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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1983

David Simpson

This article does not pretend to represent an exhaustive survey of all the differences and similarities existing between Joseph Schumpeter and his fellow Austrians. To have…

Abstract

This article does not pretend to represent an exhaustive survey of all the differences and similarities existing between Joseph Schumpeter and his fellow Austrians. To have carried out such a task would have required a detailed knowledge of the literature which was beyond that of the present writer. Instead, what is offered here is a particular interpretation of the major characteristics of Austrian economics, the relationship of Schumpeter to these, together with some fragmentary evidence in support of the views expressed. The article begins with a brief resumé of the leading personalities of the Austrian School of Economics. In the second section the suggestion that Schumpeter was not a true member of the Austrian School is examined. It is shown that the minor differences which did exist between Schumpeter and his colleagues on technical questions are more than outweighed by agreement on the substantive issues of their economic analysis. The third section deals with the attitudes of the Austrian School to questions of method while the remaining sections deal with the classical tradition in the theory of economic growth.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Article
Publication date: 7 September 2015

Jens Maesse

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a discourse analytical understanding of the political economy. The term “crisis” is an important label in recent discussion in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a discourse analytical understanding of the political economy. The term “crisis” is an important label in recent discussion in political economy. Yet the genuine discursive dimension of “the crisis” and the multiple linguistic layers of the crisis discourse remains an open issue.

Design/methodology/approach

Realist perspectives usually believe in an external reality of crises independent of the language construction; in contrast, constructivist perspectives argue that a crisis is always the result of a socio-linguistic construction process. This contribution follows a critical-constructivist perspective, thereby taking into account powerful discursive actors which are able to “declare” a state in the world as a “crisis”.

Findings

From a discourse analytical point of view, this paper examines the rules and logics of crisis management policy, arguing that a new politico-academic elite has appeared which is beyond the classical distinction between “Keynesians” and “neo-liberals”. By taking a position in the discourse of the recent debate on financial regulation, these new elite might be able to manage the crisis for a particular time, as they are constructed as “moderating actors” through academic and political discourses.

Research limitations/implications

From a practical point of view, this analysis cannot offer economic solutions; from an analytical viewpoint, it will not give insights into discursive contexts.

Practical implications

This analysis helps to understand current debates on economic policy and to improve the communicative efficiency of the participants.

Originality/value

This paper combines a discourse analysis with a governmentality perspective and applies this analytical tool onto a political and economic topic currently prevailing in the global political economy.

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2009

Rick Wicks

This paper revisits old questions of the proper subject and bounds of economics: does economics study “provisioning”? or markets? or a method of reasoning, self‐interested…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper revisits old questions of the proper subject and bounds of economics: does economics study “provisioning”? or markets? or a method of reasoning, self‐interested rational optimization?

Design/methodology/approach

A variety of scholars and others in many fields make use of a taxonomy of society consisting of three “spheres”: markets, governments, and communities. It is argued here that this tripartite taxonomy of society is fundamental and exhaustive. A variety of ways of understanding this taxonomy are explored, especially Fiske's (1991, 2004) “Relational models theory.” Then – after communities and their products, social goods, are defined more thoroughly – a visual model of interactions among the three spheres is presented.

Findings

The model is first used briefly to understand the historical development of markets. The model is then applied to understanding how economic thinking and market ideology, including the notion of social capital, can be destructive of communities and their production of social goods (and their production of social capital as well).

Research limitations/implications

It is not possible to measure these effects monetarily, so calculating precisely “how this affects results” in a standard economic model is impossible.

Practical implications

Nevertheless we could better prepare students for real‐world analysis, and better serve our clients, including the public, if – whenever relevant, such as in textbook introductions and in benefit/cost analyses – we made them aware of the limitations of economic analysis with respect to communities and social goods.

