Main Currents of Marxism

We present a three-fold test for sustainability on policies addressing environmental and natural resource management. The first — ecological holism — requires that management of natural systems not only ensure the long term viability of ecosystem functions and enhanced diversity of wildlife within that ecosystem, but also facilitate the provision of renewable energy and material resources. The second — community centeredness — is an assessment of the improvement (or reduction) in economic wellbeing of local populations measured by employment and income and in quality of life for the larger community resulting from that policy. The third — institutional legitimacy — evaluates the level of justice that a policy and its outcome(s) bring to the entire community (here, just policies will satisfy Rawls's "veil of ignorance" test). Three policies for National Forest management on Washington's Olympic Peninsula are examined and results are compared: the Northwest Forest Plan, the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Scenic Rivers Act of 2012 (Wild Olympics), and The Third Way (an alternative forest management option). Each policy satisfies the first test of ecological holism, but not in equal measures. Success in this regard can be differentially ranked because the relative impacts are not neutral. Both the Northwest Forest Plan and Wild Olympics fail the test of community centeredness. In contrast, The Third Way promotes community centeredness and ecological holism. We assert that, as a result, it would satisfy John Rawls's test for justice, and it is institutionally legitimate.     

An Evaluation of Institutional Matrices Theory Which Was Designed to Illustrate Differences Between Russian and Western Political Economies

This article is devoted to the evaluation of the institutional matrices theory (IMT), which was designed to illustrate the differences between Russian and Western political economic systems. IMT has no matrix, and it is an ideological declaration rather than a theory. It is a set of assertions and assumptions that are adopted without evidence, and then hypostatized to be Russian and Western socioeconomic systems. IMT literature claims to utilize the reciprocity, redistribution, and exchange model of Karl Polanyi (1944 Polanyi, Karl. The Great Transformation. New York, NY: Rinehart &; Company, 1944. [Google Scholar], 1957 Polanyi, Karl. “The Economy as Instituted Process.” In Trade and Market in the Early Empires: Economies in History and Theory, edited by Karl Polanyi, Conrad M. Arensberg and Harry W. Pearson, pp. 239-270. New York, NY: Free Press, 1957. [Google Scholar]). However, IMT suffers from a number of assumptive and methodological problems in its application, the first of which consists of the complete exclusion of reciprocity from consideration. The first section of the article is an explanation of problems with IMT, and the second section demonstrates some particulars of the IMT problems with a real-world social fabric matrix from a Western nation.     

The changing employment situation in some cities with living wage ordinances

More than 120 municipalities (cities, towns, and counties) have introduced living wage ordinances. These laws mandate that certain employers in their jurisdiction pay their workers wages that are above federal and state minimum levels. The opponents of these laws argue that these ordinances have adverse impacts on local labor markets. This study considers rates of growth of employment and unemployment trends in a sample of these cities before and after they introduced their living wage ordinances. It finds that while a few cities have had negative labor market experiences after introducing their living wage law these cities represent the exception rather than the rule.     

Brothers and Breadwinners: Legislating Living Wages in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

Attention to the implicit and explicit wage theories articulated by economic actors and embedded in public policy reveals the underlying social norms and values in specific historical and industrial contexts. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), the first federal minimum wage legislation in the United States, legitimated and institutionalized the idea that living standards and workers' needs matter in setting wages. They matter not simply in generating labor supply, but as the basis for government intervention in market mechanisms. Rather than viewing market mechanisms and government regulations dichotomously, economic actors debating the FLSA treated both market mechanisms and socially defined living standards as legitimate elements of wage-setting. Wage regulations also, by necessity, must grapple with issues of identity, that is, which workers (especially as defined by class, gender, and race?–?ethnicity) are deserving of particular living standards. Debates over the language in the FLSA reveal the contested nature of masculinity during the period of economic crisis in the 1930s. Advocates responded by defining a multiplicity of living wages corresponding with different living standards, as well as a multiplicity of strategies for achieving them.     

