Political Economy Commons^™

Anger, Irony, And The Formal Rationality Of Professionalism, Ajay K. Mehrotra

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Foreword: On Publishing Anonymously, Anthony C. Infanti

Articles

In this foreword to the fall 2010 issue of the Pittsburgh Tax Review, I explain the troubling set of circumstances that led to our decision to publish one of the articles anonymously. All of the articles in this issue share a focus on suggestions for state and local tax reform in Pennsylvania. The circumstances surrounding the decision to publish this one article anonymously raise a host of questions regarding the extent to which tax professionals are free to make suggestions for tax reform without being subject to employer censorship.

Ornamental Repugnancy: Identitarian Islam And The Iraqi Constitution, Haider Ala Hamoudi

Articles

Nearly six years after the enactment of Iraq’s final constitution, the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq has yet to render a single ruling respecting the conformity of any law to the “settled rulings of Islam” despite being empowered to do precisely that under Article 2 of the Iraqi Constitution. This so-called repugnancy clause is swiftly devolving from a matter that was of some importance during constitutional negotiations into one that is more symbolic than real – an assertion of identity, primarily of the Islamic variety (though when combined with Article 92, to some extent of the Shi’i Islamic variety) – …

Political Economy, Sandra J. Peart, David M. Levy

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Political economy describes how human societies are organized by exchange. The critical issue for political economists is the interaction between self-directed decision making and the incentives that turn decisions into approved outcomes. In this interaction, political economists see a key role for leadership, a role that depends upon our common concern for others (Robbins, 1981). There are three roles, then, for leadership in the political economist’s model: self-directed decision making, incentive making, and establishing the criteria for approved outcomes.

Constructing Commons In The Cultural Environment, Michael J. Madison, Brett M. Frischmann, Katherine J. Strandburg

Articles

This Essay considers the problem of understanding intellectual sharing/pooling arrangements and the construction of cultural commons arrangements. We argue that an adaptation of the approach pioneered by Elinor Ostrom and collaborators to commons arrangements in the natural environment may provide a template for the examination of constructed commons in the cultural environment. The approach promises to lead to a better understanding of how participants in commons and pooling arrangements structure their interactions in relation to the environment(s) within which they are embedded and with which they share interdependent relationships. Such an improved understanding is critical for obtaining a more complete …

Beyond Creativity: Copyright As Knowledge Law, Michael J. Madison

Articles

The Supreme Court’s copyright jurisprudence of the last 100 years has embraced the creativity trope. Spurred in part by themes associated with the story of “romantic authorship” in the 19th and 20th centuries, copyright critiques likewise ask, “Who is creative?” “How should creativity be protected (or not) and encouraged (or not)?” and “ Why protect creativity?” Policy debates and scholarship in recent years have focused on the concept of creativity in framing copyright disputes, transactions, and institutions, reinforcing the notion that these are the central copyright questions. I suggest that this focus on the creativity trope is unhelpful. I argue …

The Beginning Of The End? Agricultural Modernization And Dissolution Of The Peasantry In Contemporary China, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Firms As Social Actors, Richard Adelstein

Richard Adelstein

A close look at what firms are and how they act.

Does Patronage Still Drive Politics For The Rural Poor In The Developing World? A Comparative Perspective From The Livestock Sector, Sophal Ear, David Leonard, Jennifer Brass, Michael Nelson, Dan Fahey, Tasha Fairfield, Martha Gning, Michael Halderman, Brendan Mcsherry, Devra Moehler, Wilson Prichard, Robin Turner, Tuong Vu, Jeroen Dijkman

Sophal Ear

China's Strategic Interests In Cambodia: Influence And Resources, Sophal Ear, Sigfrido Burgos

Sophal Ear

Through The Doughnut Hole: Reimagining The Social Security Contribution And Benefit Base Limit, Patricia E. Dilley

Patricia E Dilley

ABSTRACT The Obama campaign proposal to address Social Security's future financing shortfalls by increasing the Social Security tax base limit only for those making more than $250,000 per year raises the broader question of the function of the base limit from a Social Security program perspective. The public supports increasing the wage base above all other possible avenues for solving long term financing issues, but the problems with the Obama "doughnut hole" proposal are substantial from several perspectives. In this article, the author suggests that the function of the base limit be reconsidered, and the benefit accrual function of the …

Organizations And Economics, Richard Adelstein

Richard Adelstein

A contribution to a symposium on a paper by Richard Posner.

Technical Appendix To Supranational Agency: A Solution For Conflict In International Mergers?, Poonam Mehra

Poonam Singh Mehra

This note includes the general model and technical proofs of the paper titled “Supranational Agency: A Solution for Conflicts in International Mergers”. This paper develops a two Country three Firm model to compare the possibilities of conflict between competition authorities of different countries over the review of a merger under different welfare standards: national, consumer, and global. Use of transfer payment under the global welfare standard to ensure a conflict free efficient outcome is also explored.

Demutualization Of Stock Exchanges, Poonam Mehra

Poonam Singh Mehra

No abstract provided.

The Making Of A Radical Economist, Howard J. Sherman

HOWARD J SHERMAN

This article answers two questions. First, how do radical economists develop? Second, how do radical departments develop? In order to answer these two questions, I use my own experience in becoming a radical economist and my own experience in developing a radical department.

The Roller Coaster Economy: Financial Crisis, Great Recession, And The Public Option, Howard J. Sherman

HOWARD J SHERMAN

Measuring Poverty And Human Capital Development In Sudan, Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed

Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed

Catastrophes in Sudan are of many dimensions. Food security is a chronic and intrinsic problem in Sub Saharan Africa which is a fact recognized by the international society. Political instability, civil wars and finally recent secession of its Southern part is another fact which may be taken as a vivid example for other regions of that previously largest African country to be followed. The present paper introduces an analysis and assessment of measurements for human development indices in Sudan. It is empirically concluded that human welfare is invisible. The parameters are very low. Strategies are needed to provide for basic …

Is The European Union Ready For Fdi From Emerging Markets?, Judith Clifton, Daniel Díaz-Fuentes

Judith Clifton

This chapter asks whether the European Union Member States are ready for inward Foreign Direct Investment from the Emerging Markets. It concludes that European Union Member States have relatively open Foreign Direct Investment regimes in the international context, and yet instances of protectionism have been apparent in the recent period. However, protectionism has occurred both vis-a-vis Foreign Direct Investment from the Global South as well as from within the European Union, particularly in the so-called 'strategic' industries.

Black Tuesday And Graying The Legitimacy Line For Governmental Intervention: When Tomorrow Is Just A Future Yesterday, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Black Tuesday in October 1929 marked a major crisis in American history. As we face current economic woes, it is appropriate to recall not only the event but also reflect on how it altered the legal landscape and the change it precipitated in the acceptance of governmental intervention into the marketplace. Perceived or real crises can cause us to dance between free markets and regulatory power. Much like the events of 1929, current financial concerns have led to new, unprecedented governmental intervention into the private sector. This Article seeks caution, on the basis of history, arguing that fear and crisis …

Employee Voice And Intent To Leave: An Empirical Evidence Of Pakistani Banking Sector, Ahmed Imran Hunjra, Muhammad Asghar Ali, Muhammad Irfan Chani, Hashim Khan, Kashif Ur Rehman

Muhammad Irfan Chani