Economic Theory Commons^™

Kaldor's Late Contributions, Up Sira Nukulkit

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nicholas Kaldor was a famous post-Keynesian theorist who fought on Keynesian revolution in Cambridge with Keynes himself. However, during the last twenty years of his life, Kaldor became engaged with increasing returns theory originated from Adam Smith and Allyn Young. Kaldor propagated the theory even though it was not mature. There were many controversies and critiques to Kaldor's increasing returns theory. Kaldor began to write extensively about this worldview scattered throughout many of his academic papers and essays. This thesis tracks Kaldor's process of theoretical formulation during the last twenty years of his life. It presents Kaldor's view from the …

Moishe Postone And The Critique Of Traditional Marxism: Helplessness And The Present Moment Of The Great Acceleration, Alexander M. Stoner, Andony Melathopoulos

Book Sections/Chapters

This chapter situates Moishe Postone's critique of traditional Marxism in relation to the present moment of the Great Acceleration. We engage a close reading of Postone reinterpretation of Marx's mature theory of capital with specific focus on the linkage between economic growth and ecological degradation, and how this linkage is necessary connected to social domination in modern capitalist society. Postone's Marxian theory is significant because, as we demonstrate, it allows one to grasp societally induced environmental degradation following WWII in a critical and reflexive manner. The chapter concludes by discussing the growing sense of helplessness that defines the present moment …

Humankind In Civilization’S Extended Order: A Tragedy, The First Part, Bart J. Wilson

ESI Publications

This article is a short, scientific story of the labyrinthian human career, of humankind’s place in the natural order of the world, and of the evolution of moral rules and rule following that make the extended order of civilization possible. Drawing upon work in anthropology, biology, and linguistics, I weave a science-based narrative of how Homo sapiens came to be the only primate to convert enemy aliens into trading friends. It is a Goethean story of the human condition that postulates the common origins of and modern tension between Pleistocene and Anthropocene morality. It is also a Hayekian story of …

Further Towards A Theory Of The Emergence Of Property, Bart J. Wilson

ESI Publications

This article explores the emergence of property as a moral convention. To understand this process I make use of several laboratory experiments on property in its nascence. These experiments illustrate how a rule of property arises from our knowledge of what is morally right, and not vice versa. I also argue that while the ultimate end of property is our interest in using things, the proximate end of property is not losing them, i.e., the end of a rule of property is to secure from morally unfounded harm.

Conflicted Emotions Following Trust-Based Interaction, Eric Schniter, Roman M. Sheremeta, Timothy W. Shields

ESI Publications

We observed reports of conflicted (concurrent positive and negative) emotions activated after interactions in the Trust game. Our analyses reveal that activation of 20 emotional states following trust-based interaction is better explained by predictions derived from a multi-dimensional Recalibrational perspective than by predictions derived from two-dimensional Valence and Arousal perspectives. The Recalibrational perspective proposes that emotions are activated according to their functional features – for example, emotions help people achieve short or long-sighted goals by up or down-regulating behavioral propensities, whereas Valence and Arousal perspectives consider simpler hedonic dimensions lacking functional specificity. The Recalibrational perspective is also distinguished from the …

To Trust, Or Not To Trust: Cognitive Reflection In Trust Games, Brice Corgnet, Antonio M. Espín, Roberto Hernán-González, Praveen Kujal, Stephen Rassenti

ESI Publications

We present results from two studies that show a positive relation between cognitive reflection and trusting behavior, but no significant relation with trustworthy behavior. Our finding holds regardless of individual distributional social preferences and risk aversion. Our results add to a growing body of literature that illustrates the role of cognitive ability in helping explain outcomes in economic experiments.

Dynamic Optimization And Conformity In Health Behavior And Life Enjoyment Over The Life Cycle, Hernán D. Bejarano, Hillard Kaplan, Stephen Rassenti

ESI Publications

This article examines individual and social influences on investments in health and enjoyment from immediate consumption. Our lab experiment mimics the problem of health investment over a lifetime (Grossman, 1972a,b). Incentives to find the appropriate expenditures on life enjoyment and health are given by making in each period come period a function of previous health investments. In order to model social effects in the experiment, we randomly assigned individuals to chat/observation groups. Groups were permitted to freely chat between repeated lifetimes. Two treatments were employed: In the Independent-rewards treatment, an individual's rewards from investments in life enjoyment depend only on …

Conduct In Narrativized Trust Games, Jan Osborn, Bart J. Wilson, Bradley R. Sherwood

English Faculty Articles and Research

We “narrativize” a basic extensive form trust game by placing participants in a story that contextualizes the interaction with an unforeseeable future. In our narrative experiment, participants consider each decision as a character, advancing the story with their choices for salient payoffs. Our interest is in understanding how participants apply Adam Smith's rules of beneficent and just conduct in our narrativized games with epistemic conditions of an unknown future, conditions which aren't possible in extensive form. We invite our readers to participate in the story of the results, making meaning as participants in a narrative that unfolds with their choices.

