Economic Logic Research Articles

Caring Housing Futures: A Radical Care Framework for Understanding Rent Control Politics in Seattle, USA

AbstractHegemonic responses to housing crises overwhelmingly rely on liberal economic logics, which preclude understandings of housing inequalities as produced by intersecting structures of racial capitalism and settler colonialism. This creates housing futures that replicate housing injustice, through the reproduction of housing crises that uphold racial capitalism, the settler state, and white property ownership. To address this gap, I develop a radical care framework for analysing responses to housing crises as an approach that emphasises relationality, challenges the commodification of housing, and renders different housing futures possible. Radical care is a collective response to immediate crises and precarious futures. I apply this framework to rent control debates in Seattle, USA, which highlight the complex intersections between care and housing politics in responses to housing crises. I argue that analysing housing politics through a radical care framework helps us to account for more expansive sociopolitical imaginaries and actions that point to housing futures beyond the limits of what is deemed possible in a colonial, racial capitalist housing system.

Artisanal and small-scale mining formalization challenges in Ghana: Explaining grassroots perspectives

Ghana legally recognizes ASM as a legitimate livelihood source with formalization blueprints for operators. However, the regulation of ASM activities in Ghana can largely be described as unsuccessful. Evidence shows that more than 85% of small-scale mining operations still occur in the informal and illegal sector of the economy outside the purview of state regulation. This paper examines grassroots perspectives on why despite existing formalization initiatives, miners continue to operate ‘illegally’. It finds that, first, the transient and migratory character of local mines do not synchronize with the complex and lengthy bureaucratic licensing regime currently in place, defeating any economic logic for illegal miners wanting to formalize. Second, the regulatory regime takes on a generic formalization framework for all of the country's diverse ASM operations and fails to link the various types of the sector's operations to appropriate levels and forms of control, neglecting the compliance capacity of the sector's rudimentary and subsistence operators. Greater institutional support for miners is recommended to build their capacity and credits support for their operations to improve the longevity of local mines. Also, urgent policy reforms are needed to enhance a multi-tier reclassification of Ghana's ASM sector to create the necessary conditions for compliance and accountability from all miners.

The Essential Challenge of “Economic Security”

The argument that “the end of the Cold War will bring history to an end with the final triumph of a free economy and democracy” was incorrect. As the US-China confrontation developed, economic security was discussed in Japan. In May 2022, the Economic Security Promotion Act was passed. The essential challenge of economic security is to “strike a balance between economic logic and political logic from the perspective of maximizing national interests.” However, it is not easy to strike a balance between the logic of the economy, which seeks economic efficiency based on market principles, and the logic of politics, which seeks values different from economic efficiency, such as democracy. How Japan, which has its own relationship with the United States and China, respectively, will be able to achieve this balance between the two countries is a historical challenge. Japan must make endless efforts to fulfill its role in bringing stability to the international system.

Medical space nutrition and obesity, a better management of patients with obesity

TheMedical Network for Nutrition against Obesity (Emno) breaks new ground in the treatment of obesity through a project within the legal framework of the so-called "Article51". The medical and educational support it provides rests on four pillars: a continuum of care via a territorial network, multi-professional cooperation in e-healthcare, the partner-patient and the expert patient. Thanks to its Nuvee online platform for therapeutic patient education, Emno takes advantage of the current digital developments, in the spirit of rigorous medical as well as economic logic.

Economic ideas, capital logic and class struggle: reflections towards a people’s history of economics

This article outlines ideas about a people’s history of economics. The goal of such a history is to use economic theory to understand the formation of classes, political projects and historical blocs and history as a history of class struggles instead of the unfolding of economic laws. The article discusses the shortcomings of existing histories of economic thought and peoples’ histories. It suggests a synthesis that offers insights into the production and diffusion of economic ideas and their role in the making and remaking of class- and state relations from industrial capitalism to the present. The last part of the article offers an outline organized around the ideas of Smith, Marx, the Marginalists, Keynes and Hayek. Though using the common big names as entry points to class- and state-formation during different periods of capitalist and imperialist development, the peoples’ history is mainly concerned with the lives, thoughts and struggles of the toiling, primarily invisible, hands performing paid and unpaid work in capitalist centres and peripheries.