Originality/value

The three‐spheres model offered here, based on Fiske's “Relational models theory,” facilitates this awareness.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 36 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2018

Virgil Henry Storr and Arielle John

How should economists incorporate culture into their economic analysis? What empirical approaches to identifying, measuring, and analyzing the relationship between culture and…

Abstract

How should economists incorporate culture into their economic analysis? What empirical approaches to identifying, measuring, and analyzing the relationship between culture and economic action are most appropriate for economists? In particular, what can experimental economists learn from the methods of economic anthropologists, sociologists, and historians who study culture? We argue that while both quantitative and qualitative approaches can reveal interesting relationships between culture and economic actions/outcomes, especially in experimental research designs, qualitative methods help economists better understand people’s economic choices and the economic outcomes that emerge from those choices. This is because qualitative studies conceptualize culture as a pattern of meaning, take the relevant cultural data to be people’s thoughts and feelings, treat the market as a cultural phenomenon, and allow for novel explanations.

Book part
Publication date: 15 June 2012

Samuli Leppälä and Pierre Desrochers

Besides subjectivism (in terms of value and cost) and the market process approach (as opposed to mainstream economics’ equilibrium analysis), methodological individualism is a…

Abstract

Besides subjectivism (in terms of value and cost) and the market process approach (as opposed to mainstream economics’ equilibrium analysis), methodological individualism is a foundational methodological principle of Austrian economics. While being (arguably) more consistently and consciously practiced within Austrian economics, methodological individualism is far from unique to this tradition and is a well-recognized principle of inquiry in the social sciences (Watkins, 1952a, 1952b). Needless to say though, methodological individualism remains controversial and discussions of its true meaning and adequateness periodically resurface in the philosophy of science literature (Hodgson, 2007; Udehn, 2002).

Details

The Spatial Market Process
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-006-2

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2012

Marc Pilkington

What do economists talk about? This seemingly innocent interrogation conceals a broader and innovative research programme, with the potential to renew the reflection on heterodox

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Abstract

Purpose

What do economists talk about? This seemingly innocent interrogation conceals a broader and innovative research programme, with the potential to renew the reflection on heterodox economics in a post‐crisis scenario. The aim of this paper is to show that convergence between language for specific purposes and economics is possible, so as to single out the genesis and the emergence of critical economic discourse.

Design/methodology/approach

After underlining the necessary collaboration between language and subject‐matter specialists, the paper addresses the question of the problematic use of economics textbooks in English‐speaking countries. Then, it deals with the fascinating question of the multiplicity of specialized meanings in economics. After pointing out the shortcomings of orthodoxy characterized by hyper‐formalization and its inevitable corollary, the mathematical nature of the discipline, it investigates the genesis of critical economic discourse, which requires the acknowledgement of pluralism and the components of heterodoxy, in order to converge towards a process of disciplinary acculturation that goes hand in hand with the learning process of language for specific purposes.

Findings

A deep‐seated renewal of economics, consisting of a methodological shift towards the components of heterodoxy, has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of teaching English for economics, so that the latter effectively conveys specialized meaning.

Research limitations/implications

Teaching and researching English for specific purposes necessitates enhanced collaboration between subject‐matter specialists and applied linguists. However, this type of collaboration can be hampered by institutional or socio‐professional obstacles.

Social implications

Discursive analysis has become indispensable in order to surmount the collective failure of mainstream economics in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. With the help of textbooks of a new kind, one must go beyond the vision of students as mere consumers of knowledge.

Originality/value

Language for specific purposes has long shown interest in economics, but is the reciprocal true? This paper proposes an original association, by putting the two disciplinary fields on an equal footing, and by bringing new synergies forward.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 December 2019

Fuqian Fang

Western economics came into being with the rise of the capitalist market economy. It had a nature of duality beginning from its birth: the justificativeness of providing…

4035

Abstract

Purpose

Western economics came into being with the rise of the capitalist market economy. It had a nature of duality beginning from its birth: the justificativeness of providing theoretical pillars for the capitalist market economy system and the scientificity of revealing the internal relations and operating rules of the capitalist market economy. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

However, after the 1830s, this justificativeness gradually evolved into vulgarity. Since the 1930s, modern western mainstream economics has mainly explored the general market economy on the assumption that the capitalist system remains unchanged, and many outcomes of such research are positive and beneficial.

