Pub Date : 2021-08-03DOI: 10.1177/02601079211034607
Tristan A. Canare, R. Mendoza
Access to information is a key factor influencing political behaviour and decisions. Recent studies on vote buying and selling have tried to unpack the possible drivers behind this phenomenon; yet, few studies have empirically examined the role of different sources of information. This study contributes to the nascent literature in this area by turning to a unique dataset from a survey of low-income voters in Metro Manila, the Philippines. It empirically examined the relationship between access to information and vote selling behaviour by low-income voters. It also studied other correlates of vote selling and the possible factors linked to receiving an offer. The results suggest that the quantity of information has no significant relationship with the likelihood of accepting the offer and voting for the candidate for whom the offer was made. However, the quality of information does matter. In particular, access to sources of ‘good quality information’ is negatively associated with completing the vote selling transaction (i.e., accepting the offer and voting for the candidate). This study also found evidence that when money is used for vote buying, it appears to be targeted at those with greater needs, confirming the literature that vote buying activities tend to be well targeted at poor and low-income communities. Unsurprisingly, vote buying offers are more likely in areas where elections are closely contested, and they are also more likely in socially cohesive communities. Our findings also suggest that vote buying may not necessarily be effective in the sense that it encourages only few voters to change their candidate preference. This coheres with earlier studies suggesting that vote buying and selling merely caps a longstanding patron–client relationship between politicians and low-income voters. JEL: D72, D91, K49
{"title":"Access to Information and Other Correlates of Vote Buying and Selling Behaviour: Insights from Philippine Data","authors":"Tristan A. Canare, R. Mendoza","doi":"10.1177/02601079211034607","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02601079211034607","url":null,"abstract":"Access to information is a key factor influencing political behaviour and decisions. Recent studies on vote buying and selling have tried to unpack the possible drivers behind this phenomenon; yet, few studies have empirically examined the role of different sources of information. This study contributes to the nascent literature in this area by turning to a unique dataset from a survey of low-income voters in Metro Manila, the Philippines. It empirically examined the relationship between access to information and vote selling behaviour by low-income voters. It also studied other correlates of vote selling and the possible factors linked to receiving an offer. The results suggest that the quantity of information has no significant relationship with the likelihood of accepting the offer and voting for the candidate for whom the offer was made. However, the quality of information does matter. In particular, access to sources of ‘good quality information’ is negatively associated with completing the vote selling transaction (i.e., accepting the offer and voting for the candidate). This study also found evidence that when money is used for vote buying, it appears to be targeted at those with greater needs, confirming the literature that vote buying activities tend to be well targeted at poor and low-income communities. Unsurprisingly, vote buying offers are more likely in areas where elections are closely contested, and they are also more likely in socially cohesive communities. Our findings also suggest that vote buying may not necessarily be effective in the sense that it encourages only few voters to change their candidate preference. This coheres with earlier studies suggesting that vote buying and selling merely caps a longstanding patron–client relationship between politicians and low-income voters. JEL: D72, D91, K49","PeriodicalId":42664,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42915430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-08-03DOI: 10.1177/02601079211032117
A. Somma, Rebecca Sergi, Chiara Pagliara, C. Di Serio, A. Fossati
To evaluate the effect of demographic variables, delay discounting and dysfunctional personality traits on financial risk tolerance (FRT), 281 community-dwelling adults were administered the Italian translations of the Risk-Tolerance Scale (RTS), Monetary Choice Questionnaire, Probability Discounting Questionnaire, and Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Short Form (PID-5-SF) self-report questionnaires through an online platform. Hierarchical robust regression results showed that the linear combination of demographic variables (gender and active worker status), delay discounting measures and selected PID-5-SF trait scale scores (i.e., Attention Seeking and Risk Taking) explained roughly 39% of the RTS total score. As a whole, our findings underscore the role of demographic characteristics, dysfunctional personality traits and delay discounting in FRT expression. As a result, FRT is likely to represent the linear combination of several factors that should be assessed in order to understand FRT and prevent erroneous choices among lay investors.
