Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Risky Theory Of Business Cycles, David C. Thomas

David Chandler Thomas, PhD

Book review of Tyler Cowen's 1997 book, Risk and Business Cycles.

Editorial: Emerging Issues In Developmental And Sectoral Performance - The Indian Experience, Sushanta Mallick, Srijit Mishra

Srijit Mishra

The selected six papers focused on different aspects of development policy. The aim is to put together diverse development issues and their implications in different segments of an economy, which are critical issues for low- and middle-income countries in a globalised financial system that places high risk for greater capital mobility into these countries. This special issue focuses on different structural aspects that can give rise to varying degrees of country-specific risks. While the first two papers investigate challenges facing development or improvement in standard of living, the next two papers focus on labour market reform and trade liberalisation in …

Post-Conflict Planning And Reconstruction: Lessons From The American Experience In Korea, Marcus Noland

Marcus Noland

The American experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq have motivated a re-examination of earlier experiences with post-conflict planning and reconstruction. This paper reviews the US experience in Korea following the Second World War and the Korean War; addresses the political economy of establishing institutions of governance in post-conflict situations; considers the issue of “portability”: the extent to which the South Korean experience may reflect unique and irreproducible conditions; and then applies these ideas by comparing the South Korean experience to the contemporary case of Afghanistan. Some conclusions and policy recommendations are contained in the final section.

Economic Crime And Punishment In North Korea, Marcus Noland

Marcus Noland

The penal system has played a central role in the North Korean government’s response to the country’s profound economic and social changes. As the informal market economy has expanded, so have the scope of economic crimes. Two refugee surveys—one conducted in China, one in South Korea—document that the regime disproportionately targets politically suspect groups, particularly those involved in market-oriented economic activities. Levels of violence and deprivation do not appear to differ substantially between the infamous political prison camps, penitentiaries for felons, and labor camps used to incarcerate individuals for a growing number of economic crimes. Such a system may also …

Antinomies Of Capitalism (Review Of Globalization Its Discontents Joseph Stiglitz, Fernando Estrada

Fernando Estrada

We present the central arguments of the critics on the limits and scope of globalization on the work

Ordered Conflict Resolution, David R. Jenkins

David Randall Jenkins

Ancient philosophers resolved Arrovian impossibility through a marriage of ethics and economics. Ordered conflict resolution is the competent social choice theory threshold necessary condition.

Why Do Judges Read Statutes?, Alexander Volokh

Alexander Volokh

The standard view that "statutory interpretation matters" -- that different methods can "lead to" different results -- is hard to square with the standard rational-choice account of judicial decisionmaking. Indeed, under the standard model, it is not obvious why a judge should bother to even read the statute.

I show, within the rational-choice account, how the judge can benefit from reading the statute when the preferences of legislators are uncertain. Doing so shows the judge what policy the legislators agreed to in the past, which gives him clues as to legislators' preferences today. Moreover, different assumptions about how the legislature …

God Is A Woman, David Randall Jenkins

David Randall Jenkins

The work-in-process paper demonstrates God is a woman

Why Same-Sex Marriage Will Not Repeat The Errors Of No-Fault Divorce, Austin R. Caster

Austin R Caster

Because so many negative ramifications resulted from changing marriage laws through no-fault divorce legislation, it is understandable that those who rightfully feared no-fault divorce would also fear any additional changes to the definition of marriage. Those fears are unfounded as applied to same-sex marriage legislation, however, because the same consequences resulting from no-fault divorce do not apply to same-sex marriage. Whereas changing marriage exit rights through laws such as no-fault divorce legislation resulted in an increased divorced rate throughout the world, the opposite has happened in countries that have allowed same-sex marriage laws by changing marriage entrance rights. Society has …

High Tech Indicators: Assessing The Competitiveness Of Selected European Countries, David M. Johnson, Alan L. Porter, David Roessner, Nils C. Newman, Xiao-Yin Jin

alan l porter

Western European nations, along with the United States and Japan, have been recognized as the world’s most competitive economies. Eastern European nations have generally been considered to lag. This paper explores whether these descriptions remain accurate and the prospects for change over the coming decade. The Georgia Tech “High Tech Indicators” (HTI) contribute to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Science & Engineering Indicators. We cover 33 highly developed and rapidly industrializing countries. Our model of technological competitiveness contains four components – National Orientation, Socioeconomic Infrastructure, Technological Infrastructure, and Productive Capacity – contributing to “Technological Standing.” We present indicator values, …

Financial Theory Has A Paradigm A La Kuhn?, Fernando Estrada

Fernando Estrada

This article aims to discuss two issues relatively linked. The first is an evaluation of the concept of paradigm of T. Kuhn in his representative work: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions ERC, [Ku96] and the complementary version by W. Stegmüller, Structure and dynamics of theories EDT, [Steg83]. This refined interpretation of the concept of paradigm allows for a more complete set of central Kuhnian concept. The second objective is to analyze the scope of the Kuhnian concept of models to evaluate financial explanation. Is explored preliminarily proposed fractal models / multifractal (F / M) of Mandelbrot [Mand97, 82, 02, 05]. …