Can feminist thought make economics more objective?

Feminist research is often perceived to be less objective than conventional research on the grounds that the latter is value-neutral and the former is not. This essay shows that a major problem with the familiar standards for maximizing objectivity that permit such a conclusion is that they are too weak. They have no resources for detecting widespread cultural assumptions, values and interests, such as the androcentric ones to which feminist work draws attention. Good method works by identifying cultural values that differ between researchers or research communities. However, since androcentric values are often culture-wide, something more rigorous than only conventional good methods evidently are needed for researchers to be able to identify them.Thus feminist research does not introduce political assumptions, values and interests into research fields that are otherwise value-neutral; it identifies the ones that are already there. Rejecting the debilitating relativist stance usually seen as the only alternative to conventional standards for maximizing objectivity, feminist thought increases the objectivity of research. This essay reviews recent arguments in both conventional and feminist philosophy and history that support this analysis, and shows how it leads to the construction of stronger standards of objectivity than the conventional only “weak objectivity” that is dependent upon the neutrality ideal. Paradoxical though it may appear, “strong objectivity” requires the kind of conscientious socially situated production of knowledge characteristic of feminist work in economics.     

企业理论之新解释:一个基于知识管理的模型

企业理论研究往往关注三个基本问题:\"企业为什么存在、企业和市场的边界是什么\";\"为什么企业会有所不同,是什么原因导致了这种不同\";以及这些理论如何被应用于企业以获得持久的竞争优势.本文力图在这三个方面作出理论探索:一是从知识管理的角度回答企业理论的几个基本问题;二是建立一个基于知识传输的模型,并基于这个模型提出了四个可以检验的命题;三是讨论该模型对战略管理实践的启示.     

An Illustration of the Bias of OLS for Yt = λY t-1 + U t

Using longitudinal data on undergraduates from 463 American colleges and universities from 1994–99, the authors examine how majoring in economics affects student opinions on 13 social, political, and economic issues. Economics majors were found to begin and end their college tenure with differing opinions on several issues when compared to other majors, and studying economics was found to be related to changes in several opinions. On the whole, studying economics appeared to increase beliefs in favor of personal freedom and decrease support for government intervention in markets. However, the authors find little evidence that economics majors leave college more united on their opinions when compared to the general student population.     

Sur le problème des moments et le théorème de Parseval correspondant

Abstract

On connaît le rôle que joue le théorème de Parseval. dans la théorie des séries de Fourier et, plus généralement, dans celle des développements suivant des fonctions orthogonales. On sait aussi qu'on peut généraliser la notion d'orthogonalité ainsi que le théorème de Parseval de différentes manierès, p. ex. en se servant de l'intégrale de Stieltjes correspondant à, une distribution de masses positives.     

Growth to value: Option exercise and the cross section of equity returns

We propose a general equilibrium model to study the link between the cross section of expected returns and book-to-market characteristics. We model two primitive assets: value assets and growth assets that are options on assets in place. The cost of option exercise, which is endogenously determined in equilibrium, is highly procyclical and acts as a hedge against risks in assets in place. Consequently, growth options are less risky than value assets, and the model features a value premium. Our model incorporates long-run risks in aggregate consumption and replicates the empirical failure of the conditional capital asset pricing model (CAPM) prediction. The model also quantitatively accounts for the pattern in mean returns on book-to-market sorted portfolios, the magnitude of the CAPM-alphas, and other stylized features of the cross-sectional data.