bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dialogue With a Dying Man
Authors: Ross Ian Simpson
Published: October 2003

Smith was devoted in his attentions to Hume as he lay dying, but, ever the man of prudence, gave his best friend some pain through unwillingness to see through the press the Dialogues concerning Natural Religion. In the event, Smith was violently abused by Christians for describing Hume in a published letter as approaching as near to the idea of a ‘perfectly wise and virtuous man’ as human weakness permits. Smith would have been in further trouble if his 1778 Machiavellian advice about a solution to the American problem had been published, for it advocated returning Canada to the French, and Florida to the Spaniards, to ensure that independent Americans would become allies of Britain.
Settlement in Edinburgh
Authors: Ross Ian Simpson
Published: October 2003

Smith moved from Kirkcaldy to Edinburgh late in 1778, after his appointment as a Commissioner for managing His Majesty's Customs in Scotland. We may think it a paradox that this prominent advocate of free trade should end up enforcing the mercantile system, but there was a family tradition of Customs service, and while WN does attack restraints on some branches of trade and encouragement for others, especially in the form of monopolies, Smith was not an across the board economic libertarian. He urged that there were reasons of state, as well as economic considerations, for implementing an efficient collection of moderate duties on imports and exports. In Edinburgh, Smith regularly entertained the intelligentsia and their visitors at a Friday Club and Sunday suppers.
Literary Pursuits
Authors: Ross Ian Simpson
Published: October 2003

Smith expressed regret in 1780 that his Custom‐house duties held up ‘Several Works’ he had projected. One of these was on the subject of the ‘Imitative Arts,’ presumably his mimetic aesthetic philosophy. This was very likely connected with the two ‘Great Works’ he had ‘on the anvil’ on 1785. He described the first one as a ‘sort of Philosophical History of all the different branches of Literature, of Philosophy, Poetry, and Eloquence.’ The second he described as a ‘sort of theory and History of Law and Government,’ which presumably would have included the ‘system of jurisprudence’, Smith promised his readers at the conclusion of TMS in 1759. He reported in 1785 that the materials collected were in tolerably good order, but he doubted whether the onset of old age would allow him to finish either work. Parts of the first project were published after his death in Essays on Philosophical Subjects (EPS: 1795), the only book of his that was not a commercial success. His major efforts of the end of his life went into further editions of TMS and WN, which he had in hand by 1783, in part responding to his critics.
Legacy for Legislators
Authors: Ross Ian Simpson
Published: October 2003

Smith was not optimistic about his free‐trade policy advice being readily accepted, as prejudice and special interests stood in the way, but he must have been gratified that his views received favourable attention by some of Britain's leaders, and that translations of his great work were stirring the minds of French inquirers into political economy and supporters of the coming revolution. In Germany, the reception of his ideas was marked by translations, reviews, assimilation into university teaching, then popularizations, and afterwards the fertilization of original thoughts about economics with application to the problems of the German‐speaking lands, stages that were paralleled across the globe. In 1787, Smith received the honour that gave him the greatest pleasure of his life: election as Rector of Glasgow University.
The Precariousness of This Life
Authors: Ross Ian Simpson
Published: October 2003

From April to July, 1787 Smith was in London receiving medical attention and conferring with the government about fiscal and commercial reforms that allowed Britain to recover from the strains of the American war. On his return to Edinburgh in somewhat restored health, he set about preparing a greatly expanded sixth edition of TMS. This developed further the concept of the impartial spectator, and included an entirely new part VI, focused on moral theory applicable to such crucial issues as new‐modelling a political constitution, highly relevant in view of the revolutions in America and France. He also added a chapter arguing that while our disposition to admire the rich and powerful is necessary to maintain the ‘order of society,’ it is the most universal cause of the ‘corruption of our moral sentiments.’ His Stoic outlook thus affords him a standpoint for criticism of the mechanisms of the acquisitive society analysed in WN, but at the same time, he suggests that the contemporary literature of sensibility dealing with love and friendship does more for us than the arguments for ‘stoical apathy.’
Consumption and Permanent Income
Authors: Deaton Angus
Published: October 2003

Discusses the permanent income hypothesis and the mechanisms by which consumption smoothing responds to short‐run changes in income. It also reviews the role played by income and expectations in transmitting fluctuations through the economy. The chapter considers detailed econometric evidence on the excess sensitivity of consumption to present and lagged changes in income. Explanations involving non‐stationary income, the timing of consumption, durables, and habit formation are critically evaluated.
Palanpur
Authors: Drèze Jean , Sharma Naresh
Published: October 2003

