重商主义经济学：争论与反思

重商主义是经济思想史上最为悠久和影响最大的一种思潮,但理论界对其看法其实存在严重分歧,斯密、施莫勒和熊彼特分别代表了三种截然不同的评价。一百多年来围绕重商主义展开的争论集中在“什么是重商主义”、“重商主义成功了吗”以及“斯密是重商主义的对立面吗”等三个主题。重商主义本身的二重性、定义的混乱、方法论的差异和立场的对立等,都是导致出现争论的原因。后续研究应在细化范围、明确概念、加强原始文本阅读和历史重建方法应用等方面有所深化。     

The Treatment of Smith's Invisible Hand

Adam Smith used the metaphor of an invisible hand to represent the instincts of human nature that direct behavior. Moderated by self-control and guided by proper institutional incentives, actions grounded in instincts can be shown to generate a beneficial social order even if not intended. Smith's concept, however, has been diluted and distorted over time through extension and misuse. Common misperceptions are that Smith unconditionally endorsed laissez-faire markets, selfish individualism, and Pareto efficiency. The author draws upon recent literature to clarify Smith's meaning and to discuss ways of improving its classroom presentation. The author argues that the invisible hand operates within a variety of institutional settings and that a number of arrangements are compatible with economic progress.     

The consumption-real exchange rate anomaly with extensive margins

This paper investigates a consumption-real exchange rate anomaly from the open macroeconomics literature known as the Backus-Smith puzzle. We both analytically and quantitatively examine how an expansion of trade along extensive margins can contribute to the puzzle's resolution. Our argument is based on 1) a wealth effect due to changes in the number of product varieties, 2) statistical inefficiency in measuring the number of product varieties, and 3) market incompleteness. Contrary to complete asset markets which, in general, feature overly strong risk sharing properties, changes in the number of product varieties under incomplete markets may produce a wealth effect under high trade elasticity. Since statistical agencies systematically fail to capture the welfare impact arising from that changes, data-consistent terms of trade and real exchange rates tend to appreciate due to this positive wealth effect. This provides a realistic correlation between data-consistent real exchange rates and consumption.     

旅游人类学近1/4世纪研究的新成果 --《主客关系新探:21世纪旅游问题》述评

主客关系问题始终是旅游人类学的主题之一,维莱恩·史密斯和玛丽安·布伦特合编的<主客关系新探21世纪旅游问题>一书,汇集了21世纪开始时旅游人类学研究者的丰硕成果,和第一、二版相比,立场观点、案例选取、编辑特色等方面有了很大变化,值得推荐给旅游专业的学生、教师和研究人员.     

当前我国饭店业的经营困境及其所采取对策和绩效研究

我国饭店业自上世纪90年代之后出现效益滑坡、增长乏力、行业亏损的困境。为走出困境,实业界进行了积极的探索和实践,多元化经营是其中的一种。但多元化并未能带来理想的业绩。本文提出一种新的经营思路——归核化经营,力主放弃饭店“大而全”、“小而全”的传统经营模式。     

Keeping Up With the Joneses: Analyzing the Effect of Income Inequality on Consumer Borrowing

Household debt relative to disposable income increased from 60% in 1980 to 104% at the end of 2003. ‘Buying on credit’ has become so popular that an increasing number of firms generate more profit from financing than from selling their products. In this paper, we show that rising income inequality has substantially contributed to increased consumer borrowing. Income inequality affects all components of total household debt, but the impact is strongest on non-revolving debt (installment loans), which is used to finance the purchase of consumer durables. We argue and provide evidence that the income inequality effect on consumer borrowing is a result of conspicuous consumption. Rising income inequality has forced households with smaller income gains to use debt to keep up their consumption level relative to households with larger income gains.JEL Classification: D12, G29, J31, M30     

Heterogeneous beliefs with herding behaviors and asset pricing in two goods world

We construct a incomplete information equilibrium model with heterogeneous beliefs and herding behaviors to identify their joint effects on the dynamics of asset prices. Herding behaviors make investors revise some of their estimations about expected growth rates of goods streams toward to the other one’s by a manner of weighted average of their own forecast and the other’s. As we expected, herding behaviors generate influences on the Radon Nikodym derivative, that is so-called “sentiment” as in Dumas et al. (2009), and in turn not only impact the dynamics of asset prices but also generate influences on investors’ survivals. We also show that introducing heterogeneous beliefs with herding behaviors permits to explain both the Backus–Smith puzzle and the mixed results about the influences of herding behaviors on asset prices. Moreover, we uncover that herding behaviors have positive influences on stocks’ risk premiums.     

Adam Smith on lotteries: an interpretation and formal restatement

The paper concerns a neglected aspect of the Wealth of Nations (with the notable exception of D. Levy 1999 Levy, D. M. 1999. “Adam Smith’s Katallactic Model of Gambling: Approbation from the Spectator.” Journal of the History of Economic Thought 21 (1): 81–91. doi:10.1017/S1053837200002868.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), dealing directly with decision under risk. In a few pages from book I, chapter 10, Adam Smith explicitly named “lotteries” various objects of choice (possible occupations, or investment opportunities, for instance) and provided an analysis which standard expected utility glasses would hardly fit. Taking this into account allows a better understanding of the part played by typical characters like the “projector” or the “sober man”, in such matters as Smith’s conception of entrepreneurship or of the credit market. The use of some modern concepts in decision analysis (inverse stochastic dominance, rank dependent utility, prudence toward risk), is a means to show the existence, in Smith’s work, of an original theory from decision under risk, where his analysis of lotteries in the Wealth of Nations is consistent with statements from his moral philosophy on asymmetric sensitivity to gains and losses and to the regulating part played by the impartial spectator.     

废墟中的景观:新制度主义批判

在资产阶级经济学的各个分支中,新制度经济学可算是"此物最相思",但实际情况并非如此。所谓的古典主义—新古典主义—新制度主义,乃是资产阶级本体论意义上的虚假理论发展之路;其"虚假"就在于本体论工作预设,在于逻辑推理所依据的本体的虚假性,这样才有社会物理学→数学物理学→现象学的社会物理学的体系更迭性和知识不断翻新,而其中的话语是高度一致的物象学科(工作)语言。这种资产阶级理论为社会主观批判实践提供了"漫画",创立工作范型,巧设了批判模本,而要求研究对象规定的真正意义的去魅。     

Material incentives and Kantian optimisation: John E. Roemer on ‘left-right’ economics

Abstract

John Roemer has argued in favour of rehabilitating Kanitanism as an antidote to the kind of utilitarian incentivisation theories associated with neoliberal economics. This article asks whether the ethical thought of Kant is in fact fit for purpose. Placing Kant in dialogue with other contemporary enlightenment thinkers, it also questions whether ‘solidarist’ social theories solve the problems Roemer associates with their ‘selfish’ competitors, and indeed whether the two approaches can be so neatly distinguished.