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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
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Issue of 2015‒04‒02
forty-five papers chosen by |
| By: | Acheson, Graeme G.; Coyle, Christopher; Turner, John D. |
| Abstract: | In the last 15 years of the nineteenth century c.300 British brewers incorporated and floated securities on the stock market. Subsequently, in the 1900s, the industry suffered a long-lived hangover. In this paper, we establish the stylised facts of this transformation and estimate the gains enjoyed by brewery investors during the boom as well as the losses suffered by investors during the bust of the 1900s. However, not all brewery equity shares suffered alike. We find that post-1900 performance correlates positively with capital-market discipline and good corporate governance and negatively with family control, but does not correlate with indebtedness. |
| JEL: | N23 N43 N83 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:qucehw:1501&r=his |
| By: | Aloysius Siow |
| Abstract: | The obituary discusses why Gary Becker is one of the most successful social scientist in the second half of the twentieth century. It argues that his success was due to his ability to recognize which resources are scarce in non-market situations and environments, and to use economics to analyze how these scarcities affected the non-market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | obituary, Gary Becker |
| JEL: | B0 |
| Date: | 2015–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-536&r=his |
| By: | Michael McLure (University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | In 1924-25 A. C. Pigou was a member of the “Committee on the Currency and Bank of England Note Issues”, which became known as the ‘Chamberlain-Bradbury’ Committee after its two successive chairmen. The Committee’s report is historically important for recommending a bold and quick return to the gold standard, which the British government accepted and acted on. This paper, which is the first in a three part study, briefly provide the historical context for the Committee’s establishment; and reviews those parts of the transcripts of testimony given to the Committee by its witnesses that Pigou highlighted and which are suggestive of his understanding of the Committee’s intended purpose. As such, the purpose of this paper is to lay the foundation for the subsequent two parts of the study of Pigou’s membership of the ‘Chamberlain-Bradbury’ Committee. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:14-04&r=his |
| By: | ASLI DALDAL (YILDIZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY) |
| Abstract: | Literature is an important component of a community’s culture.The relationship between literature and culture is a complex one: literature shapes a given culture and in turn is shaped by it. A literary piece of work is not the solitary production of the writer whose sole incitement is inspiration. Quite the contrary, literature is not neutral vis a vis the cultural and political requirements of its community. In fact culture itself is in no way immune from the surrounding ideology and politics of identity. This means that literature, culture and politics(of identity) are inseparable from each other and they all constitute different circles of the same chain of knowledge. This presentation will focus on the works of three famous Turkish writers namely Ahmed Hamdi Tanpınar,(Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü-The Society for Setting Clocks, 1961 ) Kemal Tahir (Devlet Ana, 1967) and Atilla Ilhan (Dersaadet’te Sabah Ezanları, Morning Prayers in Istanbul, 1981) whose historical novels are the best examples of the complex relationship between literature, culture and politics of identity formation. Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar's Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü is an allegorical novel criticizing various aspects of the Kemalist Ideology. The present analysis will mostly concentrate on the "leadership aspect" of Kemalism that Tanpınar implicitly criticizes. The "father complex" he talks about is the most controversial aspect of the Kemalist ideology. Kemal Tahir's Devlet Ana, on the other hand, is no doubt one of the most influential historical-novels of the late-Republican Era. In a sense it exemplifies Tzvetan Todorov's emphasis on how a novel can be more influential than a mere history book in propagating a peculiar understanding of history. Kemal Tahir's aim here is to transfer his philosophy of nationalism to the reader via a history novel based on a myth. Atilla Ilhan’s Dersaadet’te Sabah Ezanları is also a historical novel. Similar to Kemal Tahir’s Devlet Ana, this novel also constitutes a good example of Todorov’s emphasis on literature and history. Similar to Devlet Ana, its language and narrative style gives us the impression that the author(or more truly the narrator) does in fact live in those days with these people(there exists a reality effect, the impression of reality which substitutes truth with fiction). To increase this impression of reality, both authors(Tahir and İlhan) adds some familiar(but somehow obscure, even mystical) figures among the protagonists. |
| Keywords: | Literature, Politics, History |
| JEL: | Y90 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0701568&r=his |
| By: | Leslie Hannah (The London School of Economics and Political Science); Makoto Kasuya (Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | La Porta et al see Anglo-American common law as most favourable to economic development, but in 1899 Japan explicitly preferred the German corporate law tradition. Yet its new Commercial Code omitted the GmbH (private company) form, which Guinnane et al see as the jewel in the crown of Germany’s organizational menu. Neither apparent “mistake†retarded Japan’s business development because its corporate laws offered flexible governance and liability options, implemented liberally. Surprisingly (given that Germany’s organizational menu predated Japan’s by many decades and the country was wealthier), by the 1930s Japanese businesses already used not only corporations proper (kabushiki kaisha) but also commandite partnerships (goshi kaisha, with more corporate characteristics than Anglo-American partnerships) more intensively than Germany. After the introduction of the yugen kaisha (a GmbH-equivalent) in 1940, corporate forms were nearly as widely used in Japan as in the US, the UK or Switzerland. -- |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tky:fseres:2015cf966&r=his |
| By: | Petr V. Rezvykh (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Using a dialogue between the Moscow Pastor Karl Albrecht Sederholm with Schelling as an example, and referring to many unpublished archive documents and manuscripts, this article analyses the role of Sederholm in the cultural transfer between Russia and Germany and the complex interaction between theological, philosophical, religious, political and personal factors in the reception of Schelling's and Hegel's ideas in Russia in the first half of 19th century |
| Keywords: | Schelling, G.W.F.Hegel, Sederholm, German idealism, romanticism, philosophy of religion, Russian philosophy |
| JEL: | Z12 Z19 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:91hum2015&r=his |
| By: | Hüseyin MuÅŸmal (Selçuk University) |