Bogatá Lectures, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Bogota lectures folder notes by Anwar Shaikh, PhD (23-27_Bogo... p. 1)
• Correspondence regarding final arrangements before travel to Colombia by Claudia Zeleika Casallas Vanoy (23-27_Bogo... p. 2)
• Universidad Javeriana meeting notes by Anwar Shaikh, PhD (23-27_Bogo... p. 4)
• Currie lecture agenda by Universidad Nacional de Colombia (23-27_Bogo... p. 5)
• International seminar program: El Capital 150 años by Proyecto El Capital 150 Aniversario (23-27_Bogo... p. 6).

Front Matter, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

A text comparisonshows Front_Matter is textually identical to the upload of the First Uncorrected Proofs of Capitalism, page for page, differing only in its underlying file rendering and a later modification date.

Taking Down The Totem: A Post-Keynesian Behavioral Critique Of Neoclassical Economics, Gideon Olshansky

Economics Honors Papers

This thesis critiques neoclassical economic theory. In each chapter, with the exception of the last two, I will examine a different neoclassical theory and reveal its lack of realism, and how said theory cannot apply to the real economy. With each critique, I show how neoclassical economic theories are built vindicate free market capitalism. Therefore, neoclassical theory cannot actually understand the real economy, and anticipate its movements. The lack of realism in their theories, and staunch commitment to free markets, suggests that neoclassical theories should not be at the forefront of economic policy decisions and education programs. In the last …

Are Subjects Making Financial Decisions In Lab Auctions Or Are They Just Gambling?, Cary Deck, Jungmin Lee, Javier Reyes

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Optimal bidding strategies in first-price and Dutch auctions are theoretically isomorphic but depend on bidder risk attitudes. However, laboratory experiments consistently find different behaviour between auction formats. This article explores whether the notion in psychology that financial and gambling risks are viewed differently can explain the discrepancy. Ultimately, the evidence does not support this hypothesis, but a bidder's propensity to gamble is associated with how much risk he takes in both auctions whereas his propensity to take financial risks is not. The results suggest that subjects may view themselves as gambling in laboratory auctions rather than making financial decisions.

Advancing The Understanding Of Behavior In Social-Ecological Systems: Results From Lab And Field Experiments, Marco A. Janssen, Therese Lindahl, James J. Murphy

ESI Publications

"Experiments have made important contributions to our understanding of human behavior, including behavior relevant for understanding social-ecological systems. When there is a conflict between individual and group interests in social-ecological systems, social dilemmas occur. From the many types of social-dilemma formulations that are used to study collective action, common-pool resource and public-good dilemmas are most relevant for social-ecological systems. Experimental studies of both common-pool resource and public-good dilemmas have shown that many predictions based on the conventional theory of collective action, which assumes rational, self-interested behavior, do not hold. More cooperation occurs than predicted (Ledyard 1995), “cheap talk” increases cooperation …

Performance Benefits Of Reward Choice: A Procedural Justice Perspective, Arran Caza, Matthew W. Mccarter, Gregory B. Northcraft

ESI Publications

Reward choice – employees' ability to exercise control over the formal rewards they receive from work – is an important part of many HRM strategies. Reward choice is expected to increase employee performance, but conflicting findings highlight the need to better understand how and when it will do so. Based on fairness heuristic theory, we predicted that procedural justice mediates reward choice's influence on performance, and that choice attractiveness moderates that influence. A field study and an experiment both had similar results, supporting our predictions. Reward choice can increase performance by as much as 40 per cent, but only when …

Sustaining Group Reputation, Erik O. Kimbrough, Jared Rubin

ESI Publications

When individuals trade with strangers, there is a temptation to renege on agreements. If repeated interaction or exogenous enforcement is unavailable, societies often solve this problem via institutions that rely on group, rather than individual, reputation. Groups can employ two mechanisms to uphold reputation that are unavailable to individuals: information sharing and in-group punishment. We design a laboratory experiment to distinguish the roles of these mechanisms when individual reputations are unobservable. Subjects are split into groups and play a trust game with random re-matching, where only the group identity of one’s partner is known. Treatments differ by whether information about …