The violence of disavowing Indigenous governance: exposing the colonial politics of "development" and FPIC in the Caribbean

After decades of community mobilizing and a protracted legal battle, Maya villages in southern Belize won a watershed Indigenous land rights victory in the Caribbean Court of Justice in 2015. Since then, the state has criminalized environmental defenders, violated communal land rights, and is argued by Maya activists and alcaldes (village leaders) to be operating in discriminatory bad faith. Accordingly, this Grassroots article casts critical light on a recent flashpoint conflict between the Government of Belize and Maya of Toledo District related to Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). The article is directly informed by both the grounded knowledge of an autonomous movement engaged in frontline resistance, and participatory research that is rooted in a politics and spirit of "accompliceship." The structural analysis we offer from an explicitly anticolonial standpoint is instructive about the historical-imperial processes, social forces, and economic logics that underpin conventional approaches to both "development" and the state's duty to consult local communities. Ultimately, the article reveals the forms of political conflict and environmental degradation that continue to emerge globally at the conjuncture of capitalist development, (postcolonial) state power, and struggles for Indigenous self-determination.er, and struggles for Indigenous self-determination.

Eventful policies, public spaces and neoliberal citizenship: Lessons from Glasgow

Over the last three decades, festivals and events staged in public spaces have been an important element in the neoliberal regeneration of cities. However, so-called festivalisation strategies have been subject to criticism for their focus on economic imperatives to the detriment of the lives of urban residents. In many cities of the Global North, in particular, these debates have been accompanied by increasing calls for forms of urban governance that give more weight to local democratic processes and practices. This paper analyses these debates, focusing on the Scottish city of Glasgow, where the staging of festivals and events has long been a key factor in the city's rebranding. In recent years, city leaders have created processes designed to ensure that the voices of local people are heard. We analyse to what extent this turn towards more inclusive rhetoric is translated into practice when policy and planning processes are still governed by economic growth logics. We show how citizen participation and engagement processes to consult residents about the use of public spaces for festivals and events reinforce narratives of neoliberal citizenship, primarily acting to assimilate and neutralize opposition, rather than sharing power and decision-making with local citizens. The implementation of these policies in Glasgow represents an emblematic illustration of the neoliberal governance logics which prevent the local state from granting an increased role to citizens and local organizations, particularly in cities of the Global North. However, we conclude by highlighting some potentially fruitful new avenues to support greater transparency and accountability in public space governance.

Benefit synergy or “fishing in troubled waters”? Economic policy uncertainty and executive perquisite consumption

PurposeEconomic policy uncertainty (EPU) has huge impact and harm on real economy, so the economic logic and other economic effects behind this must be further studied. By constructing the “China Economic Policy Uncertainty Index” to capture the degree of EPU faced by Chinese companies, the authors empirically test whether and how EPU affects the level of executives' perquisite consumption.Design/methodology/approachThis study investigates the relationship between EPU and executive perquisite consumption based on a sample of 3,185 publicly listed firms in China. To examine the relationship between EPU and executives' perquisite consumption, a mixed least squares method was used for regression. To alleviate the problem of missing variables that do not change over time and control the influence of unobservable individual heterogeneity at the firm level, the firm fixed effects model is used for regression.FindingsThe study finds that EPU is positively associated with executive perquisite consumption. This positive association is stronger for firms with smaller size, lower management shareholding and higher levels of separation of ownership and control. Effective external governance (i.e., analyst coverage, media coverage, auditor and market competition) can mitigate the relationship between EPU and executive perquisite consumption. Further analysis reveals that EPU increases executive perquisite consumption by holding more cash and decreasing firm risk taking. EPU hurts market value of firms by boosting executive perquisite consumption and tunneling.Practical implicationsIn an environment with high EPU, the board of directors should reduce managers' compensation performance sensitivity to ease the agency conflict caused by uncertainty. Firms should improve their governance mechanisms and standard and pay attention to their environmental changes. Policymakers should pay attention to maintaining the continuity and predictability of policies, stabilizing the economic policy expectations of market entities and avoiding frequent changes in policies that can harm economic and firm value. The regulatory authorities should actively guide listed companies to increase active information disclosure during periods of high policy uncertainty.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the research on corporate governance by showing how EPU influences executives' behaviors. The authors advance relative studies by showing that this uncertainty embedded in a firm's external environments influences executive perquisite consumption. This study also contributes to the literature on how internal and external governances influence corporate behavior during uncertainty. These findings extend this line of research by suggesting that effective external governance is an attribute that can alleviate the effect of uncertainty on managers' opportunistic behaviors.