| Abstract: | The study that called as the incidents of violance to women and abortion according to court records of Konya at the first half of XVIII. Century, in general scale aims to investigate view of man to woman in familiy in Ottoman Public. Besides, it targets determination of difference of man and woman’s attitutes and behaviors in the scale of case that was seen in court records particularly in Konya.As unspoken topic, there are cases that pegnant women demanded punishment or purchase Money when they aborted or gave prematüre birth after argument and beating. Particularly this study aims to investigate determination of historical bound of leaning about violance to woman; and in generally, aims to investigate view of man to woman in example of Konya public in Konya city which was one of the biggest city of Anatolia in Ottoman Empire era an deven now is between the biggest cities of Republic of Türkiye and is known with conservative side, by using these cases. |
| Keywords: | Woman / Konya / Ottoman |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0201299&r=his |
| By: | Karen Knight (University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | Shortly after the appearance of the first printing run of A.C. Pigou’s The Theory of Unemployment, Macmillan and Company made available to purchasers a Corrigenda slip. Reviewers of the book identified additional errors and slips, particularly in Pigou’s mathematical work. This paper considers the broad evolution of Pigou’s economic thought on unemployment and the implications of unpublished correspondence discovered in the Marshall Library archives alerting Pigou to errors appearing in the first printings of The Theory of Unemployment. Pigou’s departure from the Marshallian tradition of placing mathematics in the background of economic theorising, and reasons why his 1933 text required a substantial corrigenda, are examined. It is argued that the impact of Pigou’s treatise on unemployment on the development of economic thought extended beyond its contributions to unemployment theory. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:14-08&r=his |
| By: | Johan Fourie (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Albert Grundlingh (Department of History,University of Stellenbosch); Martine Mariotti |
| Abstract: | Using newly digitized and transcribed attestation records, we provide a detailed description of the composition of the South African Constabulary, a volunteer force of mostly English recruits during and after the Second South African War. These records contain personal particulars, such as age, country of origin, occupation and religion, for 10 399 service terms. We also match these attestation records to the delistment records for each recruit, providing evidence about cause of exit and length of service. The records not only provide a wealth of genealogical data, but also inform our understanding of comparative living standards in the colonies. |
| Keywords: | Anglo-Boer War, South African War, soldiers, recruits, attestation forms, stature |
| JEL: | N30 N37 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers236&r=his |
| By: | Stefano Fenoaltea |
| Abstract: | In post-Unification Italy the cyclical movements of the economy largely reflected those in the production of durable goods. The engineering industry has been seen as one that transformed metal into machines: its metal consumption suggests that investment in machinery followed the Kuznets-cycle long swing, as construction did, that domestic production ever dominated the domestic market, and that changes in protection didn’t matter. New, disaggregated timeseries estimates force a radical revision of these long-held views. Far more metal was turned into (ever-protected) hardware than into machines: the long cycle in aggregate “engineering†was not so much parallel to, as simply part of, the cycle in construction. Investment in machinery grew altogether more steadily than investment in infrastructure, with more numerous but far more modest cycles (and a heretofore unrecognized peak in 1907). All the extant interpretations of Italy’s industrial progress in the period at hand turn on the nonexistent long swing in industrial investment, and they all collapse together. The domestic production of machinery, initially very small, reacted strongly to increases in net protection: the conventional view of the impact of the tariff is also to be jettisoned. |
| Keywords: | method, engineering, Italy |
| JEL: | E01 N13 N63 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:358&r=his |
| By: | Barreca, Alan I. (Tulane University); Clay, Karen (Carnegie Mellon University); Deschenes, Olivier (University of California, Santa Barbara); Greenstone, Michael (University of Chicago); Shapiro, Joseph S. (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | A critical part of adapting to the higher temperatures that climate change brings will be the deployment of existing technologies to new sectors and regions. This paper examines the evolution of the temperature-mortality relationship over the course of the entire 20th century in the United States both for its own interest but also to identify potentially useful adaptations that may be useful in the coming decades. There are three primary findings. First, the mortality impact of days with a mean temperature exceeding 80° F has declined by about 70%. Almost the entire decline occurred after 1960. There are about 14,000 fewer fatalities annually than if the pre-1960 impacts of high temperature on mortality still prevailed. Second, the diffusion of residential air conditioning can explain essentially the entire decline in hot day related fatalities. Third, using Dubin-McFadden's discrete-continuous model, we estimate that the present value of US consumer surplus from the introduction of residential air conditioning (AC) in 1960 ranges from $83 to $186 billion ($2012) with a 5% discount rate. The monetized value of the mortality reductions on high temperature days due to AC accounts for a substantial fraction of these welfare gains. |
| Keywords: | health, temperature, air conditioning, climate change adaptation |
| JEL: | I18 J10 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8915&r=his |
| By: | Joshua Bon (University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | The UWA Economics Discussion Paper Series has, for the past 33 years, provided a platform for economic research, collaboration amongst academic economists, and the debate of policy issues. More than 750 papers have been published since the inception of the Series in 1980. The Discipline’s first 750 papers, the focus of this paper, contain a rich archive of economic thought generated by the economists and affiliates of UWA over these years. Further, the series represents a valuable store of data on the authors, their topics and subsequent publications owing to the Series. This paper explores the Economics Discussion Paper Series from a number of perspectives. The aim being firstly, to better record the legacy of the Series and secondly, provide some tools for future studies on collections of academic papers. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:14-11&r=his |
| By: | Jørgen Modalsli (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | There are large differences in intergenerational mobility between countries. However, little is known about how persistent such differences are, and how they evolve over time. This paper constructs a data set of 835,537 linked father-son pairs from census records and documents a substantial increase in intergenerational occupational mobility in Norway between 1865 and 2011. The increase is most pronounced in nonfarm occupations. The findings show that long-run mobility developments previously described for the US and UK are not necessarily representative for other countries, and that high mobility in a given country today need not reflect high mobility before industrialization. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational mobility; Occupations; Mobility measurement; Economic history |
| JEL: | J62 N33 N34 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:798&r=his |
