SLAVERY,FREEDOM, AND SEN

Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom argues that the ability to make choices is fundamental to economic development, and that the evaluation of outcomes can provide misleading answers. He uses the example of the high material consumption of US slaves relative to some free whites to illustrate this contrast. This paper discusses some of the implications of such comparisons and the problem of evaluating what might be regarded as favorable outcomes which come from unfavorable institutions (e.g., slavery). It appears that all good things do not necessarily go together. The past relation of enslavement to the need for subsistence is discussed. Differences in gender roles under slavery and after emancipation are also examined.     

Endogenous lifetime and economic growth

Endogenous mortality is introduced in a two-period overlapping generations model: probability of surviving from the first period to the next depends upon health capital that is augmented through public investment. High mortality societies do not grow fast since shorter lifespans discourage savings; development traps are possible. Productivity differences across nations result in persistent differences in capital-output ratios and relatively larger gaps in income and mortality. High mortality also reduces returns on education, where risks are undiversifiable. When human capital drives economic growth, countries differing in health capital do not converge to similar living standards, ‘threshold effects’ may also result.     

Patrilocality and human capital accumulationEvidence from Central Asia1

Anthropologists estimate that 70 percent of human societies are patrilocal, meaning that adult sons reside with their parents, and that wives go to live with their husbands’ families upon marriage. Yet very little is known about how this widespread social norm influences intrahousehold resource allocation and, through this, economic development. This paper examines the effects of patrilocality on schooling and household educational expenditures in Tajikistan. To identify the causal effect of living in a three versus two generation household on these outcomes, exogenous variation in housing availability across communities is exploited. It is shown that the impacts of living in a three generation household are important for both school enrolment and for educational spending. The results suggest that one reason why patrilocal societies remain poorer than those with nuclear household norms is that three generation households make relatively few human capital investments in the youngest generation. Patrilocality, which probably evolved to solve coordination problems in agrarian societies, may thus be a cause rather than simply a correlate of low educational attainment in developing countries.     

Wirtschaftspolitk. Methodologie. Gesellshcaftsordnung

The theoretical analysis of the range of economic policy actions has to include the problems resulting from the methodological background of the economic theory on the one hand, and question of the specific social order on the other hand. Starting from the theoretical structure of economic policy, the linkage to the methodological aspect and to the social order is discussed. Next, the impacts of methodology and the type of society upon the economic policy are investigated. That shows a complete interdependence of all these three fields. Finally, the special ranges of economic policy actions under different methodologies and societies are outlined.     

A bioeconomic study of numeracy and economic calculation

Systems of numerical representation and computation are crucial for the operation of modern market economies. Surprisingly, however, numerical institutions and people’s numerical abilities are usually taken as given in economic analysis. To develop a richer vision of economic agents, this article investigates the interplay of biological and economic factors in the development of systematic numerical cognition and economic calculation in human societies. In investigating the economic basis of numeracy, we emphasize that it is the relevance of economic objects to need satisfaction and their scarcity that initially makes people seek to quantify goods and to develop numerical tools. As for biological aspects, we identify the pre-numerical (iconic) quantitative capacities that we share with other species as part of our biological endowment. We then investigate the fully-fledged symbolic systems of numerical representation that are unique to humans. We examine the scope for economic exchange in societies in which agents are endowed with natural iconic means for representing set sizes but lack a conventionalized number system. We also investigate the minimal set of quantitative representations that people need to have in order to engage in monetary exchange and precise economic calculation.      

外商直接投资和经济增长的关系研究

理论研究普遍认为外商直接投资对经济增长产生了积极的影响,但对外商直接投资如何影响新兴工业化国家的发展过程的具体机制却研究甚少。本文从新兴工业化国家的视角提出并验证了有关外商直接投资对经济增长作用的两个假设:(1)外商直接投资有利于减小国内生产的非效率,是提高生产技术效率的推动器;(2)外商直接投资有利于加快国内技术进步,是生产前沿的移动器。因为这种双重作用,所以外商直接投资是新兴工业化国家赶超世界发达国家的一个重要因素。中国过去几十年经济快速的发展为验证这两个假设提供了一个理想的范例。     

Patriarchy and Property Rights among Yoruba Women in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

In most patriarchal societies, women's property rights are often achieved vicariously, usually through their husbands. By contrast, among the Yoruba of Nigeria, women have some levels of autonomy and independence such that they can accumulate property to which their husbands have no claim, yet they customarily do not have any inheritance right to their husbands’ property. This study examines how this gender-equitable property rights regime affects gender relations at the household and societal levels through in-depth interviews conducted in 2012 with fifty-six purposively selected women property owners who lived in urban Ibadan, Nigeria. Findings include that though economic power has improved the status of the women and contributes to development of their communities, it has not yet translated into equity in decision making. More than economic power is required to attain equality. The capability of defining goals and acting upon them is also critical.     