This chapter describes the data and fieldwork underpinning the analysis. The village society, demographic composition, and social structures are described. Key village institutions are introduced. The village economy is analysed, and salient features of principal markets are identified.
Poverty in Palanpur
Authors: Lanjouw Peter , Stern Nicholas
Published: October 2003

This chapter studies poverty in Palanpur. The meaning of poverty based on a notion of low annual income is contrasted with that based on a notion of lifestyle and readily observed means. A profile of the poor is developed. The evolution of poverty levels and the profile of poverty over time is documented. Income mobility in the village as a whole, and amongst agricultural labourers in particular, is studied.
Inequality
Authors: Lanjouw Peter , Stern Nicholas
Published: October 2003

Examines how the distribution of income and land has altered under the influence of demographic, technological, and occupational change. Inequality levels and trends are described. Inequality is decomposed by social group as well as by income source. Changes in land use are related to changes in the distribution of land owned and cultivated.
Nutrition
Authors: Kynch Jocelyn
Published: October 2003

Studies the nutritional status of a sample of agricultural households in Palanpur, particularly children. Morbidity and attitudes to illness are discussed. Anthropometric data on children are analysed. Nutritional achievements of adults, based on the body mass index, are studied. Gender differences are highlighted.
Casual Labour
Authors: Mukherjee Anindita
Published: October 2003

Discusses the basic features of casual labour in Palanpur. Various aspects of labour contracts are highlighted. The isolation of the labour market is emphasized, and the absence of labour tying and inter‐linkage is noted. A variety of systems of payments are described and seasonal unemployment is studied. The findings from the Palanpur study are compared with those from other village studies in India.
Tenancy
Authors: Sharma Naresh , Drèze Jean
Published: October 2003

Presents an analytical description and interpretation of tenancy in Palanpur. The basic features of tenancy in Palanpur are highlighted. The incidence of tenancy and the prevailing types of tenancy contracts are described. The relationship between landlords and tenants is studied. The persistence and efficiency of sharecropping is analysed. The differential access to land of skilled farmers is investigated in an appendix.
Credit
Authors: Drèze Jean , Lanjouw Peter , Sharma Naresh
Published: October 2003

This chapter studies the credit market in Palanpur. Credit sources in the village are analysed and it is shown that the market in Palanpur is highly segmented. Both public and private sources of credit are studied, and it is shown that even within these broad categories, segmentation exists. Each segment of the credit market is studied in detail. The evolution and determination of interest rates are discussed. Access to credit by the poor is analysed and their dependence on moneylenders is documented. Findings are compared with those from other village studies in India.
An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

This book deals comprehensively with the problem of poverty and undernourishment, and addresses the debate over methods of estimating their incidence. It is an analytical and empirical inquiry into human well‐being and the phenomenon of destitution as it occurs among rural populations of the poor countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. A central concern has been to reconcile theoretical considerations with empirical work in several disciplines—anthropology, demography, ecology, economics, epidemiology, geography, moral and political philosophy, and the environmental, nutrition, and political sciences. The discussion aims to provide a political philosophy for human well‐being that can guide public policy in poor countries. Thus, the role of the state, communities, households, and individuals is studied in detail. The book is arranged in four parts: I, Well‐being: theory and realization; II, Allocation of resources among households: the standard theory; III, The household and its setting: extensions of the standard theory; and IV, Undernourishment and destitution. It is suitable for general readers interested in applied political and moral philosophy, for social scientists (especially academics in the fields of development and welfare economics, general economic theory, and anthropology), and for nutrition scientists, policy makers, commentators, and research staff.
The Commodity Basis of Well‐Being
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

This chapter introduces the book. It discusses welfare and happiness versus and freedom and rights as two ways of looking at personhood; facts and values in the phenomenon of destitution; destitution as a resource allocation problem; the effects of ill health; the roles of institutions and agencies; and theory in relation to policy.
Political Morality and the State
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

Public morality is discussed in relation to the state in six sections: (1) the government as an agency; (2) acts and their consequences (consequentialist and deontological theories); (3) utility (used as a term interchangeable with welfare) and rights: public judgements and aggregative evaluations of well‐being ; (4) commodity needs; (5) freedom and rights: positive and negative; and (6) impersonality and the public sphere.
Decentralization and Central Guidance
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

The main part of this chapter discusses decentralization and central guidance in relation to resource allocation. There are seven sections: (1) competitive mechanisms in the private realm; (2) the existence of competitive equilibrium; (3) competitive markets and efficiency; (4) the implementation of just allocations in the private realm; (5) pluralism and exchange restrictions (exchange control) in the public realm; (6) producer versus consumer taxation; and (7) national income in a pluralist society. An extra and separate section (designated Chapter *7) gives a theoretical presentation on real national income as a measure of general well‐being.
Real National Income as a Measure of General Well‐Being
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

