Wealth and the capitalist spirit

The wealth distribution in the U.S. is more unequal than either the income or earnings distribution, a fact current models of saving behavior have difficulty explaining. Using Max Weber’s [Weber, M. (1905). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Charles Scribners’ and Sons (1958 translated edition)] idea that individuals may have a ‘capitalist spirit’, I construct and simulate a model where individuals accumulate wealth for its own sake rather than as deferred consumption. Including capitalist spirit preferences in a simple life cycle model, with no other modifications, generates a skewness of wealth consistent with that observed in the U.S. economy. Furthermore, capitalist spirit preferences provide a way to generate decreasing risk aversion with increases in wealth without resorting to idiosyncratic rates of time preference.     

Capitalism's growth imperative

A capitalist firm operating in a competitive market is subjectto a growth imperative, because uncertainty about the profitrate under a no-growth policy makes the firm's prospects highlyunattractive in finite time and bankruptcy practically certainin the long run. A no-growth policy determines consumption andinvestment so that they and capital would remain constant overtime if the latter's expected return were realised with certainty.Simulation is used to arrive at the probability of bankruptcyby the end of t periods and the expected values of capital andmoney, for relevant combinations of time and uncertainty undersuccessively more realistic models of a no-growth firm in acompetitive market. The sensitivity of the results to variationin the parameters in each of the models is evaluated. Finally,we establish that a plausible growth policy may achieve growth,but the problem of bankruptcy is not resolved.     

中国选择社会主义的时代条件

在 2 0世纪前半叶战争与革命的时代条件下 ,中国先后选择了社会主义的救国思想武器和发展道路 ,这两次重大选择分别发生在第一次世界大战和第二次世界大战之后。本文考察了两次世界大战对中国选择社会主义的重要影响。     

Association for Social Economics ASE newsletter

Bill Waters’ dissertation “Entrepreneurship, Dualism, and Causality: An Appreciation of the Work of Joseph A. Schumpeter” completed at Georgetown University in 1952 is significant for two reasons. The first is clear enough from the very beginning: Schumpeter and the entrepreneur. The other comes to light through hindsight: Bill brings to bear an understanding of economic affairs which is personalist rather than individualist or collectivist in nature. In short, Bill sees as the main activating force in economic affairs not the impersonal forces of the market, not the central planning board, but the person who innovates, who acts bolding in economic affairs, the banker who creates credit, and the capitalist who supplies old funds. Thus the Waters’ dissertation says much not only about Schumpeter but also about Bill himself. His dissertation is his only book-length publication.     

关于私营经济若干问题的理论思考

私营经济是资本主义性质的经济。这就决定了它在社会主义初级阶段的作用具有两重性。私营经济不是先进生产关系，它只有在公有制经济为主体的前提下才能发挥积极作用。私营经济与公有制经济是两种不同性质的经济成分，二者之间的关系也具有两重性。应全面贯彻十六大精神，毫不动摇地巩固和发展公有制经济。毫不动摇地鼓励、支持和引导私营经济的发展。     

加入WTO后对我国就业的影响

分析了加入WTO后，对我国就业的积极促进作用，以及近期对一些企业的冲击，带来的就业困难。     

Regional unemployment disparities in China

China has larger regional unemployment disparities than any other economy of comparable size. The persistence of the unemployment disparity in China has prevented the aggregate unemployment rate from decreasing even when the country’s GDP was growing at 10 percent per year. Unemployment rates rose and unemployment disparities widened in other transition economies too, but what made China’s disparities wider than those in other transition economies is the existence of a large subsistence sector, where unemployment exists only in a disguised form. This study explains the wide unemployment disparity in China with the geographically uneven distribution of the three sectors: the state sector, which suffers from a steep rise of unemployment during transition; the capitalist sector, which absorbs labor from the subsistence sector and grows rapidly; and the subsistence sector, which supplies its redundant labor to the capitalist sector. The study also presents a case study of Fuxin City, which has experienced an extremely high unemployment rate due to the reform of its main industry. Fuxin’s case is presented as a microcosm of the problems that give rise to unemployment disparities, such as massive layoffs in the state sector, lack of labor mobility in the unemployment-stricken regions, and inadequate development of the capitalist sector.     

国际金融危机与马克思主义

马克思主义不但直面资本主义市场经济中的问题,而且创建了研究国际金融危机问题的独特视角,提供了在追求人的解放和富裕的过程中,化解危机和促进发展的科学思路。中国化"危"为"机"的根本途径就在于不断创新发展中国特色社会主义理论体系,坚定不移地抓好发展。此次国际金融危机爆发以后,西方的左翼经济学家特别是各国共产党,发出了很多马克思主义的声音,使马克思主义在世界上的影响出现了日益走出低潮的趋向。     

A hard slog, not a leap frog: Globalization and sustainability transitions in developing Asia

How does globalization influence transitions toward more sustainable socio-technical regimes in the developing world? This paper argues that transformations of regimes, the networks and institutions governing technological and environmental practices in an industry, can be positively influenced by globalization but it depends on how global forces interact with local socio-political landscapes—the political-economic institutions, values, and regulations broadly guiding an economy and its relationship to the environment. We evaluate these relationships through a comparison of two kinds of socio-political landscapes—the neo-liberal export-led development model commonly found in the developing world and the uniquely Asian capitalist developmental state. We first show how the neo-liberal model overemphasizes the power of market forces to facilitate upgrading and more sustainable industrialization. We then argue that capitalist developmental states in East and Southeast Asia have been better able to harness global economic forces for technological and sustainability transitions through an openness to trade and investment and effective public-private institutions able to link cleaner technologies and environmental standards to production activities in firms. We buttress this argument with firm-level evidence showing the evolution of socio-technical regimes in two industries—cement and electronics. The case studies demonstrate how interactions with OECD firms can contribute to environmental technique effects provided the socio-political landscape is amenable to changes in an industry's regime. Ultimately, we find the process of transition to be complex and contingent; a hard slog not a leap frog toward a potentially more sustainable future. We close by considering the limitations on the capitalist developmental state model and with comments about what else needs to be learned about globalization's role in sustainability transitions.     

知识产权法演进及社会属性的经济学分析

知识产权法的产生、发展具有鲜明的历史性和社会性,本文在阐述知识产权法历史演进过程的基础上,对各社会形态下知识产权法的社会属性进行了辨析,并着重讨论了资本主义知识产权法的立法依据、社会属性及发展特征,最后,对社会主义知识产权法的本质属性及发展对策提出若干看法。