THEORY AND EVIDENCE IN PSYCHOLOGY AND ECONOMICS ABOUT MOTIVATION CROWDING OUT: A POSSIBLE CONVERGENCE?

The empirical relevance of motivation crowding out is a controversial issue in economics and psychology. As already pointed out by Frey and Jegen ( 2001 ), this is partly due to the historical development of two distinct and parallel strands of literature that stem from different theoretical traditions, have radically different tenets and therefore, are difficult to reconcile. In this survey, we go back to the details of the debates that took place independently among psychologists and economists, and sketch an integrative interdisciplinary approach likely to favor a more fruitful collaboration between economics and psychology. From this perspective, experimental economics (both field and laboratory) is viewed as a major research field shedding new light on the conditions of relevance of motivation crowding out.     

Separate waste collection in mountain municipalities. A case study in Campania

This paper aims to analyse the impact of land characteristics (i.e. altimetry and housing dispersion) on separate waste collection, with a focus on mountain municipalities. The high spatial heterogeneity of the driving factors of separate waste collection allows traditional techniques, such as OLS, to offer only a partial depiction of the situation, missing important information. In this view, we perform the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR), which allows to control for the local determinants of waste management. Our data cover 550 municipalities of Campania, in Southern Italy. We control for a set of morphological and socio-economic variables, drawn from official records for 2012. Our results show that the relationships between land characteristics and separate waste collection are not constant over space. Moreover, they suggest that in the presence of non-modifiable factors (such as land characteristics) local governments should act on citizen motivations, promoting awareness on environmental issues, and should implement time-saving collection methods.     

Institutional Economics as Theory of Policy Change: Impact of Past Policy Failures on Present Policy

Social scientists have developed several theories for understanding or evaluating policy change over time. Since all costs or benefits are not internalized owing to positive transaction costs, policymaking is always implemented under cost underestimation conditions and, therefore, is imperfect. I call this trait policy failure in this article. Furthermore, I show that a new framework combining the social costs approach and the legal/economic approach in institutional economics is suitable and can be applied to evaluating how past policy failures affect present policy, providing as an example the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.     

我国财经类会计专业实践调查

本文针对会计专业毕业生就业现状进行了调研和理论深化,将新思想推向社会和市场,新理论付诸实践,在和谐的基础上求创新求发展。     

Wilhelm Röpke and Richard C. Koo On Secondary Deflations and Balance Sheet Recessions

The concept of a ‘secondary deflation’ was developed in the 1930s by the German economist Wilhelm Röpke, who saw it as something different from a normal depression. While a primary deflation is a necessary reaction to the inflation from a boom period, a secondary deflation is independent and economically purposeless. Röpke argued that secondary depressions occurred in the US, Germany, France and Switzerland during the 1930s, but was vague on what made them follow primary depressions. Recently, the Taiwanese–American economist Richard C. Koo has claimed to have discovered the ‘Holy Grail of macroeconomics’, that is, what made the Great Depression so deep and long. During the Great Depression, the bursting of the asset price bubble resulted in private sectors having more debt than assets; as they shifted from maximising profits to minimising debt, the consequent debt deflation shrank the economy. According to Koo, Western economies today are suffering from a similar ‘balance sheet recession’. Strengthened by the notion of a balance sheet recession, Röpke's long‐lost insights might advance our understanding of the business cycle in general and the present crisis in the US and the Eurozone in particular.     

陈云在财经领域中的思想政治教育思想述论

陈云是我国社会主义经济建设的开创者和奠基人之一。陈云在经济领域中的杰出贡献,也与他高度重视思想政治工作是分不开的。陈云在财经领域中的思想政治教育思想主要表现在:经济建设中的勤俭节约,艰苦奋斗;克服经济工作中的事务主义倾向;整顿财经工作作风,严肃财经纪律;尊重经济客观规律,按照规律办事。在全面深化改革、扩大开放、一心一意谋发展、聚精会神搞建设的当下,重温陈云在财经领域中的思想政治教育思想具有重大意义。     

Constructive and computable Hahn–Banach theorems for the (second) fundamental theorem of welfare economics

The Hahn–Banach Theorem plays a crucial role in the second fundamental theorem of welfare economics. To date, all mathematical economics and advanced general equilibrium textbooks concentrate on using non-constructive or incomputable versions of this celebrated theorem. In this paper we argue for the introduction of constructive or computable Hahn–Banach theorems in mathematical economics and advanced general equilibrium theory. The suggested modification would make applied and policy-oriented economics intrinsically computational.     

Nondiscretionary residential water use: the impact of habits and water‐efficient technologies

Several studies published in the last few decades have demonstrated a low price‐elasticity for residential water use. In particular, it has been shown that there is a quantity of water demanded that remains constant regardless of prices and other economic factors. In this research, we characterise residential water demand based on a Stone‐Geary utility function. This specification is not only theory‐compatible but can also explicitly model a minimum level of consumption not dependent on prices or income. This is described as minimum threshold or nondiscretionary water use. Additionally, the Stone‐Geary framework is used to model the subsistence level of water consumption that is dependent on the temporal evolution of consumer habits and stock of physical capital. The main aim of this study is to analyse the impact of water‐saving habits and water‐efficient technologies on residential water demand, while additionally focusing attention on nondiscretionary uses. This is informed by an empirical application using data from a survey conducted among residents of Brisbane City Council, Australia. The results will be especially useful in the design of water tariffs and other water‐saving policies.     

Private Property or Several Control: A Rejoinder

Following Mises’s foundational paper, ‘Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth’, first published in 1920, writers in the Austrian tradition have argued that socialism is impossible, because under socialism there would be no private property in the means of production, and without that private property economic calculation could not take place. In the article ‘Economic Calculation: Private Property or Several Control?’, published in this journal in 2015, I argued that this was mistaken. Not private property, but several control, was required for economic calculation, and since several control is consistent with public ownership, this argument for the impossibility of socialism fails. Another article, ‘Private Property and Economic Calculation: A Reply to Andy Denis’, by Bylund and Manish, published in this issue of the Review of Political Economy, defends the traditional interpretation of Austrian reasoning, contending that my argument fails. My rejoinder re-states the issues, addressing, and, ultimately rejecting, the Bylund and Manish critique.