{"title":"Demographic Variables, Delay Discounting Models and Dysfunctional Personality Traits as Predictors of Financial Risk-Tolerance Among Community-Dwelling Italian Adults","authors":"A. Somma, Rebecca Sergi, Chiara Pagliara, C. Di Serio, A. Fossati","doi":"10.1177/02601079211032117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02601079211032117","url":null,"abstract":"To evaluate the effect of demographic variables, delay discounting and dysfunctional personality traits on financial risk tolerance (FRT), 281 community-dwelling adults were administered the Italian translations of the Risk-Tolerance Scale (RTS), Monetary Choice Questionnaire, Probability Discounting Questionnaire, and Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Short Form (PID-5-SF) self-report questionnaires through an online platform. Hierarchical robust regression results showed that the linear combination of demographic variables (gender and active worker status), delay discounting measures and selected PID-5-SF trait scale scores (i.e., Attention Seeking and Risk Taking) explained roughly 39% of the RTS total score. As a whole, our findings underscore the role of demographic characteristics, dysfunctional personality traits and delay discounting in FRT expression. As a result, FRT is likely to represent the linear combination of several factors that should be assessed in order to understand FRT and prevent erroneous choices among lay investors.","PeriodicalId":42664,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/02601079211032117","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46849150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-27DOI: 10.1177/02601079211032103
Katsuhiko Masaki
Debates on degrowth have emerged with the realisation that the existing growth-oriented economic order has infringed upon our biosphere’s limits and human wellbeing. This must be rectified in favour of a more sustainable and equitable order through the promotion of green, caring and communal economies, as pointed out by degrowth advocates. However, these advocates argue for abandoning economic growth as a policy objective, thereby missing an opportunity to heed the potential of forging ‘partial connections’ between growth-seeking and degrowth-oriented measures. To explore a remedy against this pitfall, this study examines Bhutan’s policy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which downplays a growth-for-growth’s sake approach but avoids precluding the pursuit of growth, in line with the historical unfolding of the country’s development plans and its Buddhism-based mores. Although GNH is yet to elicit a structural shift towards a full-fledged post-growth society, its balanced stance aids the search for a clue on how best to promote a post-growth transition with an intricate combination of growth-seeking and degrowth-oriented measures. Despite this potential, GNH has been largely overlooked by degrowth advocates, who depart from their own principle of valuing ‘locally determined paths’. JEL: B59, 029
{"title":"Exploring the ‘Partial Connections’ between Growth and Degrowth Debates: Bhutan’s Policy of Gross National Happiness","authors":"Katsuhiko Masaki","doi":"10.1177/02601079211032103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02601079211032103","url":null,"abstract":"Debates on degrowth have emerged with the realisation that the existing growth-oriented economic order has infringed upon our biosphere’s limits and human wellbeing. This must be rectified in favour of a more sustainable and equitable order through the promotion of green, caring and communal economies, as pointed out by degrowth advocates. However, these advocates argue for abandoning economic growth as a policy objective, thereby missing an opportunity to heed the potential of forging ‘partial connections’ between growth-seeking and degrowth-oriented measures. To explore a remedy against this pitfall, this study examines Bhutan’s policy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which downplays a growth-for-growth’s sake approach but avoids precluding the pursuit of growth, in line with the historical unfolding of the country’s development plans and its Buddhism-based mores. Although GNH is yet to elicit a structural shift towards a full-fledged post-growth society, its balanced stance aids the search for a clue on how best to promote a post-growth transition with an intricate combination of growth-seeking and degrowth-oriented measures. Despite this potential, GNH has been largely overlooked by degrowth advocates, who depart from their own principle of valuing ‘locally determined paths’. JEL: B59, 029","PeriodicalId":42664,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/02601079211032103","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41297042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-26DOI: 10.1177/0260107921989908
S. Carson
Households behave systematically in family planning and intra-household resource allocation. A neglected area in historical health studies is the relationship between body mass index (BMI), health and family size. Using robust statistics and a large nineteenth-century BMI data set, this study uses an overlapping generations model to explain resource allocation within the household and illustrates that there is a positive relationship across the BMI distribution with family size. There is also a positive relationship between BMIs and average wealth, and an inverse relationship between BMI and inequality. After controlling for family size and wealth characteristics, there was a positive relationship between BMI and worker’s agricultural rural status. JEL: N3, D1, I1
