sector of world industry and contribute to development of economic sociology.     

建筑施工企业无形资产价值规律研究

从一般无形资产的研究理论出发,结合建筑施工企业的行业特点对建筑施工企业的主要无形资产进行归类,提出关于建筑施工企业无形资产与核心竞争力的关系,阐述各类无形资产的价值变动规律,为建筑施工企业提供一个更广阔的视野进行管理决策。