De Menil Research Articles

Overview of the Issue

Our first issue of the fifth volume of the JPEF features 4 research articles, an issues & policy piece and a book review section. The lead article is by Georges de Menil (PSE, Paris and Stern School, NYU), Fabrice Murtin (CREST(INSEE) and PSE, Paris) and Eytan Sheshkinski (Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Princeton University). The paper on “Planning for the Optimal Mix of Paygo Tax and Funded Savings” looks at the classical question of what the right balance is between pay-as-you-go and funded pension provision. Using a stochastic two period overlapping generations model, the authors show how optimal pension provision depends on the variances and correlations of labour earnings, return on capital and the internal rate of return on the pay-as-you-go pension system.

Possession: Intimate Artifice at The Menil Collection

The catalogue to The Menil Collection, The Menil Collection: A Selection from the Paleolithic to the Modern Era (1987), reproduces on its frontispiece Max Ernst's Portrait of Dominique [Figure 1], commissioned by John and Dominique de Menil in 1934. This was the painting they had left behind wrapped in brown paper on top of a closet when they left Paris during the war, not liking it sufficiently to ship it to their new home in Houston or to leave it in the care of friends. Indeed, before that, it had languished for more than a year at the frame shop since no one had cared to collect it and no delivery address had been left. It was not until the framer finally put the painting in his store window that a neighborhood priest recognized the image to be of Dominique and the portrait was claimed (de Menil 1964). Long since redeemed from its ignominy, the painting now forms the heart of what has become internationally one of the most significant collections of the work of Max Ernst, which itself forms a part of the 15,000-piece Menil Collection. Acquired over a period of 45 or so years, The Menil Collection is the formerly private collection of Dominique and John de Menil [Figure 2], open to the public since 1987 in the form of a purpose-built museum, designed by Renzo Piano. Considered a very important collection of New York School painting and among the most significant Surrealist collections in the United States, its holdings include pieces from an array of cultural and historical traditions. They have an antiquities collection; a very well regarded collection of Byzantine icons; Oceanic and African art; colonial art from the New World; and the European moderns, including Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Léger, Miró, and [End Page 765] Click for larger view Figure 1 Max Ernst, Portrait of Dominique, 1934, Oil and graphite on canvas, The Menil Collection, Houston.

Economic Reform in Ukraine: The Unfinished Agenda by Anders s> Åslund Georges de Menil (review)

