Krishna Bharadwaj on the Role of Expectations in Economic Theory

2021 ◽  
pp. 001946622110198
Author(s):  
Maria Cristina Marcuzzo
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Explanatory Role ◽  
Neoclassical Theory ◽  
Jel Codes ◽  
Expectation Formation ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Classical Political Economy ◽  
What Matters

In this article, I discuss the approach favoured by Bharadwaj, in the tradition of classical political economy and of Sraffa, where the focus is on those factors that are observed as opposed to the subjective factors that are neither observable nor measurable. Unlike neoclassical theory, with this approach, there is no room for concepts such as ‘utility’ and the like; insofar as ‘expectations’ are conceived as subjective, non-observable entities, they are not attributed with an explanatory role in the theory of prices and distribution. Moreover, since expectation formation is seen as the effect rather than cause of behaviour, the focus shifts to those social, historical and contingent elements that seem to have a better explanatory force. In this approach, what matters is the persistence of forces leading the system to tend, in the long period, towards a position of rest. JEL Codes: B2, B31

Consumers Preferences, Subsistence and Real Wage

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Real Wage ◽  
Consumer Preference ◽  
Sharp Contrast ◽  
Index Number ◽  
Neoclassical Theory ◽  
The Real ◽  
Individual Consumer ◽  
Classical Political Economy

In classical political economy, the real wage derives its reality from its association with a given set of products that provides for the subsistence of workers through time. In neoclassical theory the connection between the real wage and a given set of products is broken, because the restriction of workers’ consumption to a particular set of products conflicts with the idea of individual consumer preference. Thus, the ‘reality’ of the real wage in neoclassical theory is grounded differently, in a particular standard of value that can be called an index number standard. The difficulties involved with this construction raise questions about the theoretical adequacy of the notion of real wage itself. In particular, this leads to a conclusion that stands in sharp contrast to the empiricist proclamations of neoclassical theory.

scholarly journals Some Uses of Happiness Data in Economics

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Di Tella ◽  
Robert MacCulloch
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Economic Theory ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Empirical Measures ◽  
Happiness Research ◽  
Interpersonal Comparisons ◽  
Individual Welfare

Happiness research is based on the idea that it is fruitful to study empirical measures of individual welfare. The most common is the answer to a simple well-being question such as “Are you Happy?” Hundreds of thousands of individuals have been asked this question, in many countries and over many years. Researchers have begun to use these data to tackle a variety of important questions in economics. Some require strong assumptions concerning interpersonal comparisons of utility, but others make only mild assumptions in this regard. They range from microeconomic questions, such as the way income and utility are connected, to macroeconomic questions such as the tradeoff between inflation and unemployment, including large areas in political economy. Public policy is another area where progress using happiness data is taking place. Given the central role of utility notions in economic theory, we argue that the use of happiness data in empirical research should be given serious consideration.

The Aptitude for Methodological Analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-88
Author(s):  
Arut Delenyan
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
State University ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Essential Tool ◽  
Economics Faculty ◽  
Rational Organization ◽  
Moscow State University

The article is dedicated to the memory of an outstanding scholar and economist, Nikolai Tsagolov, the 110 anniversary of his birth. Special emphasis is paid to the role of methodology in the development of a new paradigm of economic theory and methodological seminar as an essential tool for processing theorists’ factual material, which was effectively used by N. Tsagolov. The article describes the structure of the methodological seminar for many years operating at the department of political economy of the Economics faculty of Moscow State University. The author emphasizes the collective nature of scientific work aimed at rational organization of labor. Attention is also drawn to the risks inherent in the widespread use of methodological techniques as well as the issues which require the attention of social theorists.

Women and the Labor Market

2017 ◽  
pp. 622-642
Author(s):  
Joyce P. Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Economics ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Neoclassical Theory ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Feminist Economics ◽  
The Past ◽  
Feminist Perspectives

This chapter first outlines the feminist economics intellectual project. While feminist economics has its roots in nineteenth-century political economy, it has undergone most of its development within the past quarter century. The chapter explains the application of feminist principles to two standard labor economics topics: labor supply and earnings, and the more specifically feminist topic of provision of caring labor. The differences between standard neoclassical theory and predictions, and feminist economic theory and predictions, are outlined in each section. The chapter closes with some feminist perspectives on economic empiricism and the methodological underpinnings of empirical work in labor economics.

scholarly journals Theory, General Equilibrium, and Political Economy in Development Economics

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 17-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daron Acemoglu
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Development Economics ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Counterfactual Analysis

I discuss the role of economic theory in empirical work in development economics with special emphasis on general equilibrium and political economy considerations. I argue that economic theory plays (should play) a central role in formulating models, estimates of which can be used for counterfactual and policy analysis. I discuss why counterfactual analysis based on microdata that ignores general equilibrium and political economy issues may lead to misleading conclusions. I illustrate the main arguments using examples from recent work in development economics and political economy.

The Macroeconomic thought of Sir William Petty

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Ullmer
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Total Employment ◽  
Classical Political Economy ◽  
Surplus Labour ◽  
P 16

Sir William Petty (1623–1687) is generally known to historians of economic thought as an early contributor to classical political economy. In fact, Karl Marx claimed—rightly, I believe—that Petty was the founder of that school of thought (Marx 1867, p. 81). Frank Amati and Tony Aspromourgos echo the sentiment that Petty, and not Adam Smith, was “the founder of classical political economy, that school which had its culmination in the Ricardian economic theory” (Amati and Aspromourgos 1985, p. 127). Aspromourgos has also observed that Petty wrote A Treatise of Taxes and Contributions, as well as other works, in order to provide “an answer to the questions of how to maximize total employment and surplus labour, and how to best utilize surplus labour” (Aspromourgos 1996, p. 16, emphasis added).

scholarly journals Effects of marginalism on drawing the social and historical from economic analysis

Sociologija ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-296
Author(s):  
Natasa Golubovic ◽  
Srdjan Golubovic ◽  
Srdjan Marinkovic
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Economic Science ◽  
Exact Science ◽  
Historical Aspects ◽  
Classical Political Economy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Reality

Endeavours to secure status of exact science for economics led to the exclusion of social and historical component from economic analysis. It is a long term process which started within classical political economy, gradually diverging the postulate upon which economic science is based from economic reality. Above mentioned changes are result of the long-term process during which holistic, social and historical aspects had been gradually removing from economic analysis. In this paper we will analyze the role of marginalism in the extrusion of social and historical from economic analysis.

Introduction to Part II

2021 ◽  
pp. 69-72
Author(s):  
Ryan Walter
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Parliamentary Debate ◽  
Bank Of England ◽  
Abstract Level ◽  
Corn Laws ◽  
Development Of Economic Theory

This Introduction indicates the aim of the two chapters that follow: to illustrate how parliamentary debate provided political economy with its topics of discussion and forms of argument. The particular case studies are the Bullion Controversy and the Corn Laws debate. The first controversy concerned the role of the Bank of England in raising prices through an excessive note issue, and this question came to be examined by writers such as Malthus and Ricardo at an abstract level. But this style of argument was rejected as inappropriate for guiding the deliberations of Parliament in 1810–1811. In relation to the second case, the Corn Laws, c. 1813–1815, the question of whether or not the trade in corn should be free was treated in Parliament as a question requiring casuistical adjudication, a style of argument that Malthus and Ricardo were evidently obliged to adopt, along with other participants. Both topics have traditionally been studied as key moments in the development of economic theory, yet the account developed here suggests that we have typically misread the texts by placing them in unhistorical contexts.

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