Different remote realities: health and the use of territory in Brazilian rural municipalities.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVETo characterize remote rural Brazilian municipalities according to their logic of insertion into socio-spatial dynamics, discussing the implications of these characteristics for health policies.METHODSStarting from the category of analysis – the use of the territory – a typology was elaborated, with the delimitation of six clusters. The clusters were compared using socioeconomic data and the distance in minutes to the metropolis, regional capital, and sub-regional center. Mean, standard error and standard deviation of the quantitative variables were calculated, and tests on mean differences were performed.RESULTSThe six clusters identified bring together 97.2% of remote rural municipalities and were called: “Matopiba,” “Norte de Minas,” “Vetor Centro-Oeste,” “Semiárido,” “Norte Águas,” and “Norte Estradas.” Differences are observed between the clusters in the analyzed variables, indicating the existence of different realities. Remote rural municipalities of “Norte Águas” and “Norte Estradas” clusters are the most populous, the most extensive and are thousands of kilometers away from urban centers, while those in “Norte de Minas” and “Semiárido” clusters have smaller areas with a distance of about 200 km away from urban centers. The remote rural municipalities of the “Vetor Centro-Oeste” cluster, in turn, are distinguished by a dynamic economy, inserted into the world economic circuit due to the agribusiness. The Family Health Strategy is the predominant model in the organization of primary health care.CONCLUSIONRemote rural municipalities are distinguished by their socio-spatial characteristics and insertion into the economic logic, demanding customized health policies. The strategy of building health regions, offering specialized regional services, tends to be more effective in remote rural municipalities closer to urban centers, as long as it is articulated with the health transportation policy. The use of information technology and expansion of the scope of telehealth activities is mandatory to face distances in such scenarios. Comprehensive primary health care with a strong cultural component is key to guaranteeing the right to health for citizens residing in such regions.

Не заради човека, а заради ползата – литературното образование в риск

Drawing on the research of Martha Nussbaum, the article focuses on the “devastating” crisis experienced by modern education systems entailing their consistent subordination to the dominant economic logic and the resulting neglect of the literature and humanities in the school curricula. According to Nussbaum, should this trend continue to prevail, very soon the education systems will be simply producing generations of efficient machines incapable of human empathy and devoid of any critical reflection. Literary education, Nussbaum emphasizes, can not only help cultivate empathy and humane attitude towards the other, but also become one of the main factors in developing these traits. Stimulating the active emotions and imagination of the children, literature encourages them to think about others, about strangers with whom their real life experience will not give them the opportunity to meet. Reading literature helps one to build an inner intuition for the common human vulnerability, and thus counteracts the temptation to respond to human imperfections and weakness by pursuing total control.

How Social Enterprises Present Their Identities in Entrepreneurial Narratives

Social enterprise offers an interesting context for organizational identity research since social enterprise combines two contrasting institutional logics – social logic and economic logic – to construct its identity. This paper attempts to explore how social enterprises build and present their identities in entrepreneurial narratives by combining the contrasting identity elements from social and economic logics. Using Korean social enterprises as an empirical setting, the research finds that the social performance relative to aspiration and the resources received from the social sector influence the identity management of social enterprises. Specifically, the results show that when social performance is below aspiration, social enterprise reduces the presentation of social identity but increases the presentation of economic identity. In addition, the amount of resources received from the social sector has a positive relationship with the social identity presentation but has a negative relationship with economic identity presentation.

Coping with Competing Institutional Logics During Policy Implementation: Evidence from China

The policy implementation literature has paid increasing attention to street-level bureaucrats’ coping behaviors. However, the literature is remarkably silent on the institutional antecedents of coping behaviors. This paper sets out to assess the effect of competing institutional logics on individual coping behaviors. It focuses on the environmental protection logic and economic growth logic during the environmental policy implementation in the Chinese context. Based on the analysis of interview and archival data, we found that environmental protection logic increases street-level bureaucrats’ workload and responsibility, and the economic growth logic makes enforcement officials lack power, resources and incentives. These contradictions generate unclear responsibilities in different bureaus and increasing tasks, limited resources and greater pressure for enforcement officials with fewer rewards, leading to the coping behaviors of street-level bureaucrats.