REVIEWS 389 Aslund, Anders, and de Menil, Georges (eds). Economic Reform in Ukraine: The Unfinished Agenda.M. E. Sharpe, Armonk, NY, and London, 2000. xvi + 287 pp. Notes. Tables. Figures. Bibliographicalreferences. Index. $95.95. RECENT revelationsof corruptionin the highest officesof the Ukrainianpolity bear out much of the argument by Aslund, de Menil and their fellow contributors to this volume that corruption and rent-seeking behaviour are mainly to blame for Ukraine's baleful record of transition to a market economy and a viable political democracy. But that is only part of the story. There is clearly an element of personal disappointment in many of the contributions, since the authors were all part of a team of foreign experts assembled by the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute to advise the Ukrainian Government on economic reform, as well as six prominent Ukrainian officialsdirectlyinvolved in the reformprocess. The latterprovide a comprehensive, albeit not entirely impartial, insider'sview of the struggle for reformand its frustrationby political opponents. The chapters grew out of an international conference on the state of economic reformsin Ukraine held in Kyiv in mid-June i996. Most have been updated to the middle of I999. They contain much useful descriptive detail on the generalstrategyof reformand on specificsystemicand sectoralpolicies, such as taxation, fiscaland monetarypolicy, energypolicy, socialpolicy, price liberalization and privatization and its legal basis. On the whole, the recipe for transformation is the standard one of macro-economic stabilization, micro-economic liberalization and privatization in short, the so-called 'Washingtonconsensus'. In the impulse to get inflation down, prices up (via elimination of subsidies), and the farm sold of, there was scant room for concern with maintainingproduction and, hence, employment. The scenario was reminiscentof the old Radio Yerevanjoke: 'Isit possibleto build socialism in one country?'The answer:'Yes,but only if you live in another country.'In a book reviewed in this journal (FromShockto Therapy, SEER, 79:3, 200I, pp. 580-82) Grzegorz Kolodko, formerDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Poland, argued that it was only by getting away from this standard model that his country was successful in its transition to a market economy. Several of the authors, including Aslund himself, blame the UkrainianParliament(VerkhovnaRada) forsabotagingthe reformsat several crucialpoints, purelyforselfishpersonaland groupinterests.These arguments tend to forget that transition is a problem of political economy, not solely of economics sensu stricto. Parliamentariansmay well have been savingpoliticians like PresidentKuchma and Prime Minister Yushchenkofrom themselves.At least Kuchma seems to have come to this conclusion -by agreeing to the suspensionand reversalof some key reforms. In the longer run, Aslund and his colleagues are probably right;stasisand corruption do not leave much room for economic development, and the processes they have initiated must eventually be brought to some sort of completion. Collusionandrent-seekingbehaviourbyvariousinterestgroups so-called 'financial-industrialgroups' closely connected with the political authoritiesin Ukraineareprobablyworseeven thanin theRussianFederation. 390 SEER, 8o, 2, 2002 However, that, too, is not the whole story.A turnaboutto economic growth in 2000 and 200I, almost in spite of the factors listed by the contributors, suggeststhat the largelyprimary-industryexporting economy of Ukraine was just waiting for an upturnin Russian secondaryindustry,which also occurred at this time. As Aslund himself notes, poor Ukrainian economic performance cannot be blamed on Russian exploitation, as many Western commentators and some Ukrainians(mainlyfrom Galician Ukraine)have argued.The path dependency of the old Soviet model has had a largerimpact on Ukraine than, say, Estonia, a much smallereconomy with friendlyneighbours, like Finland and Sweden, willing to invest. Ukraine has little oil or gas to attract risk capital, and the by now infamous collusive, rent-seeking behaviour of Ukrainianoligarchsand theirpoliticalpatronshas created a legal climate that is not conducive to seriousforeigninvestment. Thus, Western alarm over Ukraine's alleged backsliding toward Russia rings a bit hollow in Kyiv and Kharkiv, if not L'viv. President Kuchma has skilfully played Moscow off against NATO and Washington in a style reminiscent ofYugoslavia's Titointhe 1950s, I960s andI97os. Hisheart,too, lay in Moscow, but his pocketbookwas opened in the directionof Washington and Brussels.Eventually, the economic transformationof Ukraine will have to be completed, but the final form of her economy, political system and her relationsbetween East and West will evolve along its own...

Real capital market integration in the EU: How far has it gone? What will the effect of the euro be?

Real capital market integration How far has integration gone? What euro effect? Much effort has been devoted to the study of financial market integration in Europe. Little is known, however, about real capital market integration – the degree to which plants and equipment move to take advantage of locally high returns. This paper looks at the evidence. An analysis of flows of foreign direct investment in Europe shows that integration was quite limited in the early 1980s, but has increased considerably since then. Another analysis looks at rates of return of a large number of firms. It reveals that country‐specific factors play a significant role in explaining corporate returns, even after taking risk into account. This finding is incompatible with the CAPM definition of market integration. The view that integration is limited in Europe is further strengthened when the same approach is carried out for the USA and Canada. Part of the national specificity appears to be related to labour and goods market regulations, which harm firms profitability. If, by introducing more transparency and eliminating currency risk, EMU strengthens competition on the real capital market, one obvious economic benefit will be a more rational and efficient use of capital, but the most important potential consequences are political. Special‐interest regulations of an exclusively national nature will not survive. They will either fall in a wave of internationalist liberalization, or become embedded in ‘harmonized’ regulations at the federal level. A reduction in excessive regulatory burdens, notably in the labour market, could lead to substantial and shared productivity gains. — Georges de Menil