The Theory of the Individual in Economics: Identity and Value

Fundamental to social provisioning is ensuring that community members have access to employment opportunities that pay living wages and sustain the environment. In a previous study, two of us (Underwood, Friesner and Cross 2014 Underwood, Daniel, Dan Friesner and Jason Cross. “Toward an Institutional Legitimation of Sustainability.” Journal of Economic Issues 48, 3 (2014): 870–885. [Google Scholar]) presented criteria for sustainable community economic development, a three-fold test to comparatively assess economic development policies: ecological holism, community centeredness, and institutional legitimacy. Applying this test generates an iterative, evolutionary process of economic development. Absent from these criteria is the concept of intention, as policy options are not “given,” but rather designed by self-interested groups to manipulate interpretations of these test criteria in advancement of their vested interests — outcomes which can be juxtaposed to the “interests of community.” Here, we integrate two additional principles: economic diversity and solidarity. Economic diversity emphasizes living wages in numerous industries to stabilize exogenous economic shocks. Solidarity, as a unit of socio-economic interdependence, stresses commonality of wellbeing within communities. Integrating solidarity and economic diversity into the criteria for sustainable community economic development improves policy design and outcomes that sustain the environment, while also providing living wage employment for community members.     

以发展的新思维促进农村贫困治理

在贫困治理进入后攻坚时期,适当调整扶贫策略,将传统的单纯依靠经济增长治理贫困的模式逐步转向具有发展理念、融合社会政策与经济政策为一体的资产社会政策模式,早已成为时代要求。具有资产建设性质的社会保障个人资产账户,能够帮助贫困群体进行资产积累,进而在理财、教育、住房、医疗、养老等领域有着无可比拟的综合功能,因此在当前及未来的贫困治理工作中应有重要担当。     

A mathematical note on Msgr. John A. Ryan's thought on the minimum wage

This paper examines Msgr. John A. Ryan's economic thought regarding the mechanics by which an increase in the minimum wage is funded. In particular, a mathematical comparative-static model is used to explore Msgr. Ryan's economic assumptions concerning the channels by which income is redistributed to workers from other factor owners. The analysis shows that Msgr. Ryan's approach includes assumptions regarding economic relationships and implies specific values of wage elasticities.     

J.M. Keynes's Theory of the State as a Path to his Social Economics of Reform in The General Theory

This article focuses on Adam Smith's attitude toward wages as the natural price of labor. It argues that his subsistence wage had similarities with the medieval Schoolmen's notion of the just wage as being established through markets. He further agreed with them that the market wage had to be sufficient to nurture community standards of virtue. His application of the concept differed from theirsn due to his recognition of the problems caused by social distance. In a commercial society, impersonal relations added difficulties to the attainment of a just wage and could diminish virtue. As a result, sympathy from employers and from public

officials was needed as part of the Smithian standard of wages.     

The Interaction of Market Failure and Structural Adjustment in Producer Credit and Land Markets: The Case of Nicaragua

While nonprofit organizations serve the community in significant ways, their heavy reliance on philanthropic and government funding is increasingly not sustainable, especially in the wake of economic downturns. The application of social entrepreneurial principles — including social enterprise activities — can improve the sustainability of the business model of nonprofits, while bolstering management capacity and enhancing mission. This paper argues that the current funding model of the nonprofit sector should be disrupted in order to achieve a greater level of financial sustainability and mission-driven success.     

Enhancing the Macroeconomics Course: An Experiential Learning Approach

Although the history of the development of reliable testing instruments for economics goes back only a few years, the Test of Economic Understanding (TEU, 1963) and the Test of Understanding of College Economics (TUCE, 1967-1968) have already resulted in valuable measurements of student learning. Villard's critical appraisal of these tests, and of research based upon their use, summarizes where we now stand in the evaluation of teaching effectiveness.     