The main part of this chapter discusses decentralization and central guidance in relation to resource allocation. There are seven sections: (1) competitive mechanisms in the private realm; (2) the existence of competitive equilibrium; (3) competitive markets and efficiency; (4) the implementation of just allocations in the private realm; (5) pluralism and exchange restrictions (exchange control) in the public realm; (6) producer versus consumer taxation; and (7) national income in a pluralist society. An extra and separate section (designated Chapter *7) gives a theoretical presentation on real national income as a measure of general well-being.
Uncertainty, Insurance, and Social Norms
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

This chapter introduces the factor of environmental uncertainty into the consideration of resource allocation mechanisms. It has seven sections: (1) environmental uncertainty; (2) choice under uncertainty and risk aversion; (3) avoiding disasters; (4) trading in risks: pooling and spreading; (5) correlated risks in agriculture; (6) reciprocity as a social norm in stationary environments; and (7) overlapping generations and the transmission of resources.
Households and Credit Restraints
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

The main part of this chapter discusses the characteristics of the peasant household in terms of land, labour, savings, and credit. It has ten sections: (1) the peasant household (which is normally land owning); (2) credit constraints and the organization of production—using family or hired labour; (3) moral hazard, wage labour, and tenancy (the predominating forms are fixed‐rental contracts and sharecropping or metayage); (4) village enclaves as production units; (5) land, labour, and credit markets: observations on rural India; (6) agrarian relations in sub-Saharan Africa; (7) consumption as investment; (8) lack of credit among the assetless; (9) consumption smoothing; and (10) unemployment. An extra and separate section (designated Chapter *9) gives theoretical presentations on four aspects of households and credit constraints. These are (1) a model of the peasant household; (2) the precautionary motive for saving; (3) credit, insurance, and agricultural investment; and (4) why may credit be rationed.
Axiomatic Bargaining Theory
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

The main part of this chapter discusses the household as an allocation mechanism. It has eight sections; (1) gender differentials among adults; (2) allocations among girls and boys; (3) bridewealth and dowry; (4) regional patterns of household allocations: the case of India; (5) marriage and inheritance in India; (6) bargaining theory as a framework for household choice; (7) the Nash programme: a formalization; and (8) bargaining versus maximization of well‐being within the household. An extra and separate section (designated Chapter *11) gives theoretical presentations on two aspects of the axiomatic bargaining theory: (1) the Nash bargaining solution; and (2) the Kalai–Smorodinsky bargaining solution.
Fertility and Resources: The Household as a Reproductive Unit
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

The main part of this chapter discusses the household as a reproductive unit. It has nine sections: (1) income, fertility, and food – a discussion of the inverse relationship between fertility (and mortality) rates and income, and of population growth in relation to the (finite) environmental resource base; (2) the population growth problem; (3) population externalities: household versus societal reasoning; (4) birth control and female education; (5) children as consumer and insurance goods; (6) environmental degradation, and children as producer goods; (7) some special features of sub‐Saharan Africa; (8) modelling fertility decisions; and (9) allocation failure and public policy. An extra and separate section (designated Chapter *12) gives theoretical presentations on two aspects of strategic complementarities in fertility decisions: (1) atmospheric externalities; and (2) Nash equilibria.
Classical Utilitarianism in a Limited World
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

The main part of this chapter discusses normative considerations on population and savings. It has five sections. The first discusses parental concerns on the well‐being of their children in relation to savings. The second discusses the Genesis Problem (which in its purest form asks how many lives there should be, enjoying what standards), and the Repugnant Conclusion (which, in Parfit's formulation states that ‘For any population of at least ten billion people, all with a very high quality of life, there must be some larger imaginable population whose existence,if other things are equal, would be better, even though its members have lives that are barely worth living). Section (3) questions whether the Repugnant Conclusion is repugnant when applied to comparisons of well‐being in the Genesis Problem, and section 4 argues that the Genesis Problem is irrelevant in real life, which addresses actual problems. Section (5) looks at population ethics. An extra and separate section (designated Chapter *13) gives theoretical presentations on classical utilitarianism in a limited world.
Adaptation to Undernourishment
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

Adaptation to undernourishment is discussed in eight sections: (1) the international incidence of calorie deficiency; (2) genetic, physiological, and behavioural adaptation to undernourishment; (3) short‐term adjustment, or homeostasis; (4) homeostasis and the magnitude of undernourishment; (5) long‐term adaptation; (6) metabolic disequilibrium; (7) food intake, efficient productivity, and stature; and (8) physical activity possibility sets.
Inequality, Malnutrition, and the Disfranchised
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