Economies in transition: comparing Asia and Eastern Europe

In 1994, the Asia Foundation's Center for Asian Pacific Affairs began a two-year project to compare the transitions of selected East European and Asian economies from centrally-planned communist systems to market economies. The goal was to shed light on the transition process through an understanding of the underlying economic and institutional dynamics. This volume is the culmination of that project.The volume is divided into three parts. In the first part, an overview, the editors review the authors' findings and highlight major themes. The second part looks closely at the transition process in seven Asian and East European economies: China, Vietnam, Mongolia, Russia, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. The third part contains six comparative studies that explore key elements of the transition process. The papers incorporate feedback obtained from meetings with cabinet members and high government officials, conferences, and seminars in Prague, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Beijing, Ulan Bator, and Washington, D.C.Contributors : Leszek Balcerowicz, Barbara Blaszczyk, Peter Boone, Yuan Zheng Cao, Bruce Comer, Marek Dabrowski, Georges de Menil, Daniel C. Esty, Gang Fan, Boris Federov, Roman Frydman, Carol Graham, Stephen Parker, Andrzej Rapaczynski, James Riedel, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Baavaa Tarvaa, Vinod Thomas, Gavin Tritt, Adiya Tsend, Enkhbold Tsendjav, Joel Turkewitz, Narantsetseg Unenburen, Yan Wang, Wing Thye Woo

The art museums of Louis I. Kahn

The art has become a prestige commission for contemporary architects, and for several decades reference has been made to a museum building boom. Among these new museums, those of Louis Kahn are especially admired. This significant American architect, who ranks in this century with Frank Lloyd Wright both as a creator and as an influence, has made a special contribution to the architecture of museums and has helped create a subtle but telling change in the concept of what a late twentieth-century building should be. After a brief look at the development of a tradition in architecture, this study examines Kahn's three art museums: the Yale University Art Gallery, the Kimbell Art Museum, and the Yale Center for British Art. It traces the development of each through through its various stages: the background of the institutions and the commissions, the programs for the buildings, their designs and evolutions, their constructions, and the evaluations of the completed buildings. Material on Kahn's plans for a for the De Menil collection, begun shortly before his death, is also included. Accompanying the text are illustrations of the buildings, including Kahn's personal sketches, architectural plans and sections, and presentation perspective drawings. Photographs of the finished buildings present the transformed vision of the architect in tangible form, showing that the museums, while related, are individualized accomplishments. This is the first comprehensive study of Kahn's museums.

Wrestling Against Time: The Performance Aspects of Agni

Frits Staal's massive two-volume book details the backgrounds to, and the performance of, a “Vedic ritual,” the Agnicayana, in Panjal, Kerala, in 1975. In its own terms the book is a success. Staal has set down, or told the reader where to find, every word of the twelve-day Agnicayana; he has described every ritual event; he has included many superb photographs (by Adelaide de Menil); he has collected essays on the various aspects of the Agnicayana, including comparisons with rituals of Tibet, Bali, and Java and discussions of pre-Vedic ritual. The book falls short in considering the multiple and ambivalent aspects of Agnicayana 1975: How much was Agnicayana the creation of the scholars who wanted to discover an intact Vedic ritual? To what degree did the very filming of Agnicayana transform it into a media event? What can be said about scholarship based on hybrid events such as Agnicayana 1975?

