Revisiting residential demand for electricity in Greece: new evidence from the ARDL approach to cointegration analysis

This article re-examines the long-run and short-run determinants of the aggregate residential demand for electricity in Greece using data spanning the period 1964–2006 and the recently advanced ARDL cointegrating method (Pesaran, J Appl Econ 16:289–326, 2001) that has not been hitherto applied to Greek data. The results of the ARDL method combined with the (Johansen, J Econ Dyn Control 12:231–254, 1988) cointegration method show the presence of an equilibrium relationship among the variables involved. These findings may shed new light on the contemplation of more effective energy policies with respect to electricity.     

Classical economists and public debt

Classical economists had developed advanced theories of public debt. These theories, however, have received less attention compared with those of value and distribution. Classical theories of national debt at best receive cursory consideration and are only used to offer further justification to modern theories. Smith’s discussion of the unproductive role of the state and the Ricardian equivalence theorem are examples that are found routinely in the books of public finance or macroeconomics. As for the ideas of classical economists per se these are considered inappropriate for modern economies and are ignored even in books of history of economic thought. This paper takes issue with this view and argues that the ideas of classical economists on public debt might be more relevant nowadays than is commonly thought. (JEL: B12, B22)     

Profitability and accumulation in Greek manufacturing

This paper examines long-term trends in profitability and capital accumulation for the Greek manufacturing industry from 1955 to 1989, using the growth accounting framework introduced by Weisskopf (1979) and further developed by Glyn et al. (1990). The results show that the overall 7% annual decline in profit rate in Greek manufacturing is attributed primarily to falling profit share and secondarily to falling productivity of capital. The effect of capacity utilization was negligible. The analysis is carried out for different subperiods and the relative importance of each of the constituent components of profitability is evaluated.     

Price–value deviations: further evidence from input–output data of Japan

This paper subjects to empirical testing the labour theory of value using input–output data from the economy of Japan for the years 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985 and 1990. The results of the analysis show that labour values and prices of production are extremely good approximations to market prices. In fact, the proximity of prices of production to market prices is closer than that of labour values, a result which suggests that prices of production constitute more concrete centres of gravitation for market prices. Furthermore, we find that prices of production change as a result of variations in income distribution more often than not in a monotonic way and that in fewer cases they display curvatures, which may even reverse the order between prices of production and values.     

MEASURES OF PRODUCTION PRICE‐LABOUR VALUE DEVIATION AND INCOME DISTRIBUTION IN ACTUAL ECONOMIES: A NOTE

Many empirical studies indicate that the deviations of actual prices of production from labour values are not too sensitive to the type of measure used for their evaluation. This paper attempts to theorize this rather ‘stylized fact’ by focusing on the relationships between the traditional and the numéraire‐free measures of deviation. On the empirical side, it provides an illustration of these relationships using input–output data from the Japanese economy.     

Labour Values,Prices of Production and the Effects of Income Distribution: Evidence from the Greek Economy

This paper explores the relationship between labour values, prices of production and changes in income distribution in an actual economy. For this purpose we use a linear model of production with circulating capital and homogeneous labour, assuming that wages are paid ex ante. On the basis of this model and data from input–output tables of the Greek economy for the period 1988–1997 we estimate the labour values and prices of production, which are normalized with the use of the Sraffian standard commodity and the actual output vector. Furthermore, we extend Steedman's polynomial approximation of prices of production to include the case where wages are paid ex ante and the accuracy of this approximation is tested with actual input–output data. Finally, we find that prices of production change as a result of hypothetical changes in income distribution more often than not in a monotonic way and in a few cases display curvatures that reverse the order between prices of production and values.     

Monetary Expressions of Labour Time and Market Prices: Theory and Evidence from China,Japan and Korea

This article presents estimates of labour values and prices of production following two approaches: the first is based on the classical and Marxian theory of value and distribution; the second on the so-called ‘new solution’ to the ‘transformation problem’ and its variant, the Temporary Single-System Interpretation (TSSI). The major advantage of the latter approach is its simplicity, along with the relatively low data requirements. Our empirical findings from the economies of China, Japan and South Korea suggest that both approaches give estimates of labour values and prices of production which are extremely close to each other as well as to actual market prices. On further examination, however, we conclude that our empirical findings are absolutely consistent with the theoretical requirements of the classical approach and contradict those of the TSSI.     

Competition vs. monopoly in Greek large-scale manufacturing industries

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that affect the process of capital accumulation in large-scale Greek manufacturing industries for the period 1963–1989, and at the same time to test whether or not the structure of Greek manufacturing is competitive. The empirical results lend support to the classical and neoclassical economic theories that in the long run capital tends to flow from the less profitable to more profitable industries resulting in a tendential equalization of the rate of profit and the rate of capital accumulation.We wish to thank Ioannis Kaskarelis and two anonymous referees of this journal of helpful comments.