Firing Threats And Tenure In Virtual Organizations: Incentives Effects And Impression Management, Brice Corgnet, Roberto Hernán González, Stephen Rassenti

ESI Publications

We study the effect of firing threats in a virtual workplace that reproduces features of existing organizations. We show that organizations in which bosses can fire up to one third of their workforce produce twice as much as organizations for which firing is not possible. Firing threats sharply decrease on-the-job leisure. Nevertheless, organizations endowed with firing threats underperformed those using individual incentives. In the presence of firing threats, employees engage in impression management activities to be seen as hard-working individuals in line with our model. Finally, production levels dropped substantially when the threat of being fired was removed, whereas on-the-job …

Disfluent Fonts Don’T Help People Solve Math Problems, Andrew Meyer, Shane Frederick, Terence C. Burnham, Juan D. Guevera Pinto, Ty W. Boyer, Linden J. Ball, Gordon Pennycook, Rakefet Ackerman, Valerie A. Thompson, Jonathon P. Schuldt

ESI Publications

Prior research suggests that reducing font clarity can cause people to consider printed information more carefully. The most famous demonstration showed that participants were more likely to solve counterintuitive math problems when they were printed in hard-to-read font. However, after pooling data from that experiment with 16 attempts to replicate it, we find no effect on solution rates. We examine potential moderating variables, including cognitive ability, presentation format, and experimental setting, but we find no evidence of a disfluent font benefit under any conditions. More generally, though disfluent fonts slightly increase response times, we find little evidence that they activate …

Cyber-Shilling In Automobile Auctions: Evidence From A Field Experiment, David Grether, David Porter, Matthew Shum

ESI Publications

We run a large field experiment with an online company specializing in selling used automobiles via ascending auctions. We manipulate experimentally the "price grid," or the possible amounts that bidders can bid above the current standing price. Using two diverse auction sites, one in New York and one in Texas, we find that buyer and seller behavior differs strikingly across the two sites. Specifically, in Texas we find peculiar patterns of bidding among a small but prominent group of buyers suggesting that they are "cyber-shills" working on behalf of sellers. These patterns do not appear in the New York auctions.

The Rise And Fall Of Macro (Draft), Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• The rise and fall of macroeconomics by Anwar Shaikh, PhD.

Stock Market Theories, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Stock market theories folder notes by Anwar Shaikh, PhD (23-34_Stoc... p. 1)
• Interest rate nominal & real manuscript notes by Anwar Shaikh, PhD (23-34_Stoc... p. 4)
• Interest rates & inflation manuscript notes by Anwar Shaikh, PhD (23-34_Stoc... pp. 6, 9)
• Capitalism: real competition, turbulent dynamics, and global crises book outline and draft chapters by Anwar Shaikh, PhD (23-34_Stoc... pp. 11-12, 14, 16, 19)
• The new palgrave: a dictionary of economics excerpt by John Eatwell, Murray Milgate, and Peter Newman (23-34_Stoc... p. 29)
• Warranted price-earnings ratio charts and notes by Anwar Shaikh, PhD (23-34_Stoc... p. 42)
• Faculty course …

Micro Foundations Lecture, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

as an archivist detailing a new entry, analyze the uploaded file and give an outline of the material with all dates standardized, all bullet-point item formatting, and sentence case for titles, and italics for all titles, 1.5 spacing between paragraphs, and expand the published items into full apa references with publisher details and journal information but without internet links, or any further description of the different items, standardize the handwritten notes, emails, and comments into full apa-style manuscript citations so they match the level of formality of the published papers, with all handwritten notes credited to anwar shaikh, phd unless …

Guardian / Doen Foundation Seminar, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Guardian Doen Foundation folder notes by Anwar Shaikh, PhD (23-29_Guar... p. 1)
• Seminar discussion notes on capitalism and new economic models by Anwar Shaikh, PhD (23-29_Guar... p. 2)
• Correspondence regarding the Guardian / Doen Foundation seminar confirmation by Bridgette Mohammed (23-29_Guar... p. 3)
• Presentation outline for mainstreaming new economic models by Anwar Shaikh, PhD (23-29_Guar... pp. 4-5)
• Correspondence regarding seminar schedule and final logistics by Bridgette Mohammed (23-29_Guar... pp. 8-9)
• Biographical profile of Anwar Shaikh by New School University (23-29_Guar... p. 10).