The main part of this chapter addresses different aspects of inequality, malnutrition, and the disfranchised. It has ten sections: (1) asset ownership, maintenance costs, and labour power; (2) the labour market and involuntary unemployment; (3) efficiency wages and piece‐rates; (4) competitive market allocations; (5) development regimes; (6) growth with redistribution; (7) robustness and extensions; (8) involuntary unemployment and surplus labour; (9) resistance to wage cuts; and (10) the appeal of nutrition‐based theories of the labour market. An extra and separate section (designated Chapter *16) gives theoretical presentations on various aspects of the analysis of allocation mechanisms when nutrition affects productivity. These include: the characteristics of equilibrium allocations in the timeless world; the rate of ’trickle‐down’ of aggregate wealth to the poorest of the poor; the coexistence of casual and permanent labour; and food distribution within poor households.
Analysis of Allocation Mechanisms When Nutrition Affects Productivity
Authors: Dasgupta Partha
Published: October 2003

The main part of this chapter addresses different aspects of inequality, malnutrition, and the disfranchised. It has ten sections; (1) asset ownership, maintenance costs, and labour power; (2) the labour market and involuntary unemployment; (3) efficiency wages and piece‐rates; (4) competitive market allocations; (5) development regimes; (6) growth with redistribution; (7) robustness and extensions; (8) involuntary unemployment and surplus labour; (9) resistance to wage cuts; and (10) the appeal of nutrition‐based theories of the labour market. An extra and separate section (designated Chapter *16) gives theoretical presentations on various aspects of the analysis of allocation mechanisms when nutrition affects productivity. These include: the characteristics of equilibrium allocations in the timeless world; the rate of ’trickle‐down’ of aggregate wealth to the poorest of the poor; the coexistence of casual and permanent labour; and food distribution within poor households.
Established Theories of the Firm
Authors: Hart Oliver
Published: October 2003

Discusses why neither neoclassical nor principal‐agent theories can satisfactorily explain a long‐standing issue in organization theory: the determinants of the boundaries of the firm. The final section of the chapter discusses transaction costs theories. The transaction costs approach points out the importance of incomplete contracting, hold‐up problems and opportunistic behaviour in shaping the incentives of two parties to undertake relationship‐specific investments. However, the author argues that, as its stands, transaction costs theory cannot pin down firm boundaries since it does not provide us with a precise mechanism that explains what changes when a merger takes place.
Further Issues Arising from the Property Rights Approach
Authors: Hart Oliver
Published: October 2003

Discusses further issues regarding the property rights approach. It is argued that control over non‐human assets leads to control over human assets, defining authority within the firm. The author also illustrates the idea that changes in control affect not only the incentives of top managers but also those of workers who do not have control rights either before or after the change. The chapter also touches on issues such as the delegation of control within firms, the distinction between residual control and residual income, the role of reputation, investment in physical capital, and the effect that changes in control may have on the incentives of parties to reveal information and cooperate.
Is National Technology Policy Obsolete in a Globalised World?: The Japanese Vision
Authors: Fransman Martin
Published: October 2003

The chapter begins with a brief discussion of the convergence hypothesis, which argues that there has been a convergence in the economies of the major industrialized countries in the post‐World War II period. It then goes on to examine a corollary that has been derived from this hypothesis: that national technology policy has become obsolete. The globalization of the Japanese economy and science and technology system is then documented on the basis of several selected indicators, including international imitation, international strategic technology alliances, the international movement of researchers and engineers, direct foreign investment, foreign research laboratories in Japan, technology trade, and internationally co‐authored science and technology papers. The role of the Japanese government in science and technology is then considered, beginning with an account of the rationale given by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) for its involvement in the science and technology area; this is followed by a detailed account of MITI's response to globalization, which reveals the vision that guides MITI's policy‐makers in their interventions in the field of science and technology within the context of the globalizing Japanese and world economies. The implications of the Japanese response to globalization for other large Western countries are then examined and, finally, the sources of MITI's influence in the Japanese economy are analysed.
Human Capabilities, Female Human Beings
Authors: Nussbaum Martha C.
Published: October 2003

Nussbaum argues that the best way to tackle the issue of women's equality in developing countries is to begin with a conception of the human being and human functioning. By seeing certain capabilities and functions as more central to human life than others, Nussbaum anticipates feminist and cultural relativistic challenges and defends her particular brand of universalism and essentialism. This paper provides a self‐consciously normative conception of what it is to be human and to live a good life, as well as a proposal for a culturally sensitive development ethic.
Functioning and Capability: The Foundations of Sen's and Nussbaum's Development Ethic, Part 2
Authors: Crocker David A.
Published: October 2003