Individualism–collectivism,governance and economic development

While an individualist society prizes personal control, autonomy and individual accomplishments, a collectivist one puts a premium on loyalty and cohesion and imposes mutual obligations in the context of in-groups. It has been argued that, in contrast to collectivism, individualism will promote economic development directly by sharpening individual incentives to invest, innovate and accumulate wealth. In this article, I argue that the individualist–collectivist dimension can also affect development through its impact on the quality of government. The in-group favoritism inherent to collectivist societies is likely to engender corruption, nepotism and clientelism in the public sphere. In individualist societies, the relative weakness of in-group pressures and an emphasis on personal achievement and worth will contribute towards a more meritocratic and efficient public sector to the benefit of long-run growth. Empirical evidence is provided suggesting that insofar as individualism affects economic development it does so because it promotes good governance.     

Behavioral norms in the Islamic doctrine of economics: A critique

At the heart of the contemporary Islamic doctrine of economics lies a set of behavioral norms derived from the first Islamic society in seventh century Arabia. This paper demonstrates that these norms cannot be expected to serve as the spearhead of a drive for modern economic development. For one thing, the proposed norms are unlikely to enjoy widespread adherence in large societies where it is difficult to achieve a common perception of reality, elicit generalized altruism and overcome the free rider problem. Secondly, many Islamic norms are ambiguous, and some interfere with institutions designed to improve the workings of markets.     

On induced economic change in precapitalist societies

This essay explores a number of properties of a general growth model of induced economic change in precapitalist societies which incorporates both the insights of Ester Boserup and Thomas Malthus. Responses to diminishing returns include changes in work intensity and population growth. Some important variants of the model are also examined which focus on the transfer of production to non-producers and on alternative processes by which change is induced. The results are used to generate some parameters influencing the political stability of non-working elites; to criticize some previous, less general, growth models; and to suggest some fruitful lines fot future empirical research on economic development in the long run.     

Economic Education Research: Part III,Statistical Estimation Methods

This article is the last in a three-part series on research methodology in economic education in which statistical methods for model estimation are presented. Emphasis is upon the estimation and classical hypotheses testing of economic learning-regression models which may involve systems of equations, collinear regressors, interactions, and distributional effects, when there are errors in the variables and where measures of learning may be ordinal.     

The legacy of the past: ancient economic thought on wealth and development

Ancient economic thought was in general hostile to enrichment and saw wealth as inner wealth. This attitude was coherent with an economy mainly closed and static, based on agriculture and on slave work. But also it greatly contributed to restrain economic development in ancient societies. Ancient economic thought had an enormous influence on early modern thought. The latter borrowed its hostility from enrichment, which contradicted the real tendency of the new society. Thus, from the beginning, modern economy could not enjoy the support of a high economic theory. It could not legitimate enrichment and the increase in consumption.     

Nano-worlds as Schumpeterian emergence and Polanyian double-movements

The overarching question raised in this special issue is whether societies can, do or indeed should steer new and emergent science and technological development and its management on to trajectories construed as more or less 'desirable'. It therefore sits at the interface of two arenas. These are governance: processes of shaping/steering emergent technologies and markets; and sustainability: normative agendas incorporating a range of potentially competing conjectures and internally inconsistent desires such as to facilitate rather than stifle innovation, to enable economic development, to anticipate or deploy strategies to cope with risk and uncertainty, and to encourage technological developments that benefit rather than harm humans, their quality of life and the natural environment. Despite the potential for apparent empirical inconsistencies and contradictions that manifest as outcomes of the negotiation of these aims, there is (pace Karl Polanyi) a normative entry point to all of the articles and the material they draw upon, which is the idea that markets and technologies should be the handmaiden of societies, not vice versa.

It is now widely recognized that 'nanotechnology' is a diverse set of feasible procedures emerging from scientific possibilities to enable the production of artefacts at the nanoscale creating new products, processes and services. Attention has to be paid to the desirability of these artefacts, which involve social, economic, ecologic, political and ethical matters that surround their emergence. The purpose of this special issue is to set out the current and future prospects for the widespread use (or innovation) of technological convergence at the nanoscale to create nano-artefacts, and the needs for governance and regulation that will accompany these innovations.     

