scholarly journals Professional and ethical dilemmas of economists (In memoriam János Kornai, 1928–2021)

2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-518
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Budget Constraint ◽  
Soft Budget Constraint ◽  
Long Time ◽  
In Memoriam ◽  
Short Essay ◽  
Scientific Achievements

Abstract János Kornai, the most distinguished Hungarian economist passed away on 18 October 2021. This short essay, written by a long-time disciple of Kornai tries to prioritize his scientific achievements spreading over six decades. The conclusion is that Kornai's most important contribution to the principles of economics was already presented in his 1971 book, entitled Anti-equilibrium, and without this book his most respected later works and his other original concepts, like the soft budget constraint or the shortage economy, cannot be understood.

scholarly journals Central banks: Hesitant guardians of equilibrium

2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (s1) ◽  
pp. 125-139
Author(s):  
Jerzy Hausner ◽  
Andrzej Sławiński
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Financial System ◽  
Central Banks ◽  
Budget Constraint ◽  
Soft Budget Constraint ◽  
Intellectual Heritage ◽  
Inherent Tendency

In our paper we focus on situations when central banks have to conduct monetary policy in a world in which they cannot rely fully on what is regarded the best practice and they have to cope with financial system inherent tendency to be unstable. Both phenomena are rooted in János Kornai’s intellectual heritage highlighting that economy tends to divert from equilibrium and that soft budget constraint erodes economic actors’ behavior.

Innovation in centralized organizations: examining evidence from Soviet Russia

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitriy Chulkov
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Budget Constraint ◽  
Soviet Economy ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Soft Budget Constraint ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Decision Making ◽  
Constraint Model

Purpose – This study aims to examine the economic factors that determine innovation pattern in centralized and decentralized economies and organizations. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical evidence on innovation in the centralized economy of the Soviet Union is reviewed. Existing theoretical literature in this area relies on the incentives of decision-makers in centralized organizations and on the concept of soft budget constraint in centralized command economies and hard budget constraint in market economies. This study advocates applying the hierarchy/polyarchy model of innovation screening to explain the pattern of innovation in centralized economic systems. Findings – Screening and development of innovation projects can be organized in a centralized or decentralized fashion. The differences in innovation between centralized and decentralized economic systems may be explained by elements of the principal-agent theory, the soft budget constraint model, and the theory of decision-making in hierarchies and polyarchies. Empirical evidence shows a sharp slowdown in both innovation and economic growth in the Soviet economy following the economic decision-making reform of 1965. The theoretical explanation most consistent with this evidence is the hierarchy decision-making model. Originality/value – Comparisons of innovation in centralized and decentralized economies traditionally relied on decision-makers' incentives and the concept of soft budget constraint. Upon analysis of empirical evidence from the centralized Soviet economy, this study advocates explaining innovation patterns based on decision-making theory of hierarchy.

Biobanking and Privacy Law in Brazil

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 714-725
Author(s):  
Sueli Gandolfi Dallari ◽  
Felipe Angel Bocchi Castellaro ◽  
Iara Coelho Zito Guerriero
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Genomic Research ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Privacy Law ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Scientific Significance ◽  
Population Scale ◽  
Human Biological Material

Recent scientific and technological developments have promoted the emergence of biobanks on a population scale. Although the storage of human biological material has taken place for a long time, it is only recently that biobanks have acquired a broader scientific significance, especially for genomic research. The increase in biobanks creates many ethical dilemmas, such as the protection of privacy, and creates the need for a new regulatory framework, which must enable the sustainable development of biobanks while also protecting the rights of research subjects and biobank participants.

Dire la verità / To tell the truth

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-88
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Turoldo
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Western Culture ◽  
Philosophical Reflection ◽  
Greek Culture ◽  
Reflective Judgement ◽  
Christian Culture ◽  
Professional Fields ◽  
Short Essay ◽  
Good Purpose

Dire o non dire la verità? Mentire a fin di bene? Dire subito tutta la verità, oppure farla trapelare progressivamente, tenendo conto della capacità che l’interlocutore ha di sopportarla? Questi dilemmi etici si pongono nei più svariati campi professionali e, prima ancora, nella nostra vita quotidiana. Le diverse tradizioni che hanno dato origine alla cultura occidentale, a cominciare dalla cultura greca e da quella giudaico-cristiana, hanno avuto atteggiamenti diversificati nei confronti della verità e della menzogna? E la modernità come si è posta di fronte a questo tema? Infine, come si è sviluppata la riflessione filosofica su questi temi? Come si sono posti autori quali Platone, Agostino, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Grozio, Kant, Constant, Feyerabend, MacIntyre, Sandel, di fronte a questo problema? Dopo aver preso in esame queste questioni il saggio prova a dare una risposta alla difficile problematica, facendo leva sulla nozione aristotelica di phronesis e su quella kantiana del giudizio riflettente, mettendone alla prova l’efficacia soprattutto nel campo della bioetica e della pratica clinica in medicina. ---------- Can we lie for a good purpose? Is it better to tell the whole truth immediately, or to leak it progressively, taking into account the interlocutor’s capacity to suffer? These ethical dilemmas are often raised in the most varied professional fields and first of all in our daily life. Do the different traditions that gave rise to western culture share similar attitudes towards truth and lies? What about Greek culture? What about Judeo-Christian culture? What about Modernity? How has philosophical reflection developed these topics? What did Plato, Augustine, Machiavelli, Grotius, Kant, Constant, Feyerabend, MacIntyre and Sandel think about these issues? After dealing with these difficult questions, this short essay tries to look for an answer in the Aristotelian concept of phronesis and in the Kantian notion of reflective judgement, testing these conceptual tools through bioethical and clinical medical cases.

scholarly journals Introduction to the Kornai 90 Symposium

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-47
Author(s):  
Dóra Piroska ◽  
Miklós Rosta
Keyword(s):  
Budget Constraint ◽  
The Political ◽  
Soft Budget Constraint ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Socialist System

AbstractThis introduction to the Kornai 90 Symposium briefly overviews János Kornai's rich scholarship with the aim of highlighting those features of Kornai's work that are of particular interest to institutional economists. Above all, the introduction browses through some of his main works, such as Overcentralization, Anti-Equilibrium, and Economics of Shortage, with a special emphasis on the soft budget constraint, The Socialist System, and Kornai's latest writings on Hungary's U-turn. We invoke the political contexts of these works to suggest their impact on Kornai's diverse questions, changing methods, and the constraint they put on his conclusions as well as on the reception of the research results. In the end, we underline that Kornai was an independent scholar with an interest in a variety of methods and approaches, who nevertheless, or maybe consequently, had a remarkable impact on the thinking of social scientists and practitioners alike. The four papers presented in the symposium are testimonies to the living impact of Kornai's oeuvre on institutionalist analysis today.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document