Ciudad Bolívar's Museum of Modern Art (The Soto Foundation)

Museum International (Edition Francaise)Volume 37, Issue 3 p. 156-162 Ciudad Bolívar's Museum of Modern Art (The Soto Foundation) Hélène Lassalle, Hélène LassalleSearch for more papers by this author Hélène Lassalle, Hélène LassalleSearch for more papers by this author First published: January/December 1985 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-5825.1985.tb00981.x Born in Toulouse, France. Arts degree at the Sorbonne. École du Louvre. Curator at the Musée de Grenoble and the Musée de Rouen. Research fellowships at New York and Stanford universities. Prepared a catalogue raisonné of the ancient art collection of the De Menil Foundation, Houston. Curator at the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris. Now active as an art critic and specializing in aesthetics, semiotics, the sociology of art and psychoanalysis. Secretary-General of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA). AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume37, Issue3January/December 1985Pages 156-162 RelatedInformation

Models of Inflation Expectations Formation: A Comparison of Household and Economist Forecasts

THE RECENT APPRECIATION of the critical role played by expectations of inflation in the behavior of macromodels has stimulated empirical studies of the formation of expectations by different groups. Time series survey data on expectations of inflation exist now for economists, households, and businesses. These data have been used as independent variables in explaining wage behavior (Gordon [16], Turnovsky and Wachter [34], and de Menil and Bhatta [5]), prices (Turnovsky and Wachter [34] and Wachtel [36]), interest rates (Gibson [14], Hendershott and Van Horne [19], Pearce [30], and Mishkin [27]), and consumption (Wachtel [36]), generally with a significant improvement in explanatory power. They have also been used as dependent variables in attempts to determine how expectations are formed by Gordon [15], Mullineaux [28], Jacobs and Jones [20], and Figlewski and Wachtel [9] for the economist survey, Van Duyne [35] for the household survey, and Leonard [23] and de Leeuw and McKelvey [4] for businesses. Given their different levels of knowlege of economics and perspectives, one might expect that the models used by the different groups to forecast inflation would

Relative Wage Effects of Unions, Dictatorship and Codetermination: Econometric Evidence from Germany

T HE present study estimates the effects of trade unions, Hitler's regime, and codetermination on relative wages in Germany. I Each of these establishments is considered to have had important implications for Germany's labor market. Moreover, a thorough understanding of their effects can be valuable for comparative purposes. Following a brief discussion of these phenomena and their hypothesized effects on wages, the analytical model is developed in section II. The empirical results are reported in section III and section IV contains the summary and conclusions. The extensive literature on the relative wage effects of trade unions has focused almost exclusively on the union impact in North America2 and, more recently, in Great Britain.3 Since the German institutions of industrial and labor relations differ considerably from their AngloAmerican counterparts4 and often have been studied as a successful (possibly superior) system which might be adopted by others, it is worthwhile exploring the magnitude of the union wage effect in the German institutional setting. In particular it has been argued that, compared to their American and British counterparts, the continental unions tend to place more emphasis on political and social, rather than economic achievements.5 If this hypothesis is correct, then, ceteris paribus, the estimated relative wage effect of German unions ought to be smaller than that found in the United States and Great Britain. With the advent of Hitler's regime in 1933 there was a dramatic transformation of the existing political and economic institutions. Trade unions, which in 1932 represented over 40% of the industrial labor force, were promptly abolished6 and replaced by a government-operated Front.7 Strikes and lockouts were forbidden and wages were determined centrally.8 While the effects of these changes on the cultural, political and social life have been well documented, few economic studies attempted to analyze the effect of Hitler's regime on wages and incomes. Moreover, those that did, used a qualitative or only a loose quantitative approach, partially as a result of the lack of a systematic wage series prior to 1934.9 W. Krelle (1962, p. 17) has shown, for example, that labor income Received for publication July 30, 1979. Revision accepted for publication May 1, 1980. Cornell University. I would like to thank Orley Ashenfelter, Albert Rees and two anonymous referees for helpful comments. I have also benefited from discussions with J. S. Butler, William Greene, Louis Phlips and Katherine Terrell. Any remaining errors are, of course, my own. This research was in part supported by a grant to the Princeton University Economics Department from the Sloan Foundation. I The term codetermination refers to the German participatory system of management, as it was originally established in the Federal Republic by the 1951 Codetermination Act and the 1952 Works Constitution Act. 2 The most important work and collection of references on the subject is still Lewis (1963). Among the later studies in the private sector are Ashenfelter (1972), Ashenfelter and Johnson (1972), Bloch and Kuskin (1978), Boskin (1972), de Menil (1971), Rosen (1969) and Schmidt and Strauss (1976). Public sector studies are summarized by Lewin (1977). X See especially Pencavel (1974), Mulvey (1976) and Metcalf (1977). 4 Needless to say there are important differences between the U.S. and British systems of industrial and labor relations. They exhibit considerable homogeneity, however, when compared to the systems in continental Europe. Historically, the relatively most salient features of the German system have been (1) trade union affiliation with political parties and/or religioiis organizations, (2) industrial unionism. (3) governmental interference in industrial and labor relations, and (4) paternalistic management. World War II led to the unification of the formerly splintered unions in the Deutsches Gewerkschafts Bund (DGB), close collaboration with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the establishment of codetermination. For institutional references see Almanasreh (1977), Fiirstenberg (1969, 1977), Schregle (1978) and Vollmer (1976, 1979). 5 See Kassalow (1969, 1980) and Windmuller (1969). 6 Employers associations followed their lead in 1934. 7 The Labor Front included all employees and employers. It represented the Nazi government in the factories and possessed broad powers over its member subjects. 8 In fact, the entire economy underwent considerable centralization as Hitler proclaimed his first Four Year Plan in 1933 and a second one in 1936. 9 Among the most thorough and informative of these conventional studies is that of Bry (1960). For a discussion of the data see Gerss (1977).