An Evaluation Of The Proposal To Implement A Chained Weighted Cpi, David Lock

Applied Economics Theses

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently developed a way to view price changes in the economy called the chained consumer price index (C-CPI-U). There is much debate over this calculation because, if implemented, it would greatly affect government spending on programs such as Social Security and Veteran benefits. A quick overview of how the C-CPI-U is calculated does not appear to be anything to disagree with. A conclusion which can be drawn, and will be discussed in this thesis, is that the major controversy lies in what will happen to those who benefit from possible reduction of benefits in …

Linnear Standard Prices, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Shaikh, A. (2014, January 17). Linear standard prices [Handwritten research notes with mathematical derivations on standard disaggregation, eigenvalues, and input-output matrices]. Unpublished manuscript. New School for Social Research.
• Shaikh, A. (2015, May 30). Price-value and Wicksell effect [Handwritten research notes with mathematical derivations on normalizations, sufficient conditions for small Wicksell effect, and limits]. Unpublished manuscript. New School for Social Research.
• Shaikh, A. (2014, January 10). Parallel between v/R → 1 and matrix size N → ∞ in effect on A [Handwritten research notes with mathematical derivations referencing Frazer, Duncan, and Collar's work on elementary matrices]. Unpublished manuscript. …

Econophysics Papers, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Shaikh, A. (2014, October 3). Inequality and social structure: Comments on Piketty [Lecture notes, heavily annotated manuscript with handwritten marginalia throughout]. Department of Economics, New School for Social Research. Prepared for presentation; notes "to appear in" Shaikh, A. (2016). Capitalism: Real competition, turbulent dynamics, and global crises. Oxford University Press. [Two versions present in folder: one clean typescript with yellow highlighting, one heavily annotated copy with handwritten notes credited to Anwar Shaikh, Ph.D., and audience notes in additional hands including names "Dennis Badeen," "Tom," and "Elyseum"; annotations include economic formulae, timing cues, and marginal commentary. Accompanied …

Algebraic Summary Of The Macro-Monetary Interpretation, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Moseley, F. Algebraic summary of the macro-monetary interpretation (Unpublished manuscript).
• Shaikh, A. Handwritten notes on value theory and price of production equations (Unpublished manuscript).
• Shaikh, A. Handwritten notes on regenerative capitalism, neoliberalism, and corporate paradigms (Unpublished manuscript).

The New Dynamics Of El Paso's Post Industrial Development: An Analysis Of The El Paso Chihuahua's Ballpark Controversy, Alan Matthew Serna

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis has sought to highlight a controversial event that occurred in El Paso, Texas when a wealthy group of local business interests, entered into a public/ private agreement with the City of El Paso to bring Triple-A baseball to the city. In doing so, the partnership drew large amounts opposition to their plan, when it was revealed that the city hall building would be demolished to make way for a new stadium, and that the issue would not be put to a vote. After analyzing all of the behaviors utilized by both opponents and proponents of the ballpark during …

The Impact Of Monetary Policy On The Stock Market, Simin Hojat

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prior studies examining the impact of monetary policy instruments on the equity market have produced mixed results. This problem is important to address because of the substantial impact of monetary policy on the economy and economic resource allocation via the equity market. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of change in money supply (M2), change in Federal Funds Rate (FFR), and change in Federal Funds Futures (FFF) on the expected rate of returns of publicly traded companies while controlling for the rate of return of the whole equity market and size of the sampled companies. The …

Loose Notes And Papers, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Shaikh, A. (2011, March 27). Notes on imperfect competition, the marginal principle, and entrepreneurship (Handwritten note).
• Graz Schumpeter Centre. (2011, March 27–29). Economic thinking in the classical tradition: symposium in honour of prof. heinz d. kurz on the occasion of his 65th birthday (Conference program). University of Graz (2, 3).
• Shaikh, A. (c. 2015). Notes on the measurement of essentials in economic production, engagement with mandel, and terms of trade in developing countries (Handwritten note) (6).
• Shaikh, A. (c. 2015). Notes on uneven development in the united states and the case and deaton study on deaths of …

Book Galleys With Corrections, Anwar Shaikh Phd

Archives of Anwar Shaikh

This collection includes:

• Capitalism: Competition, conflict, crises (Unpublished manuscript) by Anwar Shaikh.