{"title":"Family Size, Household Wealth and Socio-economic Status Across the Body Mass Index Distribution During US Economic Development","authors":"S. Carson","doi":"10.1177/0260107921989908","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0260107921989908","url":null,"abstract":"Households behave systematically in family planning and intra-household resource allocation. A neglected area in historical health studies is the relationship between body mass index (BMI), health and family size. Using robust statistics and a large nineteenth-century BMI data set, this study uses an overlapping generations model to explain resource allocation within the household and illustrates that there is a positive relationship across the BMI distribution with family size. There is also a positive relationship between BMIs and average wealth, and an inverse relationship between BMI and inequality. After controlling for family size and wealth characteristics, there was a positive relationship between BMI and worker’s agricultural rural status. JEL: N3, D1, I1","PeriodicalId":42664,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0260107921989908","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47137270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-26DOI: 10.1177/0260107921989906
Minoru Watanabe, Masaya Yasuoka
Several reasons underlie the increased labour participation of older people in Japan. One reason is the subsidy for the labour supply of elderly people. This article presents an examination of how this subsidisation of the labour supply of elderly people affects the labour participation of young and elderly people and unemployment. Consequently, an aging society brought about by an increase in the survival rate and the subsidy for elderly labour raise the employment rate and labour participation rate of elderly people in a temporary equilibrium model. This result is consistent with the real world. However, considering the steady state in a closed economy under which capital accumulation is considered, the effect of this subsidy on the employment rate and labour participation of elderly people is slight because of a decrease in the wage rate. JEL: J21
{"title":"Elderly Labour and Unemployment","authors":"Minoru Watanabe, Masaya Yasuoka","doi":"10.1177/0260107921989906","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0260107921989906","url":null,"abstract":"Several reasons underlie the increased labour participation of older people in Japan. One reason is the subsidy for the labour supply of elderly people. This article presents an examination of how this subsidisation of the labour supply of elderly people affects the labour participation of young and elderly people and unemployment. Consequently, an aging society brought about by an increase in the survival rate and the subsidy for elderly labour raise the employment rate and labour participation rate of elderly people in a temporary equilibrium model. This result is consistent with the real world. However, considering the steady state in a closed economy under which capital accumulation is considered, the effect of this subsidy on the employment rate and labour participation of elderly people is slight because of a decrease in the wage rate. JEL: J21","PeriodicalId":42664,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0260107921989906","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48141486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-22DOI: 10.1177/0260107921989914
Jason Beck
Traditional Mincer-type hedonic wage equations typically fail to account for the effect of psychological capital, in part because such factors are often regarded as unobservable. This article incorporates a measure of psychological capital (specifically, self-esteem) that has been validated in the psychology literature into an otherwise typical hedonic wage model. Then, the sample is divided into race and gender subgroups and estimates are compared. The results suggest that self-esteem does play a role in determining wages for Whites (White men, in particular), but it has no detectable effect on the wages of African-Americans. Data are drawn from the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth. JEL: D (‘Microeconomics’), J (‘Labor and demographic economics’), J31 (‘Wage levels and structure, wage differentials’)
{"title":"Exploring the Link Between Wages and Psychological Capital","authors":"Jason Beck","doi":"10.1177/0260107921989914","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0260107921989914","url":null,"abstract":"Traditional Mincer-type hedonic wage equations typically fail to account for the effect of psychological capital, in part because such factors are often regarded as unobservable. This article incorporates a measure of psychological capital (specifically, self-esteem) that has been validated in the psychology literature into an otherwise typical hedonic wage model. Then, the sample is divided into race and gender subgroups and estimates are compared. The results suggest that self-esteem does play a role in determining wages for Whites (White men, in particular), but it has no detectable effect on the wages of African-Americans. Data are drawn from the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth. JEL: D (‘Microeconomics’), J (‘Labor and demographic economics’), J31 (‘Wage levels and structure, wage differentials’)","PeriodicalId":42664,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0260107921989914","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47687651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-15DOI: 10.1177/0260107921989918