Findings

Political economy of socialism with Chinese characteristics, at the present stage, is mainly a Chinese socialist market economics. It is guided by the Marxist political economy and rooted in the great practice of China’s reform and opening up and socialist modernization.

Originality/value

According to political complexion, western economic theories can be divided into political economic theory, mainstream economic theory and basic economic theory. By subjecting these theories to what we term “elimination,” “transformation” and “transplantation” surgeries, respectively, we can absorb and accommodate their beneficial elements in building a political economy of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which in turn is conducive to the development and prosperity of such an economy.

Details

China Political Economy, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-1652

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 June 2018

Alirat Olayinka Agboola

This purpose of this paper is to introduce property researchers to the principles of Austrian economics and to consider their methodological relevance and potential for…

Abstract

Purpose

This purpose of this paper is to introduce property researchers to the principles of Austrian economics and to consider their methodological relevance and potential for understanding the dynamics of property market processes.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper sets out the basic principles of the Austrian economics thesis, including an outline of the entrepreneurial discovery approach to market processes, a core precept of the Austrian thesis. It then relates the core assumptions of the Austrian school to the workings of the property market.

Findings

It is argued that the driving force of property market process is provided by the entrepreneurial and profit-seeking speculative activities of human agents as they are confronted with incomplete information in an uncertain property market context. Thus, Austrian economics offers a sound and practical alternative theoretical approach to the study of property market, which places the market within its socio-economic context.

Originality/value

In-depth examination of the provisions, assumptions, philosophical orientation and limitations of the Austrian tradition of economic thought toward a better understanding of the workings of the property market.

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2004

Andrew Worthington and Helen Higgs

A bivariate probit model is used to predict the choice of an economics major in a sample of first‐year, undergraduate business students. The paper examines the statistical…

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Abstract

A bivariate probit model is used to predict the choice of an economics major in a sample of first‐year, undergraduate business students. The paper examines the statistical significance of a number of student‐related characteristics on the likelihood of choosing an economics major, along with the role of student personality and perceptions of the profession. Factors analysed include secondary studies in economics, accounting and business, grade point average and attendance pattern, along with perceptions of the economics profession arrayed along dimensions of interest, independence, structure and precision. It would appear that the primary influences on the selection of a major in economics comprise student personality and level of interest in the profession.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 31 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 March 2018

Sisay Diriba Lemessa, Mulugeta Damie Watabaji and Molla Alemayehu Yismaw

Though many studies in the past dealt with the survival and growth of enterprises both in the local- and export-markets, less attention was given to the analysis of the duration…

Abstract

Purpose

Though many studies in the past dealt with the survival and growth of enterprises both in the local- and export-markets, less attention was given to the analysis of the duration of enterprises entry into the export-markets. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to analyze the duration of Ethiopian enterprises entry into the export-markets.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper used data collected from 848 enterprises through a cross-sectional survey method conducted by the World Bank in 2015. In order to estimate the average duration – the time that enterprises need to wait before entering into the export-markets and the associated factors – the authors used the mixture of non-parametric (Kaplan-Meier) and parametric (Weibull) models.

Findings

The non-parametric results show that enterprises are required to wait for an average of about eight years before entering into the export-markets after their establishment. In addition, foreign-owned enterprises were found to be faster in entering into the export-markets than their domestically owned counterparts. The parametric results revealed that enterprises’ product innovation, enterprises’ size and age, and custom and trade regulations are factors that curtail the durations of enterprises entry into the export-markets. On the other hand, enterprises’ operational costs, the size of enterprises’ locality, and enterprises’ location are factors that slow the durations of enterprises’ entry into the export-markets.

Originality/value

This study is the first to offer pioneering evidences on the duration (time in years) that Ethiopian enterprises need to wait before entering into the export-markets and the factors that affect the length of their waiting time.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

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