Bin Yang on the Global History of Cowries

Bin Yang correctly states that cowrie shells (250 species) and cowrie monies (two species mostly) deserve far more attention in global histories than they have received. He provides the most comprehensive view of the global history of cowries and cowrie monies to date. Multiple shell monies proliferated worldwide, but they did not concentrate within China (except Yunnan) nor within Europe. Why did specific cowries accumulate only in certain specific geographical locations? Yang establishes a general answer: cultural preferences for holding specific objects, including specific monies, determined where the shells were concentrated. He offers global evidence that, I argue, contradicts mainstream economic theory, which is based upon conceptual aggregation of diverse monies into amorphous stocks of (national or regional) money (singular). Yang demonstrates repeatedly that distinct market locations and distinct market prices existed for specific cowrie and other shell monies (plural) throughout global history. His evidence starkly demonstrates inadequacies of mainstream monetary theory (although he does not say as much). The relentless evidence of the existence of monetary disaggregation, evidence highlighted throughout Yang’s volume, demonstrates an urgent need for alternative monetary theories that portray prices and stocks of individual monies in conformity with empirical evidence provided by archival historians.

Reverse FDI and knowledge-and-physical-capital model: empirical evidence from emerging economies

PurposeThe main aim of this paper is to verify whether the modern mainstream economic theory of multinational enterprise that explains foreign direct investment (FDI) from developed countries is also able to account for investment decisions of multinational enterprises (MNEs) from emerging economies.Design/methodology/approachUsing Knowledge-And-Physical-Capital (KAPC) model as an analytical framework and Poisson-pseudo maximum likelihood estimation technique, the authors identify determinants of FDI flows from emerging economies. The data set consists of 38 home and 134 host countries during the period 2000–2012. Empirical evidence supports high explanatory power of KAPC model. Further, compared with the earlier Knowledge-Capital (KC) model, results confirm the importance of physical capital.FindingsThe estimation results confirm the hypothesis that mainstream economic theory can explain FDI flows from the emerging economies by highlighting the roles of total market size, skilled-labor abundance, investment and trade costs and geographical distance between two countries.Research limitations/implicationsThis study casts doubt on the alternative way that the KAPC model suggests to distinguish between horizontal and vertical FDI. The argument that horizontal MNE headquarters would be relatively more abundant than vertical MNE headquarters in countries that are abundant in physical capital relative to skilled labor seems reasonable but the idea of variable specification in the estimated equation should be revised.Practical implicationsFirms should be allowed to move their resources freely into and out of specific activities, both internally and internationally across border. To reach that goal, governments of potential host countries can adopt several measures, most importantly remove restrictions on payments, transfers and capital transactions and open previously closed industries to welcome foreign investment. In addition, to improve investment climate in general, governments need to pay attention to enhancing security of property rights, regulating internal taxation (i.e. corporate income tax), guaranteeing adequacy of infrastructure, efficient functioning of finance and labor markets and fighting against corruption.Social implicationsThe location choice of emerging investors set priority on similarity in economic size, geographical and cultural proximity. It is because shared borders or common official languages would reduce information costs and enhance information flows. Also, investors consider horizontal FDI (with motivation to expand market demand) as one of main modes of entry into a foreign market and a substitute for export. Likewise, distance is often understood as an important investment friction.Originality/valueThe outstanding contribution is that the research has uncovered the positive and statistically significant effect of physical capital on FDI activity, which has not been discussed in the earlier KC model. However, at the same time, the study casts doubt on the KAPC model's argument that relative abundance in physical capital to skilled labor between two countries determines FDI types and suggests that this argument and its empirical model specification should be carefully reviewed.