| By: | Bessolitsyn, Alexander (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) - Department of History, RANHiGS) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the process of forming a system of business education in pre-revolutionary Russia. Particular attention is paid to the state's role as an organizer of business education that provided institutional support for the process at the turn of XIX-XX centuries. The causes and analyzes the features of formation of higher business education in Europe as well as the use of the European experience in establishing a system of business education in Russia are revealed. Also, a range of issues, including the financing of commercial schools and education programs, the level of the teaching staff and the duration of studies in a commercial college are considered. |
| Keywords: | business education, xix century, xx century, state |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rnp:ppaper:r90231&r=his |
| By: | Martin Komrska (University of Economics, Prague); Marek Hudík (Centre for Theoretical Study, Charles University and Academy of Sciences, Prague) |
| Abstract: | Contrary to the received view, we maintain that Hayek’s monetary policy recommendations were not inconsistent. The prevalent perception of early Hayek as the money stream stabilizer and late Hayek as the price level stabilizer is attributable to an unjustified normative interpretation of Hayek’s positive analysis. We argue that in his contributions to monetary theory, Hayek took the goals of monetary policy as exogenously given and analysed the efficiency of different means to achieve these goals. Hayek’s allegedly inconsistent switch from being a critic to an advocate of price level stabilization is explained by a change in the issues on which he focused, rather than by a change in his theoretical views. We also claim that Hayek was always aware that every practical monetary policy involves difficult trade-offs and was thus reluctant to impose his own value judgments about what people should strive for.*We would like to thank Pavel Potužák for his helpful comments on an earlier draft. Any mistakes are, of course, ours. |
| Keywords: | F. A. Hayek; monetary policy; Austrian business cycle theory; price level stabilization; money stream stabilization |
| JEL: | B22 B31 B53 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iefpro:0402133&r=his |
| By: | Ahu Fatma MANGIR (Selçuk University) |
| Abstract: | Accepted as cultural value, the handkerchief which was introduced into Anatolia from Central Asia has still persisted its importance as both functional and symbolic meanings. Even it has been known and used since B.C., introduction of the handkerchief in Turkish life based on Central Asia with the evidence of images in stones belonging to 6.th century.The handkerchief has introduced in Turkish culture as metarial item and several symbolic meanings and these symbols which has been still continued in our times can be understood due to the different usage of the handkerchief. It has been also used as communitacation tool for the people’s feelings, emotions and thought. They all have been expressed through the handkerchief.The handkerchief which was seen in Central Asia with the evidence of images in stones, balbals and miniature has been persisted its existence as a part of Turkish culture. The portrait of Turkish Rulers with smelling a rose in one hand and holding a handkerchief in the other were drawn traditionally. Especially, the handkerchief became essential part of those portrate of Ottoman Empires. In this study, the cultural and symbolic functions of handkerchief will be studied and the importance of the handkerchief in Turkish culture will be explanied. |
| Keywords: | Handkerchief, Symbol, Culture, Symbols of the reign |
| JEL: | Z00 Z00 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0702261&r=his |
| By: | Adibah Muhtar (UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA (UTM)); Akmaliza Abdullah (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia); Siti Suhaila Ihwani (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia) |
| Abstract: | The concept of gender deals with women's and men's place in society and social expectations from them. Gender relations vary from society to society and they are shaped in historical process. Gender equality, concisely defined as equal rights, opportunities and treatment between men and women, is yet an on-going contentious concept among Muslim feminists and women activists. Of late, gender studies have garnered a large number of interests from researchers across the globe, not to mention the Muslim World. The awareness of gender and Feminism in Muslim societies emerged by end of 19th century, namely in Middle East countries like Egypt, Turkey and Iran. Initially, Muslim women’s movement had been focusing on claiming women’s rights in public sector particularly in education, along with the Nationalism campaigns. However, as the Muslim feminist scholarship expands and grows, the discourse is shifted to contending Islamic Law pertaining women, attempting to reinterpret and re-read Islamic sources, and eventually reconstruct the Shari’ah or Islamic Law.The Muslims by and large are looking into this debatable notion from three standpoints. First, those who advocate total equality between men and women in every spheres of life, regardless of the differences in the natures and traits between both parties, physically and psychologically. Second, at the opposing end those who deny much of women’s rights and inevitably practice bias towards women in their customs and traditions, which subsequently create some kind of defensive and rebellious reactions from women. Third, those who advocate the moderate approach in dealing with gender issues, and seeking for the best appealing viewpoint by highlighting the ‘complementary idea’ in men-women relation. Hence, this paper attempts to revisit the trajectory of Muslim feminists and put forward the discursive notion of gender equality among Muslim scholarships, accentuating the various perspectives and approaches in dealing with it. It proposes that even though gender is not specifically discussed as a distinctive theme in Islam by early Muslim scholars, it nevertheless allocates distinctive status, rights and opportunities for women, corresponding to their distinctive natures and traits. |
| Keywords: | Muslim feminist, woman, gender, equality, feminism |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0100868&r=his |
| By: | Kenneth W Clements (Business School, University of Western Australia); Grace Gao (Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University) |
| Abstract: | Half a century ago, Barten (1964) and Theil (1965) formulated what is now known as the Rotterdam model. A path-breaking innovation, this system of demand equations allowed for the first time rigorous testing of the theory of the utility-maximising consumer. This has led to a vibrant, on-going strand of research on the theoretical underpinnings of the model, extensions and numerous applications. But perhaps due to its European heritage and unorthodox derivation, there is still misunderstanding and a tendency for the Rotterdam model to be regarded with reservations and/or uncertainties (if not mistrust). This paper marks the golden jubilee of the model by clarifying its economic foundations, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, elucidating its links with other models of consumer demand, and dealing with some recent developments that have their roots in Barten and Theil’s pioneering research of the 1960s. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:14-34&r=his |
