著者
ラパヴィツァス コスタス 横内 正雄
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.47, no.1, pp.42-55, 2010-04-20

The crisis of 2007-9 resulted from a financial bubble marked by weak production, expanding bank assets, and growing household indebtedness. For these reasons the crisis casts light on the financialisation of capitalist economies. The literature on financialisation generally links weak production with booming finance; according to some, causation runs from weak production to booming finance, while for others it runs in the opposite direction. This article argues that there is no direct causation between booming finance and weak production. Rather, financialisation represents systemic transformation of capitalist production and finance, which ultimately accounts for the crisis of 2007-9, and has three main features. First, less reliance of large corporations on banks; second, banks shifting their activities toward mediating in open markets and transacting with individuals; third, increasing implication of individuals in the operations of finance.
著者
中谷 武
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.46, no.4, pp.6-14, 2010-01-20

This paper attempts to evaluate the significance of wage-led economy of Post Keynesian economics. In order to achieve longterm sustainable economic growth under the low growth and the environmental constraints, the switch from profit-led economy to wage-led economy will be effective and also inevitable. The main points are as follows: 1) Our current economic crisis can not be resolved by simply resuming the Keynesian demand policies in face of environmental constraints, growing fiscal deficits and low birthrate and an aging population. What is important is that we have to consider both demand side and supply side simultaneously, which mutually interrelate in determining the output and employment levels. The supply side of Keynesian theory is the core of the issue, which is neglected for long because Keynes himself disregarded it. The main stream economics has picked up this point and criticized Keynes but falsely. 2) There are three ways to shift the supply curve downwards: (1) technical improvement, (2) cutting labor cost and (3) cutting profit margin. The ways employed by neo-liberals which are theoretically based on the main stream economics since eighties are the first and the second ones, whose effectiveness has shown to be restrictive because they shift the demand curve downwards as well as supply curve. In this sense the supply side policies are rebelled against by demand side; consumption demand is sharply depressed by deteriorating expectation in future wages and employment insecurity. On the other hand, the wage-led economy is to pursue the third way of downwards shift of supply curve. 3) The possibility of wage-led economy depends on both characteristics of investment and saving functions. We can say firstly that under the condition of low economic growth the characteristics of saving function become more important compared with those in investment function, secondly that a lower saving rate of laborers leads to greater possibility of wage-led economy, and thirdly that a more progressive tax system makes wage-led economy more possible. These Post Keynesian claims are of importance in face of recent regressive tax reforms and the relatively higher saving rate in Asian countries. 4) Blecker (1989) and Bhaduri and Marglin (1990) argued that the increasing international price competition prevents the potential of wage-led economy even if the domestic economy is wage-led. In this paper we discussed that this claim is not confined to wage-led economy: the profit-led economy is also not sustainable under the severe international competition. Therefore a domestic price increase can not be maintained regardless of whether it is wage-led or profit-led domestically under global competition. In other words, in face of international competition we need to improve the supply condition. Here we must consider again by which way we realize the shift of supply curve. 5) We discussed four cases of two-country economy composed of two-by-two combinations: wage-led or profit-led and domestic country or foreign country. An increase in wage share in domestic country with profitled foreign country has positive effects to both countries: the domestic production as well as foreign production increase. The effects of an increase in the wage share in wage-led domestic country become ambiguous, however, when the foreign country is also wage-led, but it affects favorably to domestic country compared to foreign country. 6) Finally we examine the necessary conditions of sustainable economic growth from longer run perspectives. If we maintain both the inside equilibrium condition and the outside equilibrium condition at the same time, how can the wage rate increase in the long run? By inside we consider the labor market and by outside we mean the trade balance. Then we argue that the wage rate increase depends on the natural growth rates of domestic and foreign economies, the elasticity of trade, the growth rate of labor productivity and the pass-on effect to profit share. Especially, the wage rate must increase at a higher rate when the foreign natural rate of growth is higher than that of domestic one.
著者
青木 孝平
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.41, no.4, pp.25-36, 2005-01-20 (Released:2017-04-25)

Communitarianism is a social philosophy that M.J.Sandel, A.Maclntire, Ch.Taylor and others have advocated in England and America since the end of 20th century. It has severely opposed liberalism which is the main current of contemporary normative theory argued by J.Rowls. The aim of this paper is to reexamine the socalled Uno theory of economics which seems to have no connection with communitarianism, and to reveal that Uno theory is not only the methodology of scientific economics but also the text of social philosophy. At first, we try to extract the proper normative theory from Uno theory and show that it has a character similar to communitarianism. Moreover, the deductive logic developed by Uno is totally different from the historical materialism by Marx and also from the ideal dialectic by Hegel, or rather similar to socialism as a categorical imperative proposed by the neo-Kantianism. Secondly, we investigate the substance of normative theory included in Uno theory. As a result, in discussions about the theories of value form and of the fetishism considered by Uno, we find the same argument as communitarian's criticism against "the unencumbered-self" or "the self-ownership" liberalism premised. In the social contract theory, the subject is considered to construct the social relations, but in Uno theory, the relations construct the subject. Lastly, we think about