Rationality of the Michigan Price Expectations Data: Note

The use of survey data as a source of information with regard to inflationary expectations has provided important insights into the inflationary process. Although Livingston's data set is apparently the most widely used, de Menil and Bhalla [1] have recently utilized data from the Survey Research Center (SRC) at the University of Michigan to construct a time series of expected inflation. We have uncovered a disturbing feature of this series. Over the most recent portion of the period covered by the time series, a subperiod for which direct observations of inflationary expectations exist, the expectations data are rational. However, over the earlier part of the period, de Menil and Bhalla had to construct expectations data from cruder survey information. When we test the entire expectations series, we find that the data are not rational, leading us to question the manner in which the early part of the expectations series was constructed. The SRC time series on inflationary expectations is based upon the following survey questions:

A New Approach to the Equilibrium Labour Force

The time series, labour force participation equation has received considerable attention in the recent literature. This seems largely to be due to interest in the macro-policy implications of the equation and to the need for such an equation in the labour sector of econometric models. The major finding of this research is that the labour force varies inversely with the unemployment rate (the effect) (Tella, 1964, 1965; Dernburg and Strand, 1966; Barth, 1968; Bowen and Finegan, 1969; Vroman, 1970). The discouraged worker equation has also been used as a component of labour market models (Black and Kelejian, 1970; de Menil and Enzler, 1972), although there are exceptions (Fair, 1971; Lucas and Rapping, 1969; Wachter, 1972). The labour force-unemployment relationship is used to define and measure hidden unemployment, a variable which has played a role in money wage or Phillips curve equations (Simler and Tella, 1968; Gordon, 1969). Hidden unemployment, in turn, is the pivotal notion in the concept of a full-employment labour force, a variable which is included in most recent research on potential output (Okun, 1962; Kuh, 1966; Thurow and Taylor, 1966). Hidden unemployment has also figured in public policy discussion on the seriousness of the unemployment problem (Dernburg and Strand, 1966). In this paper alternative aggregate labour force participation equations are introduced. The models tested on quarterly data for the United States for the period 1948-70 provide a better explanation of the macro-data than does the discouraged worker model. The models presented in this paper have three main independent variables. The first variable reflects the rate of inflation and is included to allow for money illusion or uncertainty effects. The labour force is found to respond positively to this variable. The second variable measures the influence of unemployment on labour supply. This paper finds that the long-term unemployment rate (workers unemployed 15 weeks or more) provides a better theoretical and empirical variable than the traditionally used total unemployment rate. The final variable is a relative wage term (today's wage in relation to past wages) which may be a proxy for either a transitory wage effect or, alternatively, a standard of living effect. The evidence suggests that the latter influence prevails today. That is, a decrease in the current wage in relation to past wages causes workers to enter the labour force in order to maintain a 1 Many helpful comments were provided by Richard A. Easterlin, Benjamin M.

