Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.1257/jel.61.3.1188.r2
Samuel Bowles
Samuel Bowles of Santa Fe Institute and CORE Econ reviews “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity” by David Graeber and David Wengrow. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Presents an interpretation of human history that revises long-held assumptions about the emergence of social inequality and hierarchy, considering the implications of this counternarrative for accounts of the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself.”
{"title":"The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity","authors":"Samuel Bowles","doi":"10.1257/jel.61.3.1188.r2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.61.3.1188.r2","url":null,"abstract":"Samuel Bowles of Santa Fe Institute and CORE Econ reviews “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity” by David Graeber and David Wengrow. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Presents an interpretation of human history that revises long-held assumptions about the emergence of social inequality and hierarchy, considering the implications of this counternarrative for accounts of the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself.”","PeriodicalId":48416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Literature","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45499824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Perspectives on Race/Ethnicity and Economic Justice","authors":"Gerald Jaynes","doi":"10.1257/jel.20221701","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20221701","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Literature","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42071609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.1257/jel.61.3.1188.r5
Joshua Gans
Joshua Gans of University of Toronto reviews “Making Wise Decisions in a Smart World: Responsible Leadership in an Era of Artificial Intelligence” by Peter Verhezen. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Considers the importance of sound decision-making in the uncertain and turbulent era of artificial intelligence (AI), discussing how organizations can create sustainable value and thrive without harming others.”
{"title":"Making Wise Decisions in a Smart World: Responsible Leadership in an Era of Artificial Intelligence","authors":"Joshua Gans","doi":"10.1257/jel.61.3.1188.r5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.61.3.1188.r5","url":null,"abstract":"Joshua Gans of University of Toronto reviews “Making Wise Decisions in a Smart World: Responsible Leadership in an Era of Artificial Intelligence” by Peter Verhezen. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Considers the importance of sound decision-making in the uncertain and turbulent era of artificial intelligence (AI), discussing how organizations can create sustainable value and thrive without harming others.”","PeriodicalId":48416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Literature","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41796925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This essay reviews Making Our Neighborhoods, Making Our Selves, in which George C. Galster provides an overview of the literatures on neighborhood formation and neighborhood effects. I see two clear ways that Making Our Neighborhoods will serve as a reference strengthening these literatures. Given the state of the literature on neighborhood effects, which is often still at the stage of testing the existence and magnitude of such effects, the author’s framework for classifying the types of heterogeneity we might observe in neighborhood effects will be a valuable tool for researchers. And since the literature on neighborhood formation approaches the issues from a disparate set of fields, the author’s presentation of individual actors shaping neighborhood dynamics while using ideas of equilibrium, belief formation, equity and efficiency, and unpriced externalities should help unify understanding of the economic approach to neighborhood formation. While the author certainly does not shy away from race, I argue that several parts of the presentation would be clearer if they were tied more directly to racial segregation. (JEL D62, D83, I31, J15, R23, R31, Z13)
{"title":"Making Our Neighborhoods, Making Our Selves: A Review Essay","authors":"Dionissi Aliprantis","doi":"10.1257/jel.20211563","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20211563","url":null,"abstract":"This essay reviews Making Our Neighborhoods, Making Our Selves, in which George C. Galster provides an overview of the literatures on neighborhood formation and neighborhood effects. I see two clear ways that Making Our Neighborhoods will serve as a reference strengthening these literatures. Given the state of the literature on neighborhood effects, which is often still at the stage of testing the existence and magnitude of such effects, the author’s framework for classifying the types of heterogeneity we might observe in neighborhood effects will be a valuable tool for researchers. And since the literature on neighborhood formation approaches the issues from a disparate set of fields, the author’s presentation of individual actors shaping neighborhood dynamics while using ideas of equilibrium, belief formation, equity and efficiency, and unpriced externalities should help unify understanding of the economic approach to neighborhood formation. While the author certainly does not shy away from race, I argue that several parts of the presentation would be clearer if they were tied more directly to racial segregation. (JEL D62, D83, I31, J15, R23, R31, Z13)","PeriodicalId":48416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Literature","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.6,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46857840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Editor's Note Our policy is to annotate all English-language books on economics and related subjects that are sent to us. A very small number of foreign-language books are called to our attention and annotated by our consulting editors or others. Our staff does not monitor and order books published; therefore, if an annotation of a book does not appear six months after the publication date, please write to us or the publisher concerning the book.
