Interdisciplinary economics

Summary Starting from Robbins and Hennipman and with the help of Becker and Lindenberg a theoretical framework has been constructed within which the strong points of economics and sociology are combined,viz,. the formal but relatively bare-bones modelling of economics and the often so much richer, in terms of social content, analysis of sociology. This theoretical framework also appears to enable more balanced analyses of the effectiveness and efficiency of legislation and regulation than the kind of law and economics so much in fashion at the moment, which is often not devoid of economism and in whichhomo econornicus still all too often figures as the prototype of man.(Economic Institute/Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Labour Market and Distribution Issues (CIAV)); Associate of The Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) in The Hague and the Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS). This article is an adapted version of my inaugural lecture.     

Women's relative wage rate in The Netherlands, 1950–1983: A test of alternative discrimination theories

Summary This article presents the results of an inquiry into the relationship that is to be expected on theoretical grounds between women's wage rate compared to men's on the one hand and some macroeconomic variables on the other. Becker's discrimination theory is confronted with alternative theories. On the base of data for the Netherlands the authors investigate which theory is most suited to explain the development of women's relative wage rate for the period 1950–1983. They conclude that the results of the empirical analysis predominantly support Becker's theory.The authors wish to thank Mr. R. Haagsma and Professor C.K.F. Nieuwenburg for their comments on an earlier draft of this article. Furthermore, they are grateful to Miss M.J.R. Key for computational assistance.     

The optimal growth of the firm in a growing environment

The paper presents a growth model based on three essential assumptions: perfect knowledge of the future, descreasing returns on investment in a stagnant economy, appearance of new investment possibilities with the growth of the economy. Two cases are considered: the self-financing growth and the borrowing situation in the context of two management policies, the maximization of the discounted flow of dividends and the maximization of the growth rate.     

PRIMITIVE ACCUMULATION,GROWTH AND THE GENESIS OF SOCIAL CLASSES

The aim of this paper is to show that inequalities of wealth can be necessary conditions to explain the apparition and rise of a capitalistic system. We try to highlight Marx's insights on primitive accumulation. Our dynamic framework is consistent with Roemer's idea of endogenous class stratification. We extend this calculation by incorporating some features of the Pasinetti–Samuelson–Modigliani model, and provide an example of possible microfoundations.     

International Trade Agreements and International Migration

Despite large potential economic gains, bilateral and multilateral negotiations focusing on liberalisation of migration have not shared the high profile of international trade negotiations and agreements. Migration and trade have been traditionally viewed rather separately and the relevance of the many, and complex, interdependencies has been given remarkably little attention in the literature to date. In this article, we focus on the two‐way interaction between international migration and agreements designed to enhance cross‐border trade and investment. Liberalisation of international trade in services and in the movement of people potentially offers much greater economic gains than liberalisation of remaining barriers to goods trade. However, progress within multilateral frameworks is fraught with difficulty. The World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has yielded little real progress so far and negotiations within more flexible unilateral and bilateral frameworks are likely to be more successful in liberalising the movement of labour. We discuss a range of specific examples, focusing particularly on the interesting case of New Zealand. We find that trade agreements are increasingly including agreements on migration, though typically favouring temporary migration and involving numerically modest quotas. We conclude that migration regulatory frameworks are likely to be further and more strongly linked to trade and investment agreements in the future, particularly given changing economic and demographic forces. The primary focus of migration policies may nonetheless remain different from that of trade policies. While further migration liberalisation is likely to be through bilateral and regional agreements, it will be important to try to lock in the gains of such agreements, while simultaneously working to consolidating these in a way that will help to facilitate future multilateral agreement.     

Un siècle d'histoire coopérative à travers les statistiques de L'A.C.I.

Many authors have studied the quantitative evolution of the cooperative movement but their analysis was generally limited to a sector, a region or a specific period of time. Thanks to a collection by A. Leclerc (Moncton University, Canada) of all statistical information in possession of the International Cooperative Alliance, this study can rely on an exceptional database relating to the number of members affiliated to ICA since 1896. On the basis of this inventory, the authors try to determine the main orientations of the cooperative membership evolution over a period of nearly a century. In this article most of the results are presented by splitting the studied period into four development phases of the worldwide cooperative movement.     

Kinky perceived demand curves and Keynes–Negishi equilibria

The label "Keynes–Negishi equilibria" is attached here to equilibria in a monetary economy with imperfectly competitive product and labor markets where business firms and labor unions hold demand perceptions with kinks: as posited in Negishi's 1979 book Microeconomic Foundations of Keynesian Macroeconomics . Such equilibria are defined in a general equilibrium model, and shown to exist. Methodological implications are briefly discussed in a concluding section.