The goal of the paper is to discuss the explanation of commonly accepted goal of economy in a national level and the problems which threaten the goal. Though the leading economists of the 20th century have strictly su...The goal of the paper is to discuss the explanation of commonly accepted goal of economy in a national level and the problems which threaten the goal. Though the leading economists of the 20th century have strictly supported the necessity of close link between economics and morals, the mainstream economics mostly has regarded it as a problem of secondary importance. The paper discusses the deepest meaning of the generally accepted objective of economy--sustainable development, which necessarily should take into consideration the social dimension along with the economic and environmental. The different understandings of the wellbeing concept are considered and discussed, as it lies on the basis of the explanation of the goal--not any development, but development, which makes people happier. Next follows the discussion on the concepts of sustainability and its link with environment in a broader sense. It is followed by the discussion on the manipulations with human minds. The problem of the global and local economies is considered as a part of the discussion about the sustainability of economies of all levels. This leads to conclusions that social economics should be integrated in economic science as a substantial part. The idea of local economies is considered as an alternative to the present economic paradigm. The methodology of the conclusion making is based on qualitative historical analysis and empirical evaluation of the standpoints of the scientific discussion. The paper is mainly library-based. The ideas of world famous economists are taken from their own books in a printed form or that can be found in Internet. Conclusions are based on mainly qualitative comparison of the facts that arise from the theoretical discussion and empirical evidence of the study object manifestations in real life. Quantitative methods, briefly used, are basic econometrics--conventional correlation analysis, based on the statistic data of the World Bank. The scientific discussion has been approbated in students＇ audience in the study course of macroeconomics in BA School of Business and Finance, Riga, and Ventspils University College, and has been discussed in the fifth International Conference of Latvian Economic Association and Latvian Academy of Sciences.展开更多
This paper explores a theoretical framework for demystifying the causes of the dysfunction and disorder of the present Chinese market economy.It is posited that Max Weber’s classification of the two potentially confl...This paper explores a theoretical framework for demystifying the causes of the dysfunction and disorder of the present Chinese market economy.It is posited that Max Weber’s classification of the two potentially conflicting ethics he associates with the behaviour of politicians,the ethic of conviction and the ethic of responsibility offers the basis for a more thorough and accurate account of the dysfunction and disorder within China’s current markets and political economy.Indeed,this paper contends that cultural determinism and neo-institutional economics fail to capture the contextual factors influencing the transition from the Maoist era of state control to contemporary China’s market led economy(following the opening-up of the country since 1978)than a wider reaching Weberian analysis of the contextual factors involved might achieve.This paper proposes that the distinct ethical foundation for the Chinese market economy is based upon the ethic of conviction,which is the continuity of the philosophical underpinnings of the national ideology during the Maoist era.In turn,this has led to the distortion of the incentives for firms in China to provide high-quality goods and services.This paper also conducts a study of the ethical foundations of the present Chinese economy from the comparative perspectives of Smith’s concept of the market economy and from a Confucian perspective.Through this comparative examination,it will be demonstrated that the ethical feature of the modern market economy,stemming from Smith and Confucianism,is based on the ethic of responsibility,which is a mutually opposed concept to the ethic of conviction;therefore,firms whose business ethics are founded upon the ethic of“responsibility”are less prone to deceive consumers as they adhere to a contractual“responsibility”towards the consumer that many Chinese firms still see as of secondary importance as the ethic of“conviction”still dominating the policies,society and culture of the centralist economic post-Maoist state.This paper further reveals that larger firms tend to have more corporate social responsibility due to their established branding effect,thus reflecting a more pervasive sense of the ethic of responsibility and vice versa for firms of a smaller size.This paper concludes with an economic model acting as a quantitative framework which further supports the theories proposed.展开更多
In this paper,a theoretical model is developed on the basis of systems theory,which structures the livelihood system of low-income households in a European country characterized by a semi-peripheral economy.Based on t...In this paper,a theoretical model is developed on the basis of systems theory,which structures the livelihood system of low-income households in a European country characterized by a semi-peripheral economy.Based on the proposed model,the complex system of network connections and formal and informal financial transactions,which households use in their daily lives to cover their expenses,becomes graspable.The proposed theoretical model is analyzed through simulations based on agent-based modelling(ABM)centred on empirical network data.Through the simulations,the author explores the mechanisms of the market and asks what formal and informal credit transactions determine its operation,how these factors shape the local social structure and how resilient the market is to crises.The results show that this dynamic,complex risk-sharing system has an inherent logic and it can mitigate the small liquidity shocks but it is not resistant to bigger financial shocks or overconsumptions.展开更多
