The Measurement of Economic Relationships

The Measurement of Economic Relationships

Author: Peter Tryfos

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-03-09

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 1402028393

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Astranger in academia cannot but be impressed by the apparent uniformity and precision of the methodology currently applied to the measurement of economic relationships. In scores of journal articles and other studies, a theoretical argument is typically presented to justify the position that a certain variable is related to certain other, possibly causal, variables. Regression or a related method is applied to a set of observations on these variables, and the conclusion often emerges that the causa,l variables are indeed "significant" at a certain "level," thereby lending support to the theoretical argument-an argument presumably formulated independently of the observations. A variable may be declared significant (and few doubt that this does not mean important) at, say, the 0. 05 level, but not the 0. 01. The effects of the variables are calculated to many significant digits, and are often accompanied by intervals and forecasts of not quite obvious meaning but certainly of reassuring "confidence. " The uniformity is also evident in the many mathematically advanced text books of statistics and econometrics, and in their less rigorous introductory versions for students in economics or business. It is reflected in the tools of the profession: computer programs, from the generaiones addressed to the incidental researcher to the dedicated and sophisticated programs used by the experts, display the same terms and implement the same methodology. In short, there appears no visible alternative to the established methodol ogy and no sign of reservat ions concerning its validity.


Theory and Measurement of Economic Externalities

Theory and Measurement of Economic Externalities

Author: Steven A. Y. Lin

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2014-05-10

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1483271471

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Theory and Measurement of Economic Externalities provides information on some analytical and empirical developments in the field of externalities. This book presents the function of turning out producer's goods in the form of better knowledge, analytical formulation, and approaches for application to current problems. Organized into five parts encompassing 12 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the notion of externalities in connection with analyses of economic welfare. This text then discusses the relationship between publicness and external diseconomies when either consumption or production or decision sets are nonconvex due to a high degree of externalities. Other chapters consider disproving the pessimistic conclusions concerning tax–subsidy schemes. This book discusses as well the solutions for the allocation of resources in an economy with public goods and interdependent preferences. The final chapter deals with a general framework for estimating externality production functions. This book is a valuable resource for economists.


Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures

Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures

Author: Christopher D. Carroll

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2015-06-16

Total Pages: 517

ISBN-13: 022612665X

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Robust and reliable measures of consumer expenditures are essential for analyzing aggregate economic activity and for measuring differences in household circumstances. Many countries, including the United States, are embarking on ambitious projects to redesign surveys of consumer expenditures, with the goal of better capturing economic heterogeneity. This is an appropriate time to examine the way consumer expenditures are currently measured, and the challenges and opportunities that alternative approaches might present. Improving the Measurement of Consumer Expenditures begins with a comprehensive review of current methodologies for collecting consumer expenditure data. Subsequent chapters highlight the range of different objectives that expenditure surveys may satisfy, compare the data available from consumer expenditure surveys with that available from other sources, and describe how the United States’s current survey practices compare with those in other nations.


For Good Measure

For Good Measure

Author: Joseph E. Stiglitz

Publisher: The New Press

Published: 2019-11-19

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 1620975726

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Today's leading economists weigh in with a new "dashboard" of metrics for measuring our economic and social health "What we measure affects what we do. If we focus only on material well-being—on, say, the production of goods, rather than on health, education, and the environment—we become distorted in the same way that these measures are distorted." —Joseph E. Stiglitz A consensus has emerged among key experts that our conventional economic measures are out of sync with how most people live their lives. GDP, they argue, is a poor and outmoded measure of our well-being. The global movement to move beyond GDP has attracted some of the world's leading economists, statisticians, and social thinkers who have worked collectively to articulate new approaches to measuring economic well-being and social progress. In the decade since the 2008 economic crisis, these experts have come together to determine what indicators can actually tell us about people's lives. In the first book of its kind, leading economists from around the world, including Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, Elizabeth Beasely, Jacob Hacker, François Bourguignon, Nora Lustig, Alan B. Krueger, and Joseph E. Stiglitz, describe a range of fascinating metrics—from economic insecurity and environmental sustainability to inequality of opportunity and levels of trust and resilience—that can be used to supplement the simplistic measure of gross domestic product, providing a far more nuanced and accurate account of societal health and well-being. This groundbreaking volume is sure to provide a major source of ideas and inspiration for one of the most important intellectual movements of our time.


The Shadow Economy

The Shadow Economy

Author: Friedrich Schneider

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-02-14

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1107034841

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This book presents new data to give an overview of shadow economies from OECD countries and propose solutions to prevent illicit work.