| By: | Christian Oesterheld (Mahidol University International College) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes East German perceptions of the Khmer Rouge revolution, particularly its ideological tenants vis-à-vis other communist and socialist currents, as well as developments of the movement’s diplomat relations before and during its exercise of power. The German Democratic Republic’s diplomatic archives for the period of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979), the Khmer Rouge’s extremist utopia, have recently become publicly accessible. The archival holdings provide a wide-ranging collection of internal assessments, official propaganda materials, diplomatic cables and minutes of ambassadorial meetings, as well as communication between the GDR’s diplomatic corps and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. My analysis of these thus far unknown materials suggests that, initially, East Germany – exemplary also for other regimes of the Soviet block – pursued a delusive hope of integrating the Khmer Rouge into a worldwide socialist brotherhood, with some, if skeptical, praise for the daring policies of Democratic Kampuchea’s early phase. Two years into the regime, however, a sharp decline in the European socialist euphoria towards Khmer Rouge style communism can be noted, accelerated by growing tensions between Democratic Kampuchea and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam which ultimately led to the Third Indochina War. At the same time, the GDR’s diplomatic archives provide irritated accounts for the Khmer Rouge’s heightened interest in developing diplomatic relations with the Third World and western nations.The wide range of archival documents analyzed here helps to foster a more differentiated understanding of intra-ideological debates in socialist and communist countries during a critical phase of the Cold War and contributes further to the hitherto fragmentary assessment of the Khmer Rouge’s ideology. |
| Keywords: | Khmer Rouge ; Democratic Kampuchea ; East Germany ; Diplomatic Relations ; Ideology |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0200843&r=his |
| By: | Elvan Sütken (Anadolu University, Faculty of Law) |
| Abstract: | In Roman Law, a contribution or a gift under the name of “dos†was given by the wife’s family to the husband in order to cover the expenses of the woman’s future family’s household. For this reason, dos could be defined as a maternal influence in family finance in Roman Law when it is evaluated in economic sense. Dos was also called as “dowryâ€. At the beginning, giving dos was customarily, but later on it turned into be legal necessity. Every single thing that is included in a property could be given as dowry. Usually slaves, farms, certain amount of money were subject to dowry. But sometimes, ornaments were also given as dowry. Income-yielding property was the most welcomed dowry for the permanent household expenses. A chose in action could be also subject to dowry. Marriage without a dos was not welcomed.Women’s paterfamilias gave some property to the husband as dos which was also called marriage portion. By passing of the dos to the husband, the husband undertook a duty of assisting his wife in all respects which means both spiritually and materially. In this way, woman’s situation in the marriage was thought to be refined and thus she had a bastion in her husbands level of living. Coming to talk about the functions of dos; we shall classify its functions in two: Some legists say that “dos†was given by the wife’s family to the husband in order to cover the expenses of the woman’s future family’s household. Another group of legists say that dos is important for that in case of divorce, woman has got the right of taking dos with her so it would guarantee her sustentation after marriage. Therefore dos is mainly regarded as a contribution for the expenses of household during marriage but dos is also regarded as a subsistence benefit for woman in case of the breaking up of the marriage. If we consider dos as a contribution for the expenses of household, we shall say that husband has the rights of using it so it belongs to husband. But if we consider dos as a subsistence benefit for woman in case of the breaking up of the marriage, then we shall say that husbands has less rights on it and dos belonges to woman in fact. |
| Keywords: | Roman law, dos, marriage gift, Roman marriage, expenses of household, maternal contribution |
| JEL: | A12 Z00 Z19 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0802508&r=his |
| By: | Jacques Le Cacheux (OFCE) |
| Abstract: | Entre 1871 et 1914, la dette publique française a constamment été supérieure à 60% du PIB; elle a même dépassé 115% du PIB au milieu des années 1880, mais avait été ramenée à un peu plus de 60% du PIB à la veille de la Première guerre mondiale.La période n’est pas sans similitudes avec les conditions économiques présentes. Notamment, pendant les deux premières décennies de cette période, l’économie française a connu une «Longuestagnation». L’endettement public élevé a-t-il pesé sur les performances économiques françaises ? Quel a été l’effet du grand programme d’investissement public dans lesinfrastructures de transport conçu par le ministre Freycinet? Et de la hausse des dépensespubliques d’éducation? Ces questions ont été très débattues à l’époque, et le sont encore;mais il est indéniable qu’à partir des années 1890la France, portée par une importantevague d’innovations, connaît une prospérité économique sans précédent : avec la Belle époque, le ratio d’endettement public se résorbe sans effort |
| Keywords: | dette publique; france; histoire economique |
| JEL: | N13 N44 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/3vq5c5dm4l9hna2661vel91h71&r=his |
| By: | Federico Etro (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari); Elena Stepanova (Department of Economics, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the evolution of the price of paintings in the XVII century Amsterdam art market to test a hypothesis of endogenous entry: higher probability should attract more entry of painters, which in turn should lead to artistic innovations and more intense competition. We build a price index for the representative painting inventoried in Dutch houses through hedonic regressions controlling for characteristics of the paintings (size, genre, placement in the house), the owners (job, religion, value of the collection, size of the house) and the painters. After a peak at the beginning of the century, the real price of paintings decreases until the end of the century: we provide anecdotal evidence for which high initial prices attracted entry of innovators, and econometric evidence on the causal relation between price movements and entry of painters. The time series analysis supports the idea for which increasing prices attracted entry of innovative painters. |
| Keywords: | Art market, Endogenous entry, Dutch Golden Age, Hedonic prices, VAR analysis |
| JEL: | Z11 N0 D4 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2015:07&r=his |
| By: | Basu, Deepankar (Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts); (; ) |
| Abstract: | This paper surveys some of the quantitative empirical research in two areas of Marxist political economy: (a) Marxist national accounts, and (b) Marxist responses to the Sraffa-based critique of the 1970s. With respect to the first area, this paper explains the basic methodology underlying the construction of Marxist national accounts from traditional input-output data. With respect to the second area, it offers a short review of the theoretical literature surrounding the Sraffa-based critique of the 1970s, and subsequently discusses three Marxist responses in detail: the standard interpretation, the probabilistic interpretation and the new interpretation. It explains the basic theoretical positions of these three approaches and reviews the quantitative empirical work conducted within each. |