文摘The goal of the paper is to discuss the explanation of commonly accepted goal of economy in a national level and the problems which threaten the goal. Though the leading economists of the 20th century have strictly supported the necessity of close link between economics and morals, the mainstream economics mostly has regarded it as a problem of secondary importance. The paper discusses the deepest meaning of the generally accepted objective of economy--sustainable development, which necessarily should take into consideration the social dimension along with the economic and environmental. The different understandings of the wellbeing concept are considered and discussed, as it lies on the basis of the explanation of the goal--not any development, but development, which makes people happier. Next follows the discussion on the concepts of sustainability and its link with environment in a broader sense. It is followed by the discussion on the manipulations with human minds. The problem of the global and local economies is considered as a part of the discussion about the sustainability of economies of all levels. This leads to conclusions that social economics should be integrated in economic science as a substantial part. The idea of local economies is considered as an alternative to the present economic paradigm. The methodology of the conclusion making is based on qualitative historical analysis and empirical evaluation of the standpoints of the scientific discussion. The paper is mainly library-based. The ideas of world famous economists are taken from their own books in a printed form or that can be found in Internet. Conclusions are based on mainly qualitative comparison of the facts that arise from the theoretical discussion and empirical evidence of the study object manifestations in real life. Quantitative methods, briefly used, are basic econometrics--conventional correlation analysis, based on the statistic data of the World Bank. The scientific discussion has been approbated in students＇ audience in the study course of macroeconomics in BA School of Business and Finance, Riga, and Ventspils University College, and has been discussed in the fifth International Conference of Latvian Economic Association and Latvian Academy of Sciences.
文摘This paper explores a theoretical framework for demystifying the causes of the dysfunction and disorder of the present Chinese market economy.It is posited that Max Weber’s classification of the two potentially conflicting ethics he associates with the behaviour of politicians,the ethic of conviction and the ethic of responsibility offers the basis for a more thorough and accurate account of the dysfunction and disorder within China’s current markets and political economy.Indeed,this paper contends that cultural determinism and neo-institutional economics fail to capture the contextual factors influencing the transition from the Maoist era of state control to contemporary China’s market led economy(following the opening-up of the country since 1978)than a wider reaching Weberian analysis of the contextual factors involved might achieve.This paper proposes that the distinct ethical foundation for the Chinese market economy is based upon the ethic of conviction,which is the continuity of the philosophical underpinnings of the national ideology during the Maoist era.In turn,this has led to the distortion of the incentives for firms in China to provide high-quality goods and services.This paper also conducts a study of the ethical foundations of the present Chinese economy from the comparative perspectives of Smith’s concept of the market economy and from a Confucian perspective.Through this comparative examination,it will be demonstrated that the ethical feature of the modern market economy,stemming from Smith and Confucianism,is based on the ethic of responsibility,which is a mutually opposed concept to the ethic of conviction;therefore,firms whose business ethics are founded upon the ethic of“responsibility”are less prone to deceive consumers as they adhere to a contractual“responsibility”towards the consumer that many Chinese firms still see as of secondary importance as the ethic of“conviction”still dominating the policies,society and culture of the centralist economic post-Maoist state.This paper further reveals that larger firms tend to have more corporate social responsibility due to their established branding effect,thus reflecting a more pervasive sense of the ethic of responsibility and vice versa for firms of a smaller size.This paper concludes with an economic model acting as a quantitative framework which further supports the theories proposed.
基金supported by the Hungarian National Research Fund,in the framework of the research project“Moralities of dependent relations in the era of financialisation”under Grant No.K-143543。
文摘In this paper,a theoretical model is developed on the basis of systems theory,which structures the livelihood system of low-income households in a European country characterized by a semi-peripheral economy.Based on the proposed model,the complex system of network connections and formal and informal financial transactions,which households use in their daily lives to cover their expenses,becomes graspable.The proposed theoretical model is analyzed through simulations based on agent-based modelling(ABM)centred on empirical network data.Through the simulations,the author explores the mechanisms of the market and asks what formal and informal credit transactions determine its operation,how these factors shape the local social structure and how resilient the market is to crises.The results show that this dynamic,complex risk-sharing system has an inherent logic and it can mitigate the small liquidity shocks but it is not resistant to bigger financial shocks or overconsumptions.