{"title":"Annotated Listing of New Books","authors":"","doi":"10.1257/jel.61.3.1203","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.61.3.1203","url":null,"abstract":"Editor's Note Our policy is to annotate all English-language books on economics and related subjects that are sent to us. A very small number of foreign-language books are called to our attention and annotated by our consulting editors or others. Our staff does not monitor and order books published; therefore, if an annotation of a book does not appear six months after the publication date, please write to us or the publisher concerning the book.","PeriodicalId":48416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Literature","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136354002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the past several decades, the experimental method has lent deep insights into economics. One area that has contributed is the experimental study of children, where advances as varied as the evolution of human behaviors that shape markets and institutions to how early life influences shape later life outcomes, have been explored. We first develop a framework for economic preference measurement that provides a lens into how to interpret data from experiments with children. Next, we survey work that provides general empirical insights within our framework and provide a comprehensive summary of experimental methods used with children. Finally, we provide 10 tips for pulling off experiments with children, including factors such as taking into account child competencies, causal identification, and logistical issues related to recruitment and implementation. We envision the experimental study of children as a high-growth research area in the coming decades as social scientists begin to more fully appreciate that children are active participants in markets who (might) respond predictably to economic incentives. (JEL C90, D11, D83, D91, J13, J16, Z13)
{"title":"How Experiments with Children Inform Economics","authors":"John A. List, Ragan Petrie, Anya Samek","doi":"10.1257/jel.20211535","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20211535","url":null,"abstract":"In the past several decades, the experimental method has lent deep insights into economics. One area that has contributed is the experimental study of children, where advances as varied as the evolution of human behaviors that shape markets and institutions to how early life influences shape later life outcomes, have been explored. We first develop a framework for economic preference measurement that provides a lens into how to interpret data from experiments with children. Next, we survey work that provides general empirical insights within our framework and provide a comprehensive summary of experimental methods used with children. Finally, we provide 10 tips for pulling off experiments with children, including factors such as taking into account child competencies, causal identification, and logistical issues related to recruitment and implementation. We envision the experimental study of children as a high-growth research area in the coming decades as social scientists begin to more fully appreciate that children are active participants in markets who (might) respond predictably to economic incentives. (JEL C90, D11, D83, D91, J13, J16, Z13)","PeriodicalId":48416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Literature","volume":"122 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136177383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
How will sovereign debt markets evolve in the twenty-first century? We survey how the literature has responded to the eurozone debt crisis, placing “lessons learned” in historical perspective. The crisis featured: (i) the return of debt problems to advanced economies, (ii) a bank–sovereign “doom loop” and the propagation of sovereign risk to households and firms, (iii) rollover problems and self-fulfilling crisis dynamics, (iv) severe debt distress without outright sovereign defaults, (v) large-scale sovereign bailouts from abroad, and (vi) creditor threats to litigate and hold out in a debt restructuring. Many of these characteristics were already present in historical debt crises and are likely to remain relevant in the future. Looking forward, our survey points to a growing role of sovereign bank linkages, legal risks, domestic debt and default, and of official creditors, due to new lenders such as China as well as the increasing dominance of central banks in global debt markets. Questions of debt sustainability and default will remain acute in both developing and advanced economies. (JEL E58, F33, F34, G01, G21, H63, N20)