Crocker presents an exposition of the thinking underlying the capabilities approach as developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, detailing the ethic's foundational concepts of functioning and capability, its structure, and its relevance for a reconstruction of freedom, rights, and justice.
Pragmatism and Moral Objectivity
Authors: Putnam Hilary
Published: October 2003

Putnam engages with moral objectivity and the question of ethical truth in this paper, in which he combats the idea that there is no intellectual structure worth taking seriously to the arguments of American pragmatists such as Charles Peirce, William James, and John Dewey. As a countercurrent to contemporary analytic philosophy, Putnam interprets and builds on the work of Dewey so as to yield the conclusion that there can be a rational basis for adopting ethical positions and that democratic processes are necessary constituents of social rationality.
Gender Inequality and Theories of Justice
Authors: Sen Amartya
Published: October 2003

Turning to concrete questions of justice for women, Sen introduces the issue of ‘co‐operative conflicts’ and argues that these conflicts are often rooted in traditional conceptions of women's role, which are internalized as ‘natural’ by the women themselves. Sen's contention is that the capabilities approach can handle these conflicts better than Rawlsian liberalism and economic utilitarianism. To Sen, the central problem is to confront the underlying prejudice directly and to outline the need for and scope of reducing inequalities in capabilities without accepting that this project necessarily causes great inefficiency.
Inequalities Between the Sexes in Different Cultural Contexts
Authors: Okin Susan Moller
Published: October 2003

Okin argues that what is unjust in the situation of women in developing countries is not different in kind from the injustices that unequal family structures produce in developed countries. In both cases, the family, which claims to be a source of love and a school for ethical virtue, often manifests and perpetuates injustice. Contending against feminists opposed to generalizing about the context of women, Okin maintains that generalizing with proper caution and sensitivity can be a valuable and crucial part of good feminist argument, bringing to light what is salient and pervasive in unjust laws and practices.
Gender Inequality in China and Cultural Relativism
Authors: Li Xiaorong
Published: October 2003

Li provides an account of women's inequality in China and its relation to traditional norms. Contending against cultural relativist approaches to China and in favour of a more internationalist and critical framework, Li concludes that the capabilities ethic as developed by Sen and Nussbaum can diagnose what is wrong in the situation and promote women's equality with neither patriarchal imposition nor historical insensitivity.
Inequality in Capabilities Between Men and Women in Mexico
Authors: Valdés Margarita M.
Published: October 2003

Valdés analyses the situation of women's inequality in Mexico, identifying traditional obstacles to women's full access to constitutionally guaranteed equality of opportunity. Making subtle comparisons between the Mexican situation and the situation in India, Valdés argues that traditional Mexican conceptions of the family afford more advantages than Indian conceptions do to women who seek equal participation in the labour force.
Femininity, Equality, and Personhood
Authors: Verma Roop Rekha
Published: October 2003

Verma argues that the Hindu traditions of India have been hostile to women's demands for equality and that a critical position should be sought from the Western Enlightenment and its ideas of rights and personhood, rather than from within those traditions. Verma further posits that since such traditions reduce men's personhood as well as women's, the feminist struggle ought to be viewed as a struggle for humanity in general. Verma thus presents an androgynous concept of personhood and favours retaining equality on the feminist agenda.
The Productive Opportunity of The Firm and The ‘Entrepreneur’
Authors: Penrose Edith
Published: October 2003

This chapter examines the nature of ‘enterprise’ and indicates its significance and role in the analysis. Enterprise or ‘entrepreneurship’ is a difficult concept to work into formal economic analysis, given its close association with the temperament or personal qualities of individuals. This personal aspect of the growth of individual firms is considered one of the obstacles to developing a general theory on the growth of firms.
Expansion Without Merger: The Receding Managerial Limit
Authors: Penrose Edith
Published: October 2003

This chapter examines the fundamental and inescapable limits to the amount of expansion a firm can undertake at given time, when there is no rigid barrier to its expansion. It discusses the nature of the managerial limit, and the effects of uncertainly and risk. It shows that the firm cannot and will not extend its expansion plans, and with them its ‘management team’ in an effort to take advantage of all available market opportunities.
The Economies of Size and The Economies of Growth
Authors: Penrose Edith
Published: October 2003