M. Amirullah, M. A. R. Estrada, M. Aslam
This article models the interconnection between the public transfer payment policy in Malaysia and the overall Malaysian economy using an inter-linkage coordinate space. This space is represented graphically, with the public transfer payment distribution in the centre and the number of periods plotted along rays (axes) that are drawn from the centre, each of which can have as many windows as required at the predetermined perimeter levels. Using this model, this article evaluates whether and how the implementation of public transfer payment policy in Malaysia can simultaneously affect the overall Malaysian economy through selected macroeconomic indicators. Finally, this article proposes the use of computer graphical animation when sufficient data are available to provide a more accurate measurement and visual representation of the economic ripple effect in the same graphical space. JEL: C00, E60, H53
{"title":"Economic Ripple Effect: The Effect of Public Transfer Payment Policy in Malaysia","authors":"M. Amirullah, M. A. R. Estrada, M. Aslam","doi":"10.1177/0260107921989918","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0260107921989918","url":null,"abstract":"This article models the interconnection between the public transfer payment policy in Malaysia and the overall Malaysian economy using an inter-linkage coordinate space. This space is represented graphically, with the public transfer payment distribution in the centre and the number of periods plotted along rays (axes) that are drawn from the centre, each of which can have as many windows as required at the predetermined perimeter levels. Using this model, this article evaluates whether and how the implementation of public transfer payment policy in Malaysia can simultaneously affect the overall Malaysian economy through selected macroeconomic indicators. Finally, this article proposes the use of computer graphical animation when sufficient data are available to provide a more accurate measurement and visual representation of the economic ripple effect in the same graphical space. JEL: C00, E60, H53","PeriodicalId":42664,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0260107921989918","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48838755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-11DOI: 10.1177/0260107921989912
B. Villari, B. Subramanian, Piyush Kumar, P. Hota
Growth models such as Gibrat’s law and Jovanovic’s theory that examine the relationship between the firms’ growth, age and size have either been tested on data from developed economies or from the manufacturing sectors in developing economies. This study checks the suitability of these models in service sectors in developing economies as service sectors have distinct characteristics and developing economies such as India are heavily dependent on this sector. The current study considers three major service sectors contributing to India’s economy vis-à-vis financial services, information technology and real estate for the period 2002–2005. We observed that during 2002–2005, India’s economy was stable without wide fluctuations in economic performance, such as gross domestic product, unemployment or inflation. These sectors not only had a significant impact on economic growth but also had comprehensive microeconomic data. Our results negate both Gibrat’s law and Jovanovic’s theory. We argue that service sectors which are knowledge-intensive will experience different growth patterns compared to manufacturing sectors. We find a definite and significant relationship between firms’ growth and their size and age. Also, we find concluding evidence that younger firms up to 10 years of age struggle a lot more than older firms in the Indian service sector. JEL: D20, D21, D22, D02
{"title":"Do Firm Growth Models Work in Service Industries in Developing Economies? An Investigation of the Relationship Between Firms’ Growth, Size and Age","authors":"B. Villari, B. Subramanian, Piyush Kumar, P. Hota","doi":"10.1177/0260107921989912","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0260107921989912","url":null,"abstract":"Growth models such as Gibrat’s law and Jovanovic’s theory that examine the relationship between the firms’ growth, age and size have either been tested on data from developed economies or from the manufacturing sectors in developing economies. This study checks the suitability of these models in service sectors in developing economies as service sectors have distinct characteristics and developing economies such as India are heavily dependent on this sector. The current study considers three major service sectors contributing to India’s economy vis-à-vis financial services, information technology and real estate for the period 2002–2005. We observed that during 2002–2005, India’s economy was stable without wide fluctuations in economic performance, such as gross domestic product, unemployment or inflation. These sectors not only had a significant impact on economic growth but also had comprehensive microeconomic data. Our results negate both Gibrat’s law and Jovanovic’s theory. We argue that service sectors which are knowledge-intensive will experience different growth patterns compared to manufacturing sectors. We find a definite and significant relationship between firms’ growth and their size and age. Also, we find concluding evidence that younger firms up to 10 years of age struggle a lot more than older firms in the Indian service sector. JEL: D20, D21, D22, D02","PeriodicalId":42664,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0260107921989912","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42717249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-01DOI: 10.1177/0260107920907196