{"title":"Sovereign Debt in the Twenty-first Century","authors":"K. Mitchener, Christoph Trebesch","doi":"10.1257/jel.20211362","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20211362","url":null,"abstract":"How will sovereign debt markets evolve in the twenty-first century? We survey how the literature has responded to the eurozone debt crisis, placing “lessons learned” in historical perspective. The crisis featured: (i) the return of debt problems to advanced economies, (ii) a bank–sovereign “doom loop” and the propagation of sovereign risk to households and firms, (iii) rollover problems and self-fulfilling crisis dynamics, (iv) severe debt distress without outright sovereign defaults, (v) large-scale sovereign bailouts from abroad, and (vi) creditor threats to litigate and hold out in a debt restructuring. Many of these characteristics were already present in historical debt crises and are likely to remain relevant in the future. Looking forward, our survey points to a growing role of sovereign bank linkages, legal risks, domestic debt and default, and of official creditors, due to new lenders such as China as well as the increasing dominance of central banks in global debt markets. Questions of debt sustainability and default will remain acute in both developing and advanced economies. (JEL E58, F33, F34, G01, G21, H63, N20)","PeriodicalId":48416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Literature","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46955470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Danilo Cascaldi-Garcia, Cisil Sarisoy, Juan M. Londono, Bo Sun, Deepa D. Datta, Thiago Ferreira, Olesya Grishchenko, Mohammad R. Jahan-Parvar, Francesca Loria, Sai Ma, Marius Rodriguez, Ilknur Zer, John Rogers
This paper provides a comprehensive survey of existing measures of uncertainty, risk, and volatility, noting their conceptual distinctions. It summarizes how they are constructed, their relative advantages in usage, and their effects on financial market and economic outcomes. The measures are divided into four categories based on the construction methodology: news-based, survey-based, econometric-based, and market-based measures. While heightened uncertainty is typically associated with negative real and financial outcomes, the magnitude of these effects and the interpretation of transmission channels crucially depend on identification considerations.(JEL C83, D81, E10, E52, E60, F10, G10)
{"title":"What is Certain about Uncertainty?","authors":"Danilo Cascaldi-Garcia, Cisil Sarisoy, Juan M. Londono, Bo Sun, Deepa D. Datta, Thiago Ferreira, Olesya Grishchenko, Mohammad R. Jahan-Parvar, Francesca Loria, Sai Ma, Marius Rodriguez, Ilknur Zer, John Rogers","doi":"10.1257/jel.20211645","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20211645","url":null,"abstract":"This paper provides a comprehensive survey of existing measures of uncertainty, risk, and volatility, noting their conceptual distinctions. It summarizes how they are constructed, their relative advantages in usage, and their effects on financial market and economic outcomes. The measures are divided into four categories based on the construction methodology: news-based, survey-based, econometric-based, and market-based measures. While heightened uncertainty is typically associated with negative real and financial outcomes, the magnitude of these effects and the interpretation of transmission channels crucially depend on identification considerations.(JEL C83, D81, E10, E52, E60, F10, G10)","PeriodicalId":48416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Literature","volume":"66 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136084480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Francisco J. Buera, Joseph P. Kaboski, Robert M. Townsend
Macroeconomic development remains an important policy goal because of its ability to lift entire populations out of poverty. In our review of the literature, we emphasize that the best way to achieve this objective is to embrace a synthesis of methods and ideas, with the science of experiments as a unifying feature. Randomized controlled trials need representative data and structural modeling, and macro models need to be designed and disciplined to the realities and data of developing-country economies. Macroeconomic models have key lessons for gathering and analyzing micro evidence and for moving to an evaluation of macro policy. Resource constraints, heterogeneity, general equilibrium effects, obstacles to trade, dynamics, and returns to scale can all play key roles. A synthesis for macro development is well under way. (JEL C93, D00, E00, O10, O11, O12)
{"title":"From Micro to Macro Development","authors":"Francisco J. Buera, Joseph P. Kaboski, Robert M. Townsend","doi":"10.1257/jel.20211537","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20211537","url":null,"abstract":"Macroeconomic development remains an important policy goal because of its ability to lift entire populations out of poverty. In our review of the literature, we emphasize that the best way to achieve this objective is to embrace a synthesis of methods and ideas, with the science of experiments as a unifying feature. Randomized controlled trials need representative data and structural modeling, and macro models need to be designed and disciplined to the realities and data of developing-country economies. Macroeconomic models have key lessons for gathering and analyzing micro evidence and for moving to an evaluation of macro policy. Resource constraints, heterogeneity, general equilibrium effects, obstacles to trade, dynamics, and returns to scale can all play key roles. A synthesis for macro development is well under way. (JEL C93, D00, E00, O10, O11, O12)","PeriodicalId":48416,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Literature","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136370979","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}