This chapter examines whether there are economics of growth and size to be had from the expansion of firms, within the context of the efficient utilisation of the resources of society. It is shown that the growth of firms may be consistent with the efficient use of society’s resources. The result of past growth — the size attained at any time — may have no corresponding advantages.
Theoretical Framework
Authors: Wood Adrian
Published: October 2003

The labour market effects of North–South trade in manufactures are analysed in a simple Heckscher–Ohlin (H–O) model, with North and South as the two countries, and skilled and unskilled labour as the two factors. Land is omitted from the model for simplicity, but capital is deliberately excluded because of its mobility. The assumptions of H–O theory about technology are defended. Trade causes convergence of Northern and Southern skilled–unskilled wage ratios, because labour supply is imperfectly elastic. Rigid wage differentials may cause the effect in the North to emerge as a rise in the equilibrium rate of unemployment.
Trade Shifts and Sectoral Side‐Effects
Authors: Wood Adrian
Published: October 2003

The main cause of the recent changes in the pattern of North–South trade seems to have been reductions in protection and in natural barriers to trade, making it possible to argue that these changes were an exogenous cause of shifts in the skill structure of the demand for labour in both country groups. These changes also raised the demand for labour in manufacturing in the South, and reduced it in the North, causing alterations in manufacturing's share of total employment. More than 20 million extra jobs in manufacturing were created in a few Southern countries. In the North, the immediate effect was to reduce the profitability of manufacturing, and subsequently to reduce the share of manufacturing in employment by around four percentage points—and by more in countries, which experienced greater increases in Southern import penetration.
Skill Differentials and Inequality in the South
Authors: Wood Adrian
Published: October 2003

In the South, theory suggests that expansion of trade in manufactures with the North tends to raise the demand for—and hence the wages of—workers with a basic general education, relative to workers who have more education and training, and hence to make the distribution of income less unequal. This theoretical prediction is supported, though not strongly, by cross‐country statistical comparisons. It is also supported by simulations using structural models of particular developing countries, and by case study evidence from Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. None of these types of evidence is satisfactory on its own, but in combination they are convincing.
Skill Differentials and Inequality in the North
Authors: Wood Adrian
Published: October 2003

Theory suggests that trade with the South increases the demand for skilled labour, relative to less‐skilled labour, in the North. Skill differentials in both wages and unemployment rates widened in most Northern countries during the 1980s, and in ways that could not have been generated by supply shifts. Closer examination of timing, magnitude, and variation among Northern countries tends to confirm the impression of consistency with the expected effects of expansion of trade with the South. Of the alternative possible explanations of the rising relative demand for skilled labour, by far the most plausible is autonomous technical progress with an unskilled‐labour‐saving bias. The limited evidence available is consistent with the view that trade played the larger role, but does not rule out the possibility that new technology was more important.
Policy Options for the North
Authors: Wood Adrian
Published: October 2003

Expansion of trade with the South has, on average, benefited people in the North, but has hurt unskilled workers, who should be assisted by government action. Protection against Southern imports would be the most costly solution, for both North and South. In principle, the best policy is to expand the skilled labour supply by improvements in education and training, but there is less scope for doing so than is usually recognized, and the benefits would emerge only slowly. Action is thus needed also on the demand side, but in different ways in different countries. In America, the best approach would be to combine better education, greater public employment of unskilled workers, and income supplements for low‐wage workers. In Europe, to better education should be added policies to raise the relative demand for unskilled workers, for example, through the introduction of a progressive payroll tax.
Introduction
Authors: Joshi Vijay , Little I. M. D.
Published: October 2003

Here the aims of the book are presented. There is a brief discussion of the economy of India up to 1991 alongside the political developments that brought about economic reforms. The authors also present their views on what they believe would constitute an ideal‐type economy. This, at a basic level, is a market economy in which private enterprise is supported by the state. The authors conclude with an overview of the rest of the book.
Stabilization Policy
Authors: Joshi Vijay , Little I. M. D.
Published: October 2003

Deals with the process of stabilization after the economic crisis suffered by India in 1991. It presents a mixture of evidence and theory to examine the success of various stabilization methods attempted. It shows how stabilization was achieved for the medium term through successful reorientation of the balance of payments. This was a success, but inflation remains higher than would be ideal and has yet to be properly managed. For long‐term stabilization, public‐sector debt must be cut to help boost private‐sector investment.
Industrial Policy and Factor Markets
Authors: Joshi Vijay , Little I. M. D.
Published: October 2003

Here, the focus is on the industrial sector of the economy. It examines India's trade regulations that inhibited foreign trade in the 1980s and the attempts to deregulate the economy. It details the large public sector and the inefficacies within its operational structure. It examines the problem of sick companies unable to close because of state intervention and their takeover by the state. The limits imposed on privatization are also discussed.
Summary and Afterthoughts
Authors: Joshi Vijay , Little I. M. D.
Published: October 2003