P. Bhattacharya
This article discusses the role of the British control of India in the rise of Britain and Europe as well as in the convergence in incomes within the Atlantic economy in the late nineteenth century. Britain was at the apex of the world economy throughout most of the nineteenth century. The article argues that the emergence of Britain as the apex economic and political power depended on her control over India. This control of India then enabled Britain to pursue a set of policies that were of critical importance, both for the convergence in incomes within the Atlantic economy and the rise of Europe. The thesis advanced here can be viewed, depending on one’s prior position, as being either complementary to or alternative to the views of many of the protagonists of the divergence debate in the literature. JEL: N10, N13, N15, N70, O4
{"title":"India in the Rise of Britain and Europe: A Contribution to the Convergence and Great Divergence Debates","authors":"P. Bhattacharya","doi":"10.1177/0260107920907196","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0260107920907196","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses the role of the British control of India in the rise of Britain and Europe as well as in the convergence in incomes within the Atlantic economy in the late nineteenth century. Britain was at the apex of the world economy throughout most of the nineteenth century. The article argues that the emergence of Britain as the apex economic and political power depended on her control over India. This control of India then enabled Britain to pursue a set of policies that were of critical importance, both for the convergence in incomes within the Atlantic economy and the rise of Europe. The thesis advanced here can be viewed, depending on one’s prior position, as being either complementary to or alternative to the views of many of the protagonists of the divergence debate in the literature. JEL: N10, N13, N15, N70, O4","PeriodicalId":42664,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0260107920907196","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45824067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-01DOI: 10.1177/0260107921989905
Tobias F. Rötheli
The concepts of cultural relativism (introduced by Franz Boas) and hedonic relativism introduced by Richard Easterlin are reference points of a theory that addresses international differences in per capita incomes and variations in the contribution of income to happiness. The pivotal concept in this study is diligence. Painstaking effort, that is, diligence, is needed to produce high quality goods and services. The downside of such efforts lies in the psychological burden that comes with the necessary high level of self-control of the individual worker and the required organisational feedback mechanisms in firms. We present two competing views concerning the determination of diligence. The first, anthropologically inspired, hypothesis states that a society’s cultural forces such as cognitive styles, organisational traditions and religion determine the level of diligence. One implication of this perspective is that societies can have income levels that are either too high or too low relative to the welfare optimum. The second view holds that diligence is determined in a maximising way, balancing the gains and pains of diligence in the economic realm. Cross-country data are studied in order to assess the two competing views. The econometric evidence indicates that it is the maximising view that can explain key aspects of the data. JEL: D63, P5, Z1
{"title":"A Theory of Relativity of Cultures, Incomes and Happiness","authors":"Tobias F. Rötheli","doi":"10.1177/0260107921989905","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0260107921989905","url":null,"abstract":"The concepts of cultural relativism (introduced by Franz Boas) and hedonic relativism introduced by Richard Easterlin are reference points of a theory that addresses international differences in per capita incomes and variations in the contribution of income to happiness. The pivotal concept in this study is diligence. Painstaking effort, that is, diligence, is needed to produce high quality goods and services. The downside of such efforts lies in the psychological burden that comes with the necessary high level of self-control of the individual worker and the required organisational feedback mechanisms in firms. We present two competing views concerning the determination of diligence. The first, anthropologically inspired, hypothesis states that a society’s cultural forces such as cognitive styles, organisational traditions and religion determine the level of diligence. One implication of this perspective is that societies can have income levels that are either too high or too low relative to the welfare optimum. The second view holds that diligence is determined in a maximising way, balancing the gains and pains of diligence in the economic realm. Cross-country data are studied in order to assess the two competing views. The econometric evidence indicates that it is the maximising view that can explain key aspects of the data. JEL: D63, P5, Z1","PeriodicalId":42664,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0260107921989905","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45388072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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