| Keywords: | Marxist political economy; national accounts; value controversy |
| JEL: | B51 C1 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ums:papers:2015-05&r=his |
| By: | Adrian R. Bell (ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading); Chris Brooks (ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading); Tony K. Moore (ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading) |
| Abstract: | This paper will show how the relatively voluminous surviving records about exchange rates in the middle ages can help to illuminate the much murkier question of medieval interest rates. We will first explain how the medieval FX market operated and its links to the money market. Next, we will set out the sources of our data on medieval exchange rates, the methodology for calculating interest rates from these exchange rates and provide our results for some key financial centres. These will be used to answer two fundamental questions: first, did the relationship between exchange rates include an element of interest and could FX transactions therefore be used to circumvent the usury prohibition? Second, what were the levels of interest charged on commercial loans in the Middle Ages and how did these compare to rates on government debt and consumer credit? We will also explore some distinctive seasonal patterns in these interest rates at different financial centres and show how these relate to wider trade flows. Finally, we will consider the significance of our findings for the current debate over whether there was a long-term halving of the risk-free interest rate after c.1350. |
| Keywords: | interest rates, exchange rates, Medieval England, usury, money market |
| JEL: | F31 N13 N23 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdg:icmadp:icma-dp2015-01&r=his |
| By: | Ball, Alastair |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence on the consequences of foetal exposure to high levels of pollution for the risk of stillbirth, and for the long-term health and labour market outcomes of those that survive. Variation in in utero exposure comes from a persistent weather system that affected London for five days in December 1952, preventing the dispersion of atmospheric pollution. This increased levels of total suspended particulate matter by around 300%. Unaffected counties in England and Wales are used in a differences-in-differences design to identify the short and long-term effects. Historical registrar data for the nine months following the smog show a 2% increase in reported stillbirths in London relative to national trends. As foetal deaths often go unreported, the exercise is then repeated for registered births. The data show around 1600 fewer live births then expected in London, or a reduction of 3% against national trends. Survivors are then identified by district and quarter of birth, and their health and labour market outcomes observed at fifty and sixty years old. Differences-in-differences estimates show that survivors are in general less healthy, less likely to have a formal qualification, and less likely to be employed than those unaffected by the smog. |
| Keywords: | Atmospheric pollution; Great London Smog; Fetal exposure; Health; Education; Employment |
| JEL: | I10 I18 Q53 |
| Date: | 2014–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:63229&r=his |
| By: | Simplice Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroun) |
| Abstract: | We review about 100 papers on Sino-African relations published during the past 5 years for the most part, in order to put some structure on the existing strands. The literature is classified into dominant schools of thought, namely the: neocolonial or pessimistic; balance-development or optimistic and accommodation schools. After the classification, we reconcile the schools of thought in light of dominant themes and debates on development models, inter alia: (1) pessimists versus (vs) optimists; (2) preferences of rights in development models (economic vs political, national vs human & sovereign vs idiosyncratic); (3) the Washington Consensus vs the Beijing Model and; (4) an African Consensus in both the Washington Consensus and Beijing Model. Both the first and second schools have core values articulated by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). |
| Keywords: | Economic relations; China; Africa |
| JEL: | F19 F21 O10 O19 O55 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:14/037&r=his |
| By: | Ruchi Agarwal (Mahidol University International College) |
| Abstract: | In this paper I would like to argue that Hinduism is vague and broad and thus leaves a lot of room for changes. Hindus preserve their local traditions and make amendments depending on the situation in the host country. The paper attempts to study the Hindu Diasporic community in Thailand, a country with strong Hindu presence. The main focus is on the transformations Hinduism has gone through over time in a country sharing a long history of over 2000 years of trade links with India and a strong influence of Hinduism still evident today. Although the Hindu diasporic community constitutes only a small fraction of the total population of Thailand, the evidences of strong Hindu influences on the religious beliefs, ceremonies, arts, and scriptures on Thai culture makes the case of Hindu diaspora in Thailand an interesting one to study. Hindu diaspora is an important group contributing immensely to the local environment and has been understudied in the past. The paper aims to fill this gap by presenting Thailand as a home away from home for the Hindu diaspora. Hinduism has gone through several transformations in this country however important elements, central to the traditional Hindu beliefs remain unchanged. The paper will be divided into three parts: history of Hinduism and its presence in Southeast Asia; the transformation in Hindu beliefs in a foreign land; and the extent to which traditions have been preserved among the diasporic community. |
| Keywords: | Beliefs, Diaspora, Hinduism, Thailand, Traditions |
| JEL: | Z12 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0200687&r=his |
| By: | Rogério Arthmar (Department of Economics, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, Brazil; Visiting Fellow, Economics Program, University of Western Australia, Business School); Michael McLure (Business School, University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | In 1955 the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei awarded the inagural Internazionale “Antonio Feltrinelli” Premio per le Scienze Economiche e Sociali to Arthur Cecil Pigou. This paper provides some context to the episode and considers the establishment of the prize; the membership of the 1955 selection committee; the activities of this committee, especially those of its secretary, Gustavo Del Vecchio. Correspondence between A. C. Pigou, Piero Sraffa and Del Vecchio pertaining to this prize is also examined. The most significant findings reported in this paper concern the discovery of Del Vecchio’s active role in supporting the nomination of Pigou for this prize; as well as Sraffa’s contention that Pigou had ‘never been honoured in proportion to his merits’ and his characterisation of the decision to award the International Antonio Feltrinelli Prize to Pigou as a ‘great act of justice’. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:14-32&r=his |
| By: | Fohlin, Caroline; Gehrig, Thomas; Haas, Marlene |