This final chapter acts as an overview and summary of the previous chapters. The authors examine which reforms were successful and also look at the reasons for the failure of some of the measures taken. The chapter ends with suggestions on why some reforms should be prioritized, and what the future of reforms is likely to be.
Constitutionalism: Contract or Coordination?
Authors: Hardin Russell
Published: October 2003

Constitutionalism requires merely coordination on big issues of general structure and protections; coordination on any detailed program is virtually out of the question. It works at all only if there is relatively wide agreement on core issues, such as the agreement of the American political elite on the need for something like the Commerce Clause to enable the growth of an American economy through the creation of an open American market under the US Constitution. In polities in which there is no such general agreement, constitutionalism cannot work well. Indeed, it is plausible that the only government that can “work” in many contexts is authoritarian government.
Democracy: Agreement or Acquiescence?
Authors: Hardin Russell
Published: October 2003

We can divide consent theory into two branches: constitutional and post‐constitutional. Popular sovereignty and social contract theories fit largely into the first branch; democracy fits in the second. One might appeal to popular sovereignty or contractarian consent in proposing to change a constitution, although in actual practice even constitutional design must be done by some kind of procedure that would hardly fit a full consent account. Constitutions typically restrict the scope of democracy—otherwise there would be little need for creating the many blocking institutions that constitutions typically mandate.
Constitutional Economic Transition
Authors: Hardin Russell
Published: October 2003

The US Constitution embodied a limited degree of laissez faire, enough to give capitalism at least an advantage over any other economic organization of the society if Adam Smith's theory is roughly right. What capitalism mainly needed was free markets, and the US Constitution went very far toward providing that interstate commerce would not be trammeled by the states acting for narrow interests against farmers and producers in other states. In the conflicts between commerce, small farming, and plantation agrarianism, nearly neutral government was good for the longer‐run workability of the constitution and its government. The fundamentally important issue in the design of constitutions is to enable rather than hinder economic transitions that are not well understood in advance. When the economies of eastern socialist regimes ceased to benefit from centrally controlled mobilization to do what was already well done elsewhere, their Communist governments were an obstacle to developing in other ways and, in particular, to making the transition to market economies.
Democracy on the Margin
Authors: Hardin Russell
Published: October 2003

The division of decisions into constitutional moments and post‐constitutional moments, with broad coordination on vague general issues in the former and often substantially more conflict over lesser issues in the latter, fits successful constitutional regimes. But in moments of crisis in a previously stable society or in a society in which the initial coordination is contrived or false, there maybe acute moments under the constitution that have the character of constitutional moments. Inability to coordinate then on broad general principles of order can mean the failure of constitutionalism and of democracy. Because it faces severe limits on its workability, democracy is not a panacea for politics. It works only on the margins of great issues on which there is broad consensus.
Transaction Cost Economics and Organization Theory
Authors: Williamson Oliver E.
Published: October 2003

This paper focuses on connections between transaction cost economics and organization theory, and argues that a three‐part relation is taking shape. The first and most important of these is that transaction cost economics has been (and will continue to be) massively influenced by concepts and empirical regularities that have their origins in organization theory. Second, there are key concepts out of which transaction cost economics works to which organization theorists can (and many do) productively relate. Third, healthy tension survives – as revealed by an examination of phenomena for which rival interpretations have been advanced, remain unsolved, and provoke controversy. The essay is arranged as follows: some background is presented on institutional economics; a three‐level schema is proposed for studying economic organization; some of the more important ways in which transaction cost economics has benefitted from organization theory are examined; the key concepts in transaction cost economics are sketched; empirical regularities, as discerned through the lens of transaction cost economics, that are pertinent to organization theory are discussed; contested terrain (unresolved tensions) is surveyed; and concluding remarks are made.
Varieties of Hierarchies and Markets: an Introduction
Authors: Hamilton Gary G. , Feenstra Robert C.
Published: October 2003

The paper presents both a theoretical and an empirical argument that the concept of hierarchy in relation to business firms needs to be reconceptualized. In the theoretical discussion, a synthesis is developed between Ronald Coase's and O. E. Williamson's conception of a market/hierarchy dichotomy and M. Weber's distinction between economic power and authority. The authors hold that the authoritative aspects of hierarchies, especially within networks of firms, have independent effects on the formation of market economies. An empirical demonstration is given of the relevance of this reconceptualization in an analysis of the economies of South Korea and Taiwan. The two case studies show that two different types of authoritative interfirm networks, one vertically arranged (Korea) and the other horizontally arranged (Taiwan), substantially shape the performance of these economies.
Information, Knowledge, Vision and Theories of the Firm
Authors: Fransman Martin
Published: October 2003

