Alexa Albert and Yngve Ramstad
The Social Psychological Underpinnings of Commons's Institutional Economics: The significance of Dewey's Human Nature and Conduct
The Social Psychological Underpinnings of Commons's Institutional Economics: The Significance of Dewey's Human Nature and Conduct B3 - Commons contended that psychology is fundamental to economic explanation and made negotiational psychology, with its key explanatory principle Willingness, a central element of his analytical framework. Declaring that social, not individual, psychology lies at the base of transactional behavior, Commons explicitly linked his standpoint to Dewey's "social psychology of custom." Commons never explained the relationship. Textual analysis is employed to demonstrate that Commons' presumptions about the nature and role of habit, the relationship between habit and custom, and intelligence-in-action are concordant with Dewey's perspective. The significance of this actuality for Commons's system is explored. B6- J. Econ. Issues B7- December, 1997 B8- 31(4), pp. 881-916 C4- B4 - University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, U.S.A.; University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, U.S.A.
Multipliers and Life Cycles: A Comparison of Methods for Evaluating Tourism and Its Impacts
Given the importance of tourism in the world economy,
and its attraction for
communities seeking to increase income and employment, it
is important to recognize
the inadequacy of the common multiplier approach in
assessing the impacts of tourism
development. In any locale, tourism changes as the
industry develops, and it changes
the economic landscape with it. This article reviews life
cycle models that attempt to
incorporate these changes, and considers the incorporation
of social welfare indicators
in these models, specifically with reference to the region
of the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park in the U.S.A., J. Econ. Issues December,
1997, pp. 917-932, Portland
General Electric Company, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
John R. Commons and the Special Interest Issue: Not Really Out of Date
Critics of John R. Commons assume that contemporary
writings on special interests
invalidate what he wrote about pressure groups. The
critics however argue from the
standpoint of an adversarial democracy in which
preferences are fixed while Commons
assumed a deliberative democracy in which dialogue and
inquiry can modify
preferences. As a result, the critics miss Commons's
insight that the problem is not one
of controlling interest groups but of channeling their
energies toward inquiry into the
definition of reasonable values and the attainment of an
evolving public purpose. Contemporary scholarship supports
the relevance of the Commons position. J. Econ. Issues,
December, 1997 , pp. 933-949, SUNY College at Brockport,
Brockport, New York, U.S.A.
Foreign Finance and the Collapse of the Mexican Peso
The capital surge of the early 1990's presented Mexican
policy makers with a dilemma between risking public debt
accumulation and risking price stability. Attempting to
straddle the horns, Mexico wound up impaled upon both.
Now, despite a decade of reforms aimed at privatizing
exchange rate risk, the government has absorbed a large
portion of the losses stemming from the 1994 collapse of
the peso. - J. Econ. Issues, December, 1997, pp. 951-967,
University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi, U.S.A.
Strategies for Maintaining Market Power in the Face of Rapidly Changing Technologies
The presence of competition in the information and
communication services market is not a sufficient indicator
that monopolization strategies have ceased to be effective
in the face of rapid technological change. This paper
offers an institutional perspective on the strategic
positioning of the players in U.S. and European markets
observing that the potential exists for the undue exercise
of market power albeit in new forms and on the part of new
players in the industry. Regulatory intervention focused
in key areas will be necessary if smaller, newer entrants
are to flourish in interactive service markets. J. Econ.
Issues, December, 1997, pp. 969-989, The University of
Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
Dugger, William M. and Sherman, Howard J.
Institutionalist and Marxist Theories of Evolution
Full understanding of social evolution requires a theory
of cumulative causation focusing on technological change
within specific institutional contexts. But some kind of
theory of human conflict--class, racial, gender, vested
interests versus the common person--is equally vital to
understand why resistance occurs, how it is overcome, and
how change unfolds. Good institutionalist theory and good
Marxist theory both provide these vital components of a
theory of social evolution. Furthermore, their different
formulations and emphases can enrich each other. J. Econ.
Issues, December 1997, pp. 991-1009, University of Tulsa,
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A.; University of
California-Riverside, Riverside, California, U.S.A.
Veblen and Technical Efficiency
It is well known that Thorstein Veblen accused the
turn-of-the-century captains of industry of sabotage. What
is not so well known is that, for Veblen, sabotage was not
simply a pejorative term. By sabotage, he meant a
"conscientious withdrawal of efficiency." But efficiency,
as both Veblen and a number of the engineers of his time
used the term, was not the now-standard microeconomic
efficiency. Veblen espoused a "technical," rather than a
cost-based, definition of efficiency, a concept that is
explored in this paper. J. Econ. Issue, December, 1997,
pp. 1011-1026, Bucknell University, Lewisburg,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Toward a Culture-Conception of Technology
The meaning and conception of technology, as offered by
Thorstein Veblen and interpreted by C.E. Ayres, among
others, has evolved over time. The culture-conception of
technology conforms to the growing recognition in the
institutionalist literature that social institutions need
not always be ceremonial but can also serve instrumental
functions. Social institutions are consequently integral
to technological development as well. Therefore, social
institutions in their origination and evolution can also be
amenable and permeable to the dynamics of useful knowledge.
B6 - J. Econ. Issues, December, 1997, pp. 1027-1038,
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon,U.S.A.
Van Lear, William and Fowler, Lynette
Efficiency and Service in the Group Home Industry
This paper compares the relative operational
efficiencies of for-profit group homes with nonprofit and
public group homes in North Carolina. Do efficiency and
service differ across the different types of
institutions? This paper employs data tabulated by an
accounting firm on group home operations. Nonprofit and
public group homes are more efficient and provide better
service than for-profit homes. The paper suggests that a
human service motivation compels efficiency, and funding
agencies and community boards force accountability from
nonprofit executives. J. Econ. Issues, December, 1997, pp.
1039-1050, Belmont Abbey College, Gastonia, North Carolina,
U.S.A.; Gaston Residential Services, Gastonia, North
Carolina, U.S.A.
Last Updated on: Friday, January 23, 1997