Search results for "jel:B31"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
Adam Smith on Monopoly Theory. Making good a lacuna
2014
This article analyses Adam Smith's views on monopoly by focusing on Book IV and V of The Wealth of Nations. It argues that the majority of scholars have assessed Smith's analysis of monopoly starting from premises different from those, actually though implicitly, used by Smith. We show that Smith makes use of the word 'monopoly' to refer to a heterogeneous collection of market outcomes, besides that of a single seller market, and that Smith's account of monopolists' behaviour is richer than that provided by later theorists. We also show that Smith was aware of the growth-retarding effect of monopoly and urged State regulation. © 2014 Scottish Economic Society.
“A certain amount of ‘recantation’”: On the origins of Frank H. Knight’s antipositivism
2016
The aim of this paper is to investigate in some detail the origins of Knight’s antipositism and to assess the main influences that brought him to a change in methodological perspective after 1921. As importantly, what follows is also an attempt to increase our general understanding of the methodological debates taking place during the early decades of the last century and to shed new light on the inherently pluralistic character of US interwar economics. This paper is organized as follows: the first section outlines Knight’s methodological views as presented in his early works; the second section discusses Knight’s “recantation” and his attack on behavioristic social science; the third sect…
From the great depression to bretton woods: Jacob Viner and international monetary stabilization (1930-1945)
2009
This paper examines Jacob Viner's contribution to the debate and the policy decision-making concerning international monetary policy from the Great Depression to the Bretton Woods agreements. An outstanding member of the so-called 'early Chicago School of Political Economy', Viner was actively engaged in the debate over the causes and cures of the Depression, emphasizing the important role international economic problems played in producing its onset and in reinforcing its duration. During the 1930s Viner was an outspoken supporter of international monetary cooperation, set up to secure exchange rates stability, which he regarded as a paramount factor in restoring business confidence and fo…
Adam Smith and the family
2008
This paper examines Adam Smith’s vision of family life and the role of the family in society as it stems from the Theory of Moral Sentiments. We first discuss textual evidences of Smith’s vision of gender differences and of the relationships between the sexes. Then we turn to TMS’s analysis of marriage and family life, exploring the importance of sentiments in strengthening family bonds and in fostering individuals’ moral education. Then we enlarge our perspective, considering Smith’s view on the role of the family within society, especially as market and non market relationships are concerned. Finally, we focus on Smith’s vision of the possible threats which life in Commercial societies ma…
Ragnar Frisch and the Postwar Norwegian Economy
2014
Published version of an article in the journal: Econ Journal Watch. Also available from the publisher at: http://econjwatch.org/articles/ragnar-frisch-and-the-norwegian-postwar-economy. Open Access In the story of Norwegian economics, and of Norwegian economic policy and performance during the postwar years, a central place must be given to Ragnar Frisch (1895-1973). In 1969 he was awarded the first Nobel Prize in economics, together with Jan Tinbergen (1903-1994). In our view, the brighter parts of the story come only in the later years, and they involve the overcoming of Frisch's influence and legacy. As professor, Frisch started a grand project to establish economics as a science based o…
A reply to Olav Bjerkholt on the postwar Norwegian economy
2014
Published version of an article in the journal: Econ Journal Watch. Also available from the publisher at: http://econjwatch.org/articles/a-reply-to-olav-bjerkholt-on-the-postwar-norwegian-economy Open Access Professor Olav Bjerkholt has provided a spirited critique of our 2014 article titled “Ragnar Frisch and the Postwar Norwegian Economy.” Here we reply briefly, noting that many of the quotations he provides actually support our interpretation, that it is naïve of him to play the ideology card, and that he offers no response whatsoever to our central point: that Norway’s postwar growth rates have to be understood in light of the country’s exceptionally high investment ratios, which meant …
John Bates Clark on trusts: New light from the Columbia archives
2005
Public concern over the so called “trust problem” in the United States between the end of the nineteenth century and 1914, the year of the passage of the Clayton and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Acts, was reflected in the considerable contemporary literature on the subject. Not surprisingly, professional economists actively participated in this debate. Their thinking directly and indirectly influenced the legislation of 1914 in a way that cannot be said of the Sherman Act of 1890 (Mayhew 1998). A survey of the most important of these professional writings shows that, among the several voices animating the discussion, John Bates Clark's was perhaps the most influential. In this connection,…
The Rise and Fall of the Oslo School
2007
In 1931 Ragnar Frisch became professor at the University of Oslo. By way of his research, a new study programme and new staff he created the ”Oslo School”, characterised by mathematical modelling, econometrics, economic planning and scepticism towards the market economy. Consequently, detailed state economic planning and governance dominated Norwegian economic policy for three decades after WWII. In the 1970s the School’s dominance came to an end when the belief in competitive markets gained a foothold and the economy had poor performance. As a result a decentralized market economy was reintroduced. However, mathematical modelling and econometrics remain in the core of most economic program…