Entrepreneurship and Dynamic Property Rights: A Process Model

Embracing Ronald Coase’s (1974) recognition of the role of private enterprise in resolving problems with lighthouse services and other public goods, we suggest that the evolution of property rights is rooted in entrepreneurial action. We argue that property rights entrepreneurship is more important and pervasive than recognized and support this argument using examples ranging from evolving intellectual property protections for radio frequencies to the control of Alaskan king crab fisheries. Moreover, we argue that the standard institutional economics logic of rational analysis of costs and benefits does not adequately characterize the phenomenon. We propose that property rights entrepreneurship is best portrayed as an iterative and evolutionary interaction between entrepreneurial action and economic structures. Broadly, we add to the entrepreneurship literature by emphasizing the importance of property rights entrepreneurship and advancing a dynamic model of property rights entrepreneurship. We also introduce new constructs such as property rights voids, enabling conditions, the activation level of excludability, the presumption of rights, and distinctions between asset-rights and product-rights entrepreneurship.

Showing off your best assets: Rethinking commodification in the online creator economy

This theoretical paper critically explores digital labour in the online creator econo-my using OnlyFans sex workers as its core example. It critiques the description of the exploitation of self and embodiment in this work as a process of commodifica-tion. By reframing this activity in terms of human capital appreciation and by contrasting the specific economic logic of commodities and assets, it proposes in-stead the framework of assetisation to explain the economics of labour in this sec-tor. It then places online creator labour in a wider economic context to explore the greater utility of this move away from understanding such work as commodifica-tion.

Heritage protection and tourism income: the tourism heritage Kuznets curve

Purpose Protecting a nation’s heritage is an essential element for sustainable development. Heritage attracts tourism and drives tourist income, as well as bringing wider economic, social and environmental benefits. This study aims to improve understanding of the relationship between heritage protection spending in countries and economic development via tourism revenues via economic logic and the Kuznets curve. Design/methodology/approach This study applies economic modelling to test for the presence of a Kuznets curve. This study uses rare available matched data on heritage protection spending from UNESCO and on travel and tourism total contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) from the World Travel and Tourism Council. Findings This paper finds evidence of a negative quadratic relationship between heritage protection spending per capita and tourism GDP per capita, whereby increases in heritage spending initially lead to more tourism income (typically less developed nations), but then tourism spending increases more rapidly for smaller increases heritage spending on top of this initial investment (typically more developed nations). No countries are yet at the stage where they reap high tourism income from much lower levels of heritage spending. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that the future of heritage tourism will be very different to that of today; future tourism is likely to develop significantly through innovations in management approach and advanced technologies to manage the balance between demand and heritage degradation. Practical implications The predictive model allows us to plot future possibilities for heritage tourism, which in turn enables more informed decision-making regarding the planning and management of future heritage resources and tourism demand. Tourism heritage institutions and their benefactors should further plan and invest in innovations (such as technologies and management practices) to advanced economically and move along the tourism heritage Kuznets curve. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper formally tests, for the first time, for the presence of a Kuznets curve in the relationship between heritage protection spending and tourism income. It provides original evidence of the value of applying the underlying theory of the Kuznets curve in a tourism context.

Rethinking Project Escalation: An Institutional Perspective on the Persistence of Failing Large-Scale Information System Projects

ABSTRACT Project escalation involves the continued, persistent commitment to a failing project. Through a qualitative meta-analysis of 15 published cases of large information systems (IS) projects in escalation situations, we develop an institutional perspective on IS projects in escalation situations. This perspective describes how project persistence emerges from a plurality of legitimizing institutional logics that decision-makers draw upon at different project stages to maintain and reduce their commitment to the project. Logics related to the project’s approval are not the same logics that guide decisions throughout the project. For example, while we find that innovation and economic logics of return on investment are salient before approval, economic costs tend to be more salient after approval, along with technical impositions and managerial concerns. We further find that managerial logics are particularly salient in reducing commitment to projects, and we detail the differences and point out contextual triggers of external scrutiny and leadership changes that can contribute to reduced commitment to a project and eventual de-escalation.

Challenges and Difficulties in Implementing an Income-Contingent-Financing Model in Higher Education in Colombia

Background: One of the challenges of countries is offering higher education (HE) to populations that are not able to access it. The problem lies in the fact that many citizens are unable to finance the costs of their education. Some countries have implemented a system of financing that is contingent on income, seeking to improve the number of students entering HE and to increase access to educational financing; however, this system requires commitments from higher-education institutions, the country, and companies; thus, this text analyzes the challenges and difficulties regarding the implementation of the current system. Methods: Based on comparative international experience, an analysis of the political and social factors that hinder the implementation of ICF was conducted. This article focuses on countries with average development indexes that are on the verge of applying such a model, as is the case with Colombia. Results: From the economic point of view of the public and private sectors, an ICF model is justified in countries with different economic and social conceptions, and reforms for the implementation of ICF are given by the vision of the political and economic system that each country might have. Conclusion: International experience concludes that, for the ICF model to be successful, it should focus on its beneficiaries; that is, it should accurately identify the aspects of the users of educational credit. Furthermore, politicians must show prodigious leadership skills to effectively explain the economic logic of political leaders.