| Abstract: | Using a new daily dataset for all stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange, we study the impact of information asymmetry during the liquidity freeze and market run of October 1907 - one of the most severe financial crises of the 20th century. We estimate that the run on the market increased spreads from 0.5% to 3% during the peak of the crisis and, using a spread decomposition, we also demonstrate that fears of informed trading account for most of that deterioration of liquidity. Information costs rose most in the mining sector - the origin of the panic rumors - and in other sectors with poor track records of corporate reporting. In addition to wider spreads and tight money markets, we find other hallmarks of information-based illiquidity: trading volume dropped and price impact rose. Importantly, despite short-term cash infusions into the market, we find that the market remained relatively illiquid for several months following the panic. We go on to show that rising illiquidity enters positively in the cross section of stock returns. Thus, our findings demonstrate how opaque markets can easily transmit an idiosyncratic rumor into a long-lasting, market-wide crisis. Our results also demonstrate the usefulness of illiquidity measures to alert market participants to impending market runs. |
| Keywords: | information risk; liquidity risk; price discovery; rumour-based panic |
| JEL: | G00 G14 N00 N2 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10497&r=his |
| By: | Abiola Theresa Dopamu (University of Ilorin) |
| Abstract: | Africans believe that whatever happens to man in life has already been decided by God and is unalterable. The Yoruba believe that man chooses his destiny while coming into the world. Man kneels down to choose his lot before the presence of God and Orunmila (divinity) and God sanctions it. But according to Awolalu and Dopamu, man's destiny is unalterable except by the deities, wicked people , what man does on his own free-will , bad head (lot), and man's character. Philosophers like J. Omoregbe, critics like R. C. Sproul, Universal thinkers like H. Ballou, C. S. Lewis and Calvanists, believe that God has the final authority over man, that man is compelled to certain situations in life, irrespective of faith. Scientists like S. Kosslyn, R. Rosenberg and others submit that, gene affects and plays a major role in shaping man's abilities. Behavioural genetic researchers succinctly observe that heritability of various characteristics occur in specific environments, and gene contributes a certain amount of differences among people in particular environment, and the environments contribute a certain amount of such differences when people have particular genes. J. Edwards, succinctly states that as external force, which can affect a person's actions, compel him and lead him to an action. Some however, do not believe in predestination, destiny or fate. It is on this premise, that this paper seeks to assess: the extent to which predestination is evident, the extent to which faith works, and the extent to which God permits man have his own permissive will, which either works according to God's own planned way of salvation or damnation. This paper also examines: the relevance of faith in the face of fate, and the determinant of man's existence: fate or faith? In order to achieve the objectives of study, this paper therefore adopted the use of historical, descriptive and interpretative methods of research. From various arguments, observations, theories and historical documents, this paper finally concludes that: Christs' atonement is unlimited in its benefits, salvation is by grace save from good works, man's faith is tested at any point in time by God, God carries out His plans differently when dealing with men who have faith and those who do not have, God is the determiner of man's destiny, God has every authority, power and will over his creations, man is therefore compelled (to die) at God's own right time. |
| Keywords: | Socio-Religious, Predestination, Destiny, Fate, Akunleyan, Akunlegba, Ayanmo, Afowofa, iwa (character), |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0100021&r=his |
| By: | Terry Sicular (University of Western Ontario); Juan Yang (Beijing Normal University) |
| Abstract: | During the Cultural Revolution China embarked on a remarkable, albeit temporary, expansion of post-primary education in rural areas. This education expansion affected tens of millions of children who reached secondary school age in the late 1960s and 1970s. Exploiting the education expansion and variation across birth cohorts, we estimate the returns to schooling in rural China using household survey data from the mid-1990s. Our estimated returns of 11 to 20 percent are substantially higher than most previous estimates. We calculate the impact of the education expansion on subsequent labor market outcomes of the affected cohorts and find that they enjoyed significantly higher earnings than pre- and post-expansion cohorts. ;eywords: Education Expansion; Secondary Education; Returns to Schooling; Rural China; Cultural Revolution |
| JEL: | I21 I28 J24 J31 O15 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwo:hcuwoc:20152&r=his |
| By: | Brunela Kullolli (“Aleksander Moisiu†University of Durres); Igerta Bengu (The District Court of Fier) |
| Abstract: | Our contribution to the present conference, shall address in this topic : "The constitutional guarantee of civil procedural rights". The article discusses the history of constitutional guarantees of civil procedural rights in Albania, their theoretical and practical treatment from the viewpoint of the European Convention of Human Rights and the Albanian Constitutional Court. The first part of the report gives a concise picture of the historical evolution of constitutional guarantees of civil procedural rights in Albania. The second part addresses the types of civil procedural rights, terms and specific features that each of them represents. The third part involves their approach to the European Convention of Human Rights and the Jurisprudence of Constitutional Court of Albania in the field of application of these constitutional guarantees. The civil procedural rights, because of the importance that present, enjoy a broad constitutional protection. They constitute the basic and fundamental principles upon which is lifted the whole activity of state institutions in general and in particular the judicial one, in view of guaranteeing human rights and fundamental freedoms. The same warranty are predicted by the European Convention of Human Rights. Despite the legal provisions, in practise are observed cases of violation of these basic principles, which are determined by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Albania as a violation of the right to a due process. |
| Keywords: | The civil procedural rights, constitutional guarantee, Constitutional Court , European Convention of Human Rights, due process. |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0902997&r=his |
| By: | Amavilah, Voxi Heinrich |
| Abstract: | This paper comments on a number of social obstacles to the economic growth and technological change of African economies from the perspective of economic history. Economic history is full of evidence about what held African economies back for years. Some obstacles are of domestic origin such as excessive consumption and luxury masqueraded as public investment. Other obstacles were imposed from outside such as the destruction and weakening of traditional African religions and religious leadership as well as other wide ranging institutions. The combined effects can be summed up in one word: de-institutionalization. De-institutionalization devalued local knowledge (technology) thereby reducing performance. It is not possible to turn the clock back, but current policy is better-off bringing these obstacles into discussion as they stand a good chance of lowering the socalled “Africa dummy” variable common to growth regressions. Future research would also benefit if it sought to adjust conventional economic theory to allow space for the special features of African economies. Market theory is misleading in treating private use rights as antithetical to private ownership rights. For example, the suggestion that land tenure in Africa is anti-growth is inconsistent with the spectacular growth China has experienced even without private property rights. |