Elasticities of import demand and economic development: The Irish Experience

In their paper on Venezuela, Melo and Vogt suggested two hypotheses concerning the relationship between the elasticities of import demand and economic development. In this paper these hypotheses are tested in relation to the experience of the Republic of Ireland, which it is argued closely approximated the conditions described by the Melo-Vogt hypotheses. Both hypotheses are rejected in the case of the Republic of Ireland, where it is argued special factors, such as the nature of the development strategy pursued and proximity to a large dominant trading partner, undetermined the conditions underlying the Melo-Vogt hypotheses.     

The prospects for the social economy in a changing world

Even if the 'social economy' has traditionally been marginalized and a subordinated form of production within capitalist societies, the economic, social, territorial and environmental problems of the present times have tended to make it a strategic instrument. This is not only because of its qualities as an economic and management instrument, but also because it is an expression of a dynamic and creative civil society. The aim of this paper is to show the potential of the social economy, the way it has been encapsulated during the postwar period and the conditions that now favour its full development. In the face of new challenges, the efficiency criterion, hitherto used to assess alternative forms of production, is shown to be insufficient. Some complementary criteria are proposed that fit in better with the new path society must follow if fundamental values have to be satisfied. Starting from these criteria and relating them to management in fields of growing social importance, a new insight into the advantages of the social economy over the market and public sectors can be obtained. Stimulated by such challenges, and connected to the new social movements, a new social economy is emerging with significant potential and a strategic role in managing society. But this development is not without serious problems, and objective and subjective conditions need first to be fulfilled.     

The moderating role of culture on the benefits of economic freedom: Cross-country analysis

The implementation of pro-market policies and institutions is often suggested for enhancing a country's development. However, implementing pro-market policies and institutions has a mixed track record. Some have ascribed the bad results to the neglect of people's predispositions, often described as culture. In this study, we argue that successful implementation of pro-market policies and institutions requires that large parts of the population know how to use the resulting freedom in a way that can bring long term benefits. A panel analysis on a sample of 67 countries from 1970 to 2019 confirms this theoretical argument. We find that Long Term Orientation increases the effect of economic freedom on income per capita, whereas Uncertainty Avoidance weakens the positive relationship between economic freedom and income per capita. The policy implication is that the introduction of free market policies and institutions will particularly foster economic development in long-term oriented societies and in societies with low Uncertainty Avoidance.     

空间利用的变革：北京的经历

Specific changes in land use can, and often do, occur when any social economic system moves from one form to another. When traditional societies transit from traditional land uses to philosophically determined land uses, as in the case of the introduction of socialism or the transition from system of planned economy to a market system, such changes seem concentrated and perhaps exacerbated. Certainly, such circumstances provide the opportunity to see the process of social philosophy and its impact upon land use in a telescoped fashion, The discovery and explanation of these elements might provide some insight into basic human behavior, and its relationship to social control and how people organize space both with and without control. This paper presents the results of observations of changes in land use as they have occurred during the course of transitional economic development in Beijing, China for the past decade. It suggests three new generic categories that can be applied to any culture or society.     

The Evolution of the Use of Space：Lessons from Beijing

Specific changes in land use can, and often do, occur when any social economic system moves from one form to another. When traditional societies transit from traditional land uses to philosophically determined land uses, as in the case of the introduction of sooialism or the transition from system of planned economy to a market system, such changes seem concentrated and perhaps exacerbated. Certainly, such circumstances provide the opportunity to see the process of social philosophy and its impact upon land use in a telescoped fashion. The discovery and explanation of these elements might provide some insight into basic human behavior, and its relationship to social controt and how people organize space both with and without control. This paper presents the results of observations of changes in land use as they have occurred during the course of transitional economic development in Beijing, China for the past decade, it suggests three new generic categories that can be applied to any culture or society.     

Financial structure and economic growth

Recent empirical work on financial structure and economic growth analyzes multi-country dataset in panel and/or cross-section frameworks and concludes that financial structure is irrelevant. We highlight their shortcomings and re-examine this issue utilizing a time series and a Dynamic Heterogeneous Panel methods. Our sample consists of fourteen countries. Tests reveal that cross-country data cannot be pooled. Financial structure significantly explains output levels in most countries. The results are rigorously scrutinized through bootstrap exercises and they are robust to extensive sensitivity tests. We also test for several hypotheses about the prospective role of financial structure and financial development on economic growth.