Economics and underdetermination: a case study of urban land and housing economics

Underdetermination, associated with the Duhem–Quine thesis,is a familiar if under-researched theme in economics. In thelight of this, we examine the development of urban land andhousing economics. Through its Cartesian dualistic delineationof theory and data, the contemporary mainstream approach appearsunable to circumvent the problem of underdetermination. In effect,it employs the strong version of Duhem–Quine in its retentionof the assumption of a single, unitary competitive market (andassociated access–space trade-off). Conversely, we highlightthe affinity of Ely's (and the later Columbia School's) approachto pragmatists Dewey and Peirce, which provides a more fruitfulbasis for explanation.     

A Socio-instutionalist Critique of the 1990s' Reforms of the United Kingdom's National Health Service

This paper argues that the on-going reforms to the UK's National Health Service initiated in the 1990s represent potentially profound institutional change to the values underpinning the process of care. The market-orientation of the reforms is highlighted, and it is asserted that the theoretical rationale for this is informed by the nascent neoclassical health economics and new institutionalist literatures, which exhibit utilitarian propensities in that both stress outcomes and at best relegate process. Drawing from the seminal contribution of Thorstein Veblen, the paper argues that market-oriented reform in the UK may induce a shift from a Hippocratic ethos to a more individualistic value system.     

Introduction: Reform in the Provision of Health Care

The term “sustainable consumption” is subject to many interpretations, from Agenda 21's hopeful assertion that governments should encourage less materialistic lifestyles based on new definitions of “wealth” and “prosperity”, to the view prevalent in international policy discourse that green and ethical consumerism will be sufficient to transform markets to produce continual and “clean” economic growth. These different perspectives are examined using a conceptual framework derived from Cultural Theory, to illustrate their fundamentally competing beliefs about the nature of the environment and society, and the meanings attached to consumption. Cultural Theory argues that societies should develop pluralistic policies to include all perspectives. Using this framework, the paper examines the UK strategy for sustainable consumption, and identifies a number of failings in current policy. These are that the UK strategy is strongly biased towards individualistic, market-based and neo-liberal policies, so it can only respond to a small part of the problem of unsustainable consumption. Policy recommendations include measures to strengthen the input from competing cultures, to realize the potential for more collective, egalitarian and significantly less materialistic consumption patterns.     

The market for corporate control in professional football: is there an agency problem?

This paper identifies the nature of agency problems in professional football in the UK. Conflicting elements within director-owners'objective functions combined with highly concentrated ownership rights are sources of agency problems, manifest by the poor financial performance of many clubs. Arguably, a club's supporters influence its output implying that supporters may be considered as an input.
Given this, theory suggests that efficiency may be enhanced if supporters possess more property rights in their respective clubs.     

Mainstream Health Economics and Dignity: The Commodity Narrative as a Debilitating Solecism?

Mainstream health economics conceives health care as a commodity, at least metaphorically, and also attempts to quantify health, both of which, this article contends, lead to the objectification of the individual. Consequently, the standard approach distorts the nature of health care and does not furnish a sufficient basis for the promotion of human dignity; indeed, there is much to suggest it is a source of debilitation.     

Editorial

This paper deals with the labor supply for alpine farming—a sector in which employees obtain at best seasonal employment and work extremely long hours for very little pay, but nevertheless often return year after year. Based on data obtained from 120 interviews carried out in 2011, we implemented a logistic regression model to discover which factors influence an employee's decision to return to an alpine summer pasture. Results are presented quantitatively, and their interpretation is also supported by a qualitative approach. Our findings indicate that occupational choice in this region is mainly driven by motivational values and quality of infrastructure, with pecuniary benefits playing a marginal role.     

Distribution, Equity and Domestic Water Charging Regimes: The Case of Scotland

This paper argues that charging for a merit good, such as water, raises important distributional concerns. More direct charging is likely to demonstrate a pronounced impact on poorer sections of society. Arguably, this carries potentially adverse allocative efficiency effects. Following Hochman and Rodgers' (1969) thesis that wealthier individuals may benefit from the redistribution of income to the poor; the regressive pricing of merit goods will engender external costs. We argue that this is likely in the context of domestic water provision in Scotland. On this basis we evaluate the comparative regressiveness of five alternative charging arrangements. Somewhat counter-intuitively, our simulation results reveal that a flat rate licence fee may be marginally the least regressive of the five arrangements.     

Neuroeconomics: Infeasible and Underdetermined

Advocates of neuroeconomics claim to offer the prospect of creating a “unified behavioral theory” by drawing upon the techniques of neuroscience and psychology and combining them with economic theory. Ostensibly, through the “direct measurement” of our thoughts, economics and social science will be “revolutionized.” Such claims have been subject to critique from mainstream and non-mainstream economists alike. Many of these criticisms relate to measurability, relevance, and coherence. In this article, we seek to contribute to this critical examination by investigating the potential of underdetermination, such as the statement that testing involves the conjunction of auxiliary assumptions, and that consequently it may not be possible to isolate the effect of any given hypothesis. We argue that neuroeconomics is especially sensitive to issues of underdetermination. Institutional economists should be cautious of neuroeconomists’ zeal as they appear to over-interpret experimental findings and, therefore, neuroeconomics may provide a false prospectus seeking to reinforce the nostrums of homo economicus.