| Keywords: | Social obstacles, growth and change, African economies, ‘primitive’ economies, African traditional economies |
| JEL: | N17 Z1 Z13 |
| Date: | 2015–03–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:63273&r=his |
| By: | Manera, Carlos |
| Abstract: | Institutions like the IMF, the ECB and many finance ministries and private banks in the world's richest countries are sending out unequivocal calls for strict control of prices to be addressed urgently, given their intrinsic relationship with how the budget deficit and government debt evolve. These messages allow very little room for nuances or interpretations, stating categorically that price stability is the essential factor that guarantees economic growth and therefore plays a key role in enabling countries to achieve good living standards. Nevertheless, inflation, which nobody doubts needs to be kept under control, requires a much deeper analysis to avoid over-mechanical, over- simplistic applications for the present situation. We mustn't fall into what Paul Samuelson called basing economic policy on "shibboleths" - that is, hard and fast slogans that take over serious, thoughtful discussion and exchange of opinions. Especially since in economics slogans become hallmarks that are constantly repeated, and this repetition gets in the way of the obvious truth. This trend has led to the sale of intellectual products with no scientific backing. A case in point is David H. Fischer's book on prices. Addressing business leaders, he asserts categorically that econo mic cycles and crises have ended, but the actual economic events have disproved this. As Robert Solow warns, there is not one set of laws of economics applicable to all times and all places, and the part of e conomics that is not dependent upon economic history and the social context is very small and of little interest. |
| Keywords: | inflation,economic growth,heterodox view |
| JEL: | B50 B41 N1 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:eabhps:1501&r=his |
| By: | Gary Solon |
| Abstract: | “Multigenerational mobility” refers to the associations in socioeconomic status across three or more generations. This article begins by summarizing the longstanding but recently growing empirical literature on multigenerational mobility. It then discusses multiple theoretical interpretations of the empirical patterns, including the one recently proposed in Gregory Clark’s book The Son Also Rises. |
| JEL: | D1 D31 D63 J62 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21053&r=his |
| By: | Laurens Cherchye; Bram De Rock; Antonio Estache; Marijn Verschelde |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/196738&r=his |
| By: | Hilary W. Hoynes; Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach |
| Abstract: | This chapter provides an overview of the patchwork of U.S. food and nutrition programs, with detailed discussions of SNAP (formerly the Food Stamp Program), WIC, and the school breakfast and lunch programs. Building on Currie’s (2003) review, we document the history and goals of the programs, and describe the current program rules. We also provide program statistics and how participation and costs have changed over time. The programs vary along how “in-kind” the benefits are, and we describe economic frameworks through which each can be analyzed. We then review the recent research on each program, focusing on studies that employ techniques that can isolate causal impacts. We conclude by highlighting gaps in current knowledge and promising areas for future research. |
| JEL: | H53 I3 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21057&r=his |
| By: | Natalia Ilyniak (University of Manitoba) |
| Abstract: | Do Manitoba elementary schools’ history and social studies textbooks contain racist knowledge towards Indigenous peoples in Canada? Data is collected from a range of textbooks that are published between 1960 and 2013; all were found in schools’ libraries and classrooms within the past year. Youth are using even the dated books for research, and therefore consider them legitimate academic sources. The more recent publications are listed on the Manitoba Textbook Bureau, a government agency that designates acceptable books for teachers to use in the province. Surveying these textbooks illuminates various problematic ways that race and Indigenous peoples are taught and portrayed. Older textbooks rely on overtly racist rhetoric, such as labelling Indigenous peoples “barbarians,†“Noble Savages,†or suggesting that white settlers were the first people to live in Canada. More recent textbooks move away from this open racism towards a new subtle racism that blurs the lines between learned cultural traits and biological characteristics, essentializing social features. The notion that skin colour provides any deep genetic meaning has long been scientifically disproven. A result of this new, covert racism found in schools’ textbooks, combined with the accessibility of old overtly racist ones, is that racialized thinking becomes normalized amongst youth early on. |
| Keywords: | Racism; Indigenous peoples; Canada; textbooks |
| JEL: | F54 I21 Y90 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0302039&r=his |
| By: | Arne Risa Hole (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes an algorithm for creating a ranking of economics journals using data from the 2014 UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise. The ranking generated by the algorithm can be viewed as a measure of the average quality of the papers published in the journal, as judged by the REF Economics and Econometrics sub-panel, based on the outputs submitted to the REF. |
| Keywords: | Journal ranking, Research Excellence Framework |
| JEL: | A1 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2015011&r=his |
| By: | Strulik, Holger |
| Abstract: | This paper integrates a simple theory of identity choice into a framework of endogenous economic growth to explain how secularization can be both cause and consequence of economic development. A secular identity allows an individual to derive more pleasure from consumption than religious individuals, leading secular individuals to work harder and to save more in order to experience this pleasure from consumption. These activities are conducive to economic growth. Higher income makes consumption more affordable and increases the appeal of a secular identity for the next generation. An extension of the basic model investigates the Protestant Reformation as an intermediate stage during the take-off to growth. Another extension introduces intergenerationally dependent religious preferences and demonstrates how a social multiplier amplifies the speed of secularization. |
| Keywords: | economic growth,religion,identity,productivity,secularization,comparative development |
| JEL: | N30 O10 O40 Z12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:234&r=his |
| By: | Marinov, Eduard |