This paper has the following purposes. The first is to demonstrate that many of the best‐known approaches to the firm in economics have in common a starting‐point that sees the firm as a response to information‐related problems. The second purpose is to review critically some of these approaches on the basis of the internal structure of their arguments, and the third is to analyse some of the limitations of the ‘information‐related paradigm’ in the light of the distinction that, it is argued, must be drawn between ‘information’ and ‘knowledge’. The last purpose is to propose some additional approaches to the firm that merit further exploration. The seven sections of the essay are: Purposes; Introduction; The Firm as Response to Information‐Related Problems; The Firm as a Repository of Knowledge; The IBM Paradox—an examination of the downfall of IBM; Implications for the Theory of the Firm; and Conclusion.
The Dynamic Capabilities of Firms: An Introduction
Authors: Teece David , Pisano Gary
Published: October 2003

An expanded paradigm is needed to explain how the competitive advantage of firms is gained and held. Firms resorting to ‘resource‐based strategy’ attempt to accumulate valuable technology assets and employ an aggressive intellectual property stance, but winners in the global marketplace have been firms demonstrating timely responsiveness and rapid and flexible product innovation, along with the management capability to effectively coordinate and redeploy internal and external competences. This source of competitive advantage – dynamic capabilities – emphasizes two aspects: first, it refers to the shifting character of the environment; second, it emphasizes the key role of strategic management in appropriately adapting, integrating, and re‐configuring internal and external organizational skills, resources, and functional competences towards changing environment. Researchers have only recently begun to focus on the specifics of developing firm‐specific capabilities and the manner in which competences are renewed to respond to shifts in the business environment; the dynamic capabilities approach provides a coherent framework within which to integrate existing conceptual and empirical knowledge, and facilitate prescription. This paper (1) argues that the competitive advantage of firms stems from dynamic capabilities rooted in high‐performance routines operating inside the firm, embedded in the firm's processes, and conditioned by its history, and (2) offers dynamic capabilities as an emerging paradigm of the modern business firm that draws on multiple disciplines and advances; industry studies in the Untied States and elsewhere are used as examples.
Uneven (and Divergent) Technological Accumulation Among Advanced Countries: Evidence and a Framework of Explanation
Authors: Patel Parimal , Pavitt Keith
Published: October 2003

Evidence is presented for the advanced OECD countries of uneven and divergent patterns of technological accumulation and the persistence of technology gaps. It is shown that ‘global’ firms will not smooth out the differences, since their technological activities are strongly influenced by conditions in their own countries. Possible causes of uneven development are discussed, and it is suggested that – in addition to diversity in cumulative technological trajectories – the divergent patterns reflect international differences in the capacities of management, financial, and training institutions properly to evaluate – and exploit – the learning benefits of technological investments. For these reasons, it is concluded that technological gaps among the advanced OECD countries are here to stay.
Public Economics in Action
Authors: Atkinson A. B.
Published: October 2003

The book provides an introduction to the key ideas of public economics. For this purpose, it takes as a case study the proposal for a basic income financed by a flat tax on all income. This radical reform of the income tax and social security systems has generated wide interest. The book reviews different areas of public economics: the theory of optimum taxation, public choice theory, general equilibrium analysis of incidence, numerical tax‐benefit modelling, and econometric studies of work incentives. The author does not argue for or against the basic income proposal but believes that it should be on the agenda for serious discussion.
A First Look at the Issues
Authors: Atkinson A. B.
Published: October 2003

This chapter takes a first look at the issues. It asks whether redistribution is possible. It illustrates the role of different branches of public economics in illuminating the key issues.
Liberty and Public Choice Theory
Authors: Atkinson A. B.
Published: October 2003

People may bring to bear a wide range of principles when evaluating proposals for reform; they may also take account of the way in which the policy is actually performed. This chapter considers a plurality of objectives, including those of a non‐welfarist kind. It considers the political economy of redistribution.
Tax‐Benefit Models
Authors: Atkinson A. B.
Published: October 2003

An important development in recent years has been the construction of numerical tax‐benefit models. These models allow researchers to calculate the impact of complex changes in the tax and social security systems on individual households.
Taxation and Work Incentives
Authors: Atkinson A. B.
Published: October 2003

Tax reforms can potentially affect work decisions. This chapter examines the sources of empirical evidence about different dimensions of labour supply.