‘Dams and flows’: boundary formation and dislocation in the financialised firm

Mainstream economic theories of the firm argue that the boundary between firm and market is determined by efficiency-enhancing logics which optimise coordination or bargaining outcomes. Drawing on social anthropological work, this paper critiques these accounts, arguing instead that firms are socially embedded and that firm boundary formation should therefore be understood as an attempt to fix the limits of certain relational rights and obligations that are moral in their conception. Consequently, boundaries are often contested and subject to renegotiation. We employ the parsimonious concepts of ‘dams and flows’ to examine how attempts to curtail the claims of some stakeholders and extend the claims of others at any one historical moment produce boundaries of different kinds. To illustrate this, we first trace the moral arguments used to advance limited liability rights to shareholders during the Companies Act in the mid-nineteenth century, which cut or ‘dammed’ obligations at a particular point and moment, directing new flows of obligation and wealth. We then explore the different moral reasoning of agency theory—the foundation of the financialised firm—which foregrounds the property rights of shareholder principles and obligations of managerial agents to them. We argue that this moral reasoning led to new dams and flows that have changed corporate governance and accounting practice, producing—counterintuitively—a reinvigorated form of managerialism, leaving the firm financially and morally unstable; its boundaries increasingly unable to contain its relational tensions.

Women Entrepreneurs in India: Combating with the Gender Bias

In developed countries women actively participate in business and other activities without any social and other restrictions. However, in a developing country like India, the situation is different for women. Women are generally perceived as home makers with little to do with economy or commerce. The present study aims to look into how the notion is changing over time with more number of women coming forth to the business arena with ideas to start small and medium enterprises. They consider entrepreneurship to be rewarding and regard it as an alternative to limited options to career advancement. At the same time it also draws attention to the fact that transition from homemaker to sophisticated business women is not an easy task as women are continuously discriminated against. Women entrepreneurs not only contribute to improving their own economic welfare but add to the economic and social fabric of society through job creation, innovative products, processes and services. Thus, they act as an important human resource of the nation and can be utilized as mediators of economic growth and development. The study emphasizes that the country should recognize the need for women to be part of the mainstream economic development and help to promote a more enabling environment for women’s entrepreneurship.

Sustainable development and environmental problem

Different forms of inequality, resulting from anthropogenic environmental changes, constitute a large part of the environmental problems. Environmental benefits and harms are not distributed equally across and within national boundaries. Such benefits and harms are unevenly distributed within and between generations. The environmental harms are caused by our current practices and will afflict our future generations, while benefits are enjoyed by the present generations alone. The concepts of “sustainability” and “sustainable development” have been developed to address such problems of inter-generational equality. The concept of sustainability began its career in the context of sustainable agriculture and sustainable ecological system. Any account of sustainability must answer questions about what should be sustained, for whom it is to be sustained and why. In the mainstream economic literature, the answer to the first questions is a certain level of human welfare which is understood as preference satisfaction. This definition leads to the further questions as to what is required for such maintenance of this level of human welfare over time. The main aim of this article is to discuss these entire problems and provide some possible solutions to overcome this challenge positively.

Theory in closer contact with industrial life: American institutional economists on competition theory and policy

This paper investigates the views on competition theory and policy of the American institutional economists during the first half of the 20th century. These perspectives contrasted with those of contemporary neoclassical and later mainstream economic approaches. We identify three distinct dimensions to an institutionalist perspective on competition. First, institutionalist approaches focused on describing industry details, so as to bring theory into closer contact with reality. Second, institutionalists emphasized that while competition was sometimes beneficial, it could also be disruptive. Third, institutionalists had a broad view of the objectives of competition policy that extended beyond effects on consumer welfare. Consequently, institutionalists advocated for a wide range of policies to enhance competition, including industrial self-regulation, broad stakeholder representation within corporations, and direct governmental regulations. Their experimental attitude implied that policy would always be evolving, and antitrust enforcement might be only one stage in the development toward a regime of industrial regulation.

Representing Kingdom’s Makeover after Vision 2030: A Corpus-Driven Analysis of American Media Discourse

Saudi Vision 2030 is a scheme; the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has formulated to realize its mainstream economic, social, and administrative goals. Accordingly, the Kingdom strategizes to implement this transformative Vision. The current research aims to analyze how American media has reported several events, actions, and policies in line with Saudi Vision 2030. Thus, the question posed is how an image of the transformative Saudi Kingdom has been presented by American media discourse, in line with Vision 2030. The study is substantial for the Kingdom to ascertain how the world has responded to its Vision. Moreover, in a world with media as a dominant directing agency, it is imperious for the Kingdom to keep an eye on its image in the global community. The research is primarily a quantitative study based on the corpus approach to study the designated media discourse. A specialized corpus of 150,000 words is compiled and analyzed through a variety of corpus tools. The results reveal that American newspapers have given limited representation of the Vision and related activities. Their media usually highlights the pre-existing features of the Kingdom. On the other hand, there are very occasional references to some new aspects like the transformation of the economy, promotion of tourism, revision of the society, etc., which are being implemented in the Kingdom. The study suggests that the Kingdom needs to brief the Western world for an enriched campaign of its contemporary image.