| Abstract: | Economic integration theory goes through two development stages each of which addresses the relevant for its time political and economic context The first stage is regarded as classic theory or static analysis and includes the traditional theories of economic integration that explain the possible benefits of integration. The second stage includes the new economic integration theories that are often referred to as dynamic analysis of economic arrangements. Besides these two, there is a third type of integration theories that deals with the effects, benefits and constrains of economic integration arrangements of developing and least developed countries. The current paper tries to come up with a conclusion on what parts of the classic and new integration theories are applicable to integration arrangement among developing countries and to summarize these theories. |
| Keywords: | Economic Integration, Integration Theory, Developing Coun-tries Integration |
| JEL: | B2 F15 F55 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:63310&r=his |
| By: | Lux, Thomas; Segnon, Mawuli; Gupta, Rangan |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the Markov-switching multifractal (MSM) model and generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH)-type models to forecast oil price volatility over the time periods from January 02, 1875 to December 31, 1895 and from January 03, 1977 to March 24, 2014. Based on six different loss functions and by means of the superior predictive ability (SPA) test, we evaluate and compare their forecasting performance at short and long horizons. The empirical results indicate that none of our volatility models can uniformly outperform other models across all six different loss functions. However, the new MSM model comes out as the model that most often across forecasting horizons and subsamples cannot be outperformed by other models, with long memory GARCH-type models coming out second best. |
| Keywords: | Crude oil prices,GARCH,Multifractal processes,SPA test |
| JEL: | C52 C53 C22 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fmpwps:31&r=his |
| By: | Roland Bénabou; Davide Ticchi; Andrea Vindigni |
| Abstract: | In earlier work (Bénabou, Ticchi and Vindigni 2013) we uncovered a robust negative association between religiosity and patents per capita, holding across countries as well as US states, with and without controls. In this paper we turn to the individual level, examining the relationship between religiosity and a broad set of pro- or anti-innovation attitudes in all five waves of the World Values Survey (1980 to 2005). We thus relate eleven indicators of individual openness to innovation, broadly defined (e.g., attitudes toward science and technology, new versus old ideas, change, risk taking, personal agency, imagination and independence in children) to five different measures of religiosity, including beliefs and attendance. We control for all standard socio-demographics as well as country, year and denomination fixed effects. Across the fifty-two estimated specifications, greater religiosity is almost uniformly and very significantly associated to less favorable views of innovation. |
| JEL: | O3 O31 O4 Z1 Z12 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21052&r=his |
| By: | Lucia Foster; John Haltiwanger; Shawn Klimek; CJ Krizan; Scott Ohlmacher |
| Abstract: | The growth and dominance of large, national chains is a ubiquitous feature of the US retail sector. The recent literature has documented the rise of these chains and the contribution of this structural change to productivity growth in the retail trade sector. Recent studies have also shown that the establishments of large, national chains are both more productive and more stable than the establishments of single-unit firms they are displacing. We build on this literature by following the paths of retail firms and establishments from 1977 to 2007 using establishment- and firm-level data from the Census of Retail Trade and the Longitudinal Business Database. We dissect the shift towards large, national chains on several margins. We explore the differences in entry and exit as well as job creation and destruction patterns at the establishment and firm level. We find that over this period there are consistently high rates of entry and job creation by the establishments of single-unit firms and large, national firms, but net growth is much higher for the large, national firms. Underlying this difference is far lower exit and job destruction rates of establishments from national chains. Thus, the story of the increased dominance of national chains is not so much due to a declining entry rate of new single-unit firms but rather the much greater stability of the new establishments belonging to national chains relative to their single-unit counterparts. Given the increasing dominant role of these chains, we dissect the paths to success of national chains, including an analysis of four key industries in retail trade. We find dramatically different patterns across industries. In General Merchandise, the rise in national chains is dominated by slow but gradual growth of firms into national chain status. In contrast, in Apparel, which has become much more dominated by national chains in recent years, firms that quickly became national chains play a much greater role. |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:15-10&r=his |
| By: | Cemal Çetin (Faculty of Letters, Departments of History, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey) |
| Abstract: | It is possible to mention crimes and criminals wherever people dwell. Definition of offence may vary according to societies in accordance with the influences of culture and religion. In Ottoman Law which has its roots in ecclesiastical and customary sources, it is observed that crimes are categorized in three groups as the ones requiring boundary, ones requiring retaliation and finally the ones requiring corporal punishment and political ban. Demonstration, prescription, jurisdiction and penalisation processes of these offences are all defined by ecclesiastical and customary law. While the ecclesiastical law is characteristically precise with regards to the jurisdiction and penalisation of offences, customary law adopted more practical solutions on these. In case of discrepancy, predicaments were overcome by bringing Islamic scholars’ views into action.In Ottoman law, adultery and prostitution which are regarded in boundary offences and drinking alcohol which was regarded in corporal law are observed to constitute integrity both as they cause liability to each other and are all related with recreation. In addition to being the actions banned by Islamic Law, they also drew the reaction of the society. In this reaction, individuals’ fear of being seen to be keeping quiet about these offences committed in the neighbourhood as well as the religious and moral worries played important roles. On adultery, prostitution and consuming alcohol, there are complementary judgements in both ecclesiastical and customary law with regards to occurrence, proving and punishment. When these judgements and court registries are compared, it is observable that not always is this theory valid and did the course proceed in the same way. Accordingly, sometimes inhabitants are observed to change the direction of prosecution process directly with their statements and moreover they are also seen to get involved in the process as a direct source of law.In this study, incidents of adultery, prostitution and alcohol incidents devolved to the court of Konya is going to be analyzed based upon the Konya Şer’iyye Registers generated in between 1650 and 1750 years. In this process, questions about how and where these incidents took place, which section of the society the criminals were from, how they were taken to the court, how the prosecution process went on, what the punishments were and what the reactions of the society were to these incidents are all going to be answered. |
| Keywords: | Alcohol, Adultery, Prostitution, Konya, Ä°slamic Law |
| JEL: | K36 K11 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0201290&r=his |