Measurement and Meaning in Economics

Measurement and Meaning in Economics

Author: Deirdre N. McCloskey

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781852788186

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A collection of writings on economic history and the rhetoric of economics. McCloskey (human sciences, U. of Illinois, Chicago) argues that economics has become ahistorical and narrowly scientific--a harmful development for a moral science; she has declared that economics would improve if economists would read more novels. The papers here, spanning the 1970s, '80s and '90s, work toward exploring and repairing the dysfunctional relationship between economics and the humanities. c. Book News Inc.


Understanding National Accounts Second Edition

Understanding National Accounts Second Edition

Author: Lequiller François

Publisher: OECD Publishing

Published: 2014-10-20

Total Pages: 520

ISBN-13: 9264214631

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This is an update of OECD 2006 "Understanding National Accounts". It contains new data, new chapters and is adapted to the new systems of national accounts, SNA 2008 and ESA 2010.


Stakeholder Capitalism

Stakeholder Capitalism

Author: Klaus Schwab

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2021-01-27

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 1119756138

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Reimagining our global economy so it becomes more sustainable and prosperous for all Our global economic system is broken. But we can replace the current picture of global upheaval, unsustainability, and uncertainty with one of an economy that works for all people, and the planet. First, we must eliminate rising income inequality within societies where productivity and wage growth has slowed. Second, we must reduce the dampening effect of monopoly market power wielded by large corporations on innovation and productivity gains. And finally, the short-sighted exploitation of natural resources that is corroding the environment and affecting the lives of many for the worse must end. The debate over the causes of the broken economy—laissez-faire government, poorly managed globalization, the rise of technology in favor of the few, or yet another reason—is wide open. Stakeholder Capitalism: A Global Economy that Works for Progress, People and Planet argues convincingly that if we don't start with recognizing the true shape of our problems, our current system will continue to fail us. To help us see our challenges more clearly, Schwab—the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum—looks for the real causes of our system's shortcomings, and for solutions in best practices from around the world in places as diverse as China, Denmark, Ethiopia, Germany, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Singapore. And in doing so, Schwab finds emerging examples of new ways of doing things that provide grounds for hope, including: Individual agency: how countries and policies can make a difference against large external forces A clearly defined social contract: agreement on shared values and goals allows government, business, and individuals to produce the most optimal outcomes Planning for future generations: short-sighted presentism harms our shared future, and that of those yet to be born Better measures of economic success: move beyond a myopic focus on GDP to more complete, human-scaled measures of societal flourishing By accurately describing our real situation, Stakeholder Capitalism is able to pinpoint achievable ways to deal with our problems. Chapter by chapter, Professor Schwab shows us that there are ways for everyone at all levels of society to reshape the broken pieces of the global economy and—country by country, company by company, and citizen by citizen—glue them back together in a way that benefits us all.


Unbound

Unbound

Author: Heather Boushey

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2019-10-15

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0674919319

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A Financial Times Book of the Year “The strongest documentation I have seen for the many ways in which inequality is harmful to economic growth.” —Jason Furman “A timely and very useful guide...Boushey assimilates a great deal of recent economic research and argues that it amounts to a paradigm shift.” —New Yorker Do we have to choose between equality and prosperity? Decisions made over the past fifty years have created underlying fragilities in our society that make our economy less effective in good times and less resilient to shocks, such as today’s coronavirus pandemic. Many think tackling inequality would require such heavy-handed interference that it would stifle economic growth. But a careful look at the data suggests nothing could be further from the truth—and that reducing inequality is in fact key to delivering future prosperity. Presenting cutting-edge economics with verve, Heather Boushey shows how rising inequality is a drain on talent, ideas, and innovation, leading to a concentration of capital and a damaging under-investment in schools, infrastructure, and other public goods. We know inequality is fueling social unrest. Boushey shows persuasively that it is also a serious drag on growth. “In this outstanding book, Heather Boushey...shows that, beyond a point, inequality damages the economy by limiting the quantity and quality of human capital and skills, blocking access to opportunity, underfunding public services, facilitating predatory rent-seeking, weakening aggregate demand, and increasing reliance on unsustainable credit.” —Martin Wolf, Financial Times “Think rising levels of inequality are just an inevitable outcome of our market-driven economy? Then you should read Boushey’s well-argued, well-documented explanation of why you’re wrong.” —David Rotman, MIT Technology Review