城市社区老年人生活照料网的构成及影响因素分析

以武汉城区为个案,运用调查数据描述了老年人生活照料网的构成,分析讨论了老年人自身经济特征对其生活照料网的影响。提出了加强老年人生活照料网建设的建议。     

效率工资理论的新发展：阿克洛夫的观点

阿克洛夫的效率工资理论,通过吸收社会学、人类学的研究成果,将人的劳动行为看成基于公平出发的社会习俗。根据这一习俗,企业支付的工资不少于工人预期的公平工资,而工人根据企业支付的工资决定自己的努力程度,从而决定自己的边际产出。对于追求利润最大化的企业来说,并非支付的工资越高越好,支付工人的工资应等于工人的边际产出。当公平工资高于市场出清工资时,非自愿失业问题出现,工人技术程度与其失业率负相关。二元劳动力市场的现实与人类内生的行为规范,使得非自愿失业问题的解决前景十分悲观。     

The Living Wage,Economic Efficiency,and Socio-Economic Wellbeing in a Competitive Market Economy

Conventional economic wisdom views a Living Wage as costly in term of economic efficiency and competitiveness. I argue, based on x-efficiency theory, that higher wages need not cause any economic harm and can, on the contrary, generate higher levels of material wellbeing. Higher wages can be expected to induce x-efficiency and technological change cost offsets. In this context, an effective living wage, one that is above some subsistence minimum, can have a net efficiency effect on the economy. Therefore, a living wage greater than the wage rate generated by the free market cannot be predicted to generate economic harm. With the institutional parameters in place to realize a living wage, the economic pie can be expected to grow to accommodate the living wage.     

The Ecology of Trade

Trading behavior occurs in many species but has a particularly elaborate form in humans. Trade is defined as the mutually beneficial, adaptive transfer of goods and services between organisms. Trade has a competitive element and responds to changes in relative scarcity. Trade is demonstrated to be a biological phenomenon rather than an artefact of human civilisation. Species’ characteristics that increase the likelihood of trade occurring are outlined. The evolution of trading strategies is most likely in humans and social arthropods. A formal model is presented to show that trade can simultaneously increase consumption among populations and reduce pressure on locally scarce resources. This allows a species to increase its density and escape the constraints imposed by local resource limitations. This represents a major ecological benefit to the trading species. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

加强社区股份合作公司监管的思考

深圳市城市化转地后,以土地资源等集体资产折股量化型的社区股份合作公司应运而生,并由此伴生了一系列问题。结合光明新区实际,从社区股份公司发展面临的问题进行分析,并从完善内部管理和加强外部监督两方面找出了如何加强和完善股份合作公司集体资产管理的对策。     

国外可持续土地整理的发展特征及对我国的启示

目前我国土地整理最突出的问题是由于采用了一些不适当的技术措施而引发生态问题,从而损害了土地整理的可持续性,这已成为制约土地整理发展的主要因素之一。而国外土地整理正朝向综合化、生态化、规范化、科技化和多样化的方向发展。本文通过总结国外可持续土地整理的发展过程和特征,探讨了我国土地整理的目标定位、景观生态保护问题、法律保障、融资方式、公众参与和相关技术,并从土地整理应尽可能保持和提高土地的生产性能、降低工程活动对生态环境的损害、保证组织活动的经济可行性以及使公众接受并积极参与四个方面建立了我国可持续土地整理的判别标准。     

农户生计资产量化分析方法的应用与验证——基于福建省农村最低生活保障目标家庭瞄准效率的调研数据

农村最低生活保障制度是以贫困农户作为瞄准单位,其运行成功与否取决于制度实施中目标家庭瞄准的准确性。本文从农户生计资产的视角,通过构建农户生计资产指标体系,对低收入农户生计资产进行量化分析,试图达到对农村最低生活保障制度目标家庭准确瞄准的目的。实证结果表明,农户生计资产量化分析可以直观地显示农户生计资产的组合及其配置状况,可用来判断农户整体生活状况,并可对低收入农户进行准确排序。农户生计资产量化分析方法不失为提高制度瞄准效率的一种有益尝试。