Measuring the effect of some economic policy variables on reducing unemployment in Egypt

The research aims to measure the impact of some economic policy variables, specifically public spending, public revenues, broad money supply, exchange rate, real interest rate, foreign direct investment, exports and imports as percentages of GDP on unemployment rates in Egypt during the period (1990-2020) using Time Series data. After conducting the stability test using the ADF test, it was found that all the model variables became static after the first difference. Therefore, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model was built and estimated. The research found that there is a co-integration relationship and that there is an inverse significant relationship between (government spending, government revenues, broad money supply, incoming foreign direct investment, and exports as percentages of GDP) and (unemployment rates), which is consistent with economic logic. The study also found that there is a positive and moral relationship between the exchange rate, real interest rates and imports as percentages of GDP with unemployment rates, and this is consistent with economic logic. The study recommended the need to increase the degree of coordination between (financial, monetary and commercial) economic policies in a manner that ensures their impact on economic activity in general and reduce unemployment rates in particular.

Joseph Alois Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Development and Social Change

Bu çalışma Joseph Schumpeter'in kapitalizm doğası, ekonomik mantığın arkasındaki itici güçler, sosyal-kurumsal yapılar, toplum ve birey ilişkisi, toplumsal ve ekonomik evrim kavramlarına düşünürün çalışmalarından doğru bir bakış içermektedir. Schumpeter'in ekonomik sosyolojisi, öncelikle ekonominin sosyal-kurumsal sistemin parçası olduğu ve ekonomiyi incelemenin nitelikli yolunun onu bu çerçeve içerisinde değerlendirmekten geçtiğini iddia etmektedir. Kurumsalcı iktisatçıların öncüsü diyebileceğimiz Schumpeter, ekonomik faaliyetleri, kurumları ve süreçleri ancak tarihsel olarak belirlenmiş bir düzlemden anlayabileceğimizi savunmaktadır. Schumpeter, iktisatçıların çoğundan farklı olarak, ekonomiyi sadece statik değil, dinamik bir açıdan analiz etmiştir. Bu nedenle Schumpeter, ekonomik gelişmelerin gelecekte nasıl bir şekil alacağını açıklarken, bireylerin ekonomik eylemleri, teknolojik yenilikler, sermayedar ve girişimcinin özelliklerini ve kurumları incelemiştir. Schumpeter'e göre girişimci, kapitalizmin dinamizmi ile yönetimsel kapitalizmin dev bürokratik yapısı arasındaki çatışmanın belirleyeni ve sistemin yıkıcı eyleyeni olarak ortaya çıkmaktadır. Schumpeter, değişim devam ettikçe, bireylerin değişimi başlatmasının giderek daha kolay hale geldiğini ve bireylerin girişimcilik faaliyetlerinin artık yüksek düzeyde liderliğe sahip belirli kişiler tarafından yapılması gerekmediğini savunmuştur. Schumpeter kapitalizmin yeni bir ekonomik düzene doğru evriminin, adı ne olursa olsun, zorunlu olarak bir tür sosyalizm olacağını öngörmüştür.

New Public Management and the Centralization of Educational Assessment Policy in Brazil: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Educational Field

<p style="text-align:justify">This text aims to analyze the conditionalities of the New Public Management for the educational assessment policy in Brazil and the deepening of educational inequality with the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Certainly, within the trajectory of educational policies, Brazil has a clear relationship with the conservative way in which the State and society were shaped. In the current scenario of the New Public Management, the new educational policy dictates an economic logic in the pedagogical factor, which uses business management methods for results, transforming it as a solution to measure the quality of teaching, for which it uses evaluation mechanisms. Aspects linked to the New Public Management such as efficiency, efficacy and effectiveness permeate the rationality of educational policy and, consequently, of the evaluative logic. Indeed, the centrality of the assessment conditioned the logic of curriculum standardization. These curriculum guidance indicators denote training based on skills and abilities that contribute to training that meets market demands.</p>