Handling the Crisis: A Keynesian vs. Austrian Analysis of the “Great Recession”

This paper explores the differences between the mainstream economic interventionist view associated with John Maynard Keynes and the heterodox, non-interventionist Austrian School perspective associated with Friedrich Hayek on the Great Recession of 2007-2009. The literature review compares and contrasts articles explaining each view as they attempt to solve the problem of ending the recession. The heterodox Austrian School/Hayekian view is that central banks should take a hands-off approach to recessions, whereas the mainstream neo-Keynesian view is that central banks should take a more active role through monetary easing in an attempt to end the Great Recession. These two approaches are at odds with each other, but through this thorough and robust analysis, we will understand the similarities (if any) as well as substantial differences and what they can tell us for the next recession. Also included is a section on Methodology to highlight the differences in how economists of both camps conduct their research and present their findings to argue their case. The paper uses an analytical framework to show how the Austrian/Hayekian and Keynesian approaches differ both in content and methodology. The Keynesian perspective makes use of graphs and empirical data in the primary sources referenced to prove that the federal government and the Federal Reserve should have acted more quickly to implement an interventionist economic recovery. On the other hand, the Hayekian/Austrian approach makes use of methodological individualism and praxeology as the lens with which to examine the Great Recession and to show that such economic interventionism had the opposite of the intended effect; intervention, according to the Austrians, made the crisis worse. Not only are their conclusions different, but the means by which they examine the crisis are different as well. Finally, the paper examines some areas for future research on both sides to make each case stronger. Special emphasis is placed on how to develop the arguments of these two views further with regard to future recessions, particularly of the magnitude of the 2007-8 financial crisis.

Handling the crisis: A Keynesian vs. Austrian analysis of the Great Recession

This paper explores the differences between the mainstream economic interventionist view associated with John Maynard Keynes and the heterodox, non-interventionist Austrian School perspective associated with Friedrich Hayek on the Great Recession of 2007–2009. The literature review compares and contrasts articles explaining each view as they attempt to solve the problem of ending the recession. The heterodox Austrian School/Hayekian view is that central banks should take a hands-off approach to recessions, whereas the mainstream neo-Keynesian view is that central banks should take a more active role through monetary easing in an attempt to end the Great Recession. These two approaches are at odds with each other, but through this thorough and robust analysis, we will understand the similarities (if any) as well as substantial differences and what they can tell us for the next recession. Also included is a section on Methodology to highlight the differences in how economists of both camps conduct their research and present their findings to argue their case. The paper uses an analytical framework to show how the Austrian/Hayekian and Keynesian approaches differ both in content and methodology. The Keynesian perspective makes use of graphs and empirical data in the primary sources referenced to prove that the federal government and the Federal Reserve should have acted more quickly to implement an interventionist economic recovery. On the other hand, the Hayekian/Austrian approach makes use of methodological individualism and praxeology as the lens with which to examine the Great Recession and to show that such economic interventionism had the opposite of the intended effect; intervention, according to the Austrians, made the crisis worse. Not only are their conclusions different, but the means by which they examine the crisis are different as well. Finally, the paper examines some areas for future research on both sides to make each case stronger. Special emphasis is placed on how to develop the arguments of these two views further with regard to future recessions, particularly of the magnitude of the 2007–2008 financial crisis

On mainstream methodology: the decline of the scientific method or the advocacy of the status quo in economics?

In the article a critical interpretation of the processes taking place in recent decades in the methodology of the mainstream economics is given. It is hypothesized that the observed devaluation of the concept of "truth", tolerance to the contradictions of particular theories, etc. is a form of protection of mainstream economic theory hard core (and, through this - the ideological protection of the entire world financial and economic architecture). It is concluded that the way out of the theoretical crisis of economic theory is not in the erosion of the millennial scientific standards, but in the return to them.