Bargaining: Monopoly Power versus Union Power.

Journal Article Bargaining: Monopoly Power versus Union Power Get access Bargaining: Monopoly Power versus Union Power. By George de Menil. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: M.I.T. Press, 1972. Pp. xii + 123. £4.20.) M. R. Wickens M. R. Wickens University of Bristol Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 83, Issue 332, 1 December 1973, Pages 1340–1341, https://doi.org/10.2307/2230887 Published: 01 December 1973

Bargaining : Monopoly versus Union Power, by George de Menil, The Joint Center for Urban Studies of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England, 1971, 123 pp.

Bargaining : Monopoly versus Union Power, by George de Menil, The Joint Center for Urban Studies of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England, 1971, 123 pp.. Un article de la revue Relations industrielles / Industrial Relations (Volume 28, numéro 1, 1973, p. 1-234) diffusée par la plateforme Érudit.

College Art News

We record with sadness the death by suicide of Mark Rothko on February 25, 1970. We hope to report in a future issue on what was one of his last major works, a chapel commissioned by the De Menils of Houston.Peter Magill, the advertising manager of ART JOURNAL, and before that, for many years the business manager of the College Art Association, died on May 7, 1970 of cancer of the kidneys. For over thirty years he was the friend and colleague of the editor of this publication.

“A Young Teaching Collection”: From Art to Idea

which placed it on extended loan to the Institute for the Arts at Rice University. Thus Rice is acquiring a major art collection as well as an important educational facility. The bulk of this extraordinary collection consists of donations from the de Menils, although there have been a number of gifts from other local families. The entire collection was recently exhibited at the Houston Museum of Fine

THE CHANNELS OF MONETARY POLICY: A FURTHER REPORT ON THE FEDERAL RESERVE—M.I.T. MODEL

The Journal of FinanceVolume 24, Issue 2 p. 265-290 Session Topic: Financial Model Building and Federal Reserve Policy THE CHANNELS OF MONETARY POLICY: A FURTHER REPORT ON THE FEDERAL RESERVE—M.I.T. MODEL Frank de Leeuw, Frank de LeeuwSearch for more papers by this authorEdward M. Gramlich, Edward M. Gramlich Federal Reserve Board of Governors. While we take full responsibility for statements in this paper, we stress that credit for the ideas it contains belongs to the entire Federal Reserve-M.I.T. group of which we are only two members. Franco Modigliani, Albert Ando, Charles Bischoff, George de Menil, Dwight Jaffee, and Enid Miller have made especially important contributions to the results reported here; many others have made important contributions to other aspects of the model.Search for more papers by this author Frank de Leeuw, Frank de LeeuwSearch for more papers by this authorEdward M. Gramlich, Edward M. Gramlich Federal Reserve Board of Governors. While we take full responsibility for statements in this paper, we stress that credit for the ideas it contains belongs to the entire Federal Reserve-M.I.T. group of which we are only two members. Franco Modigliani, Albert Ando, Charles Bischoff, George de Menil, Dwight Jaffee, and Enid Miller have made especially important contributions to the results reported here; many others have made important contributions to other aspects of the model.Search for more papers by this author First published: May 1969 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1969.tb01681.xCitations: 4 Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume24, Issue2May 1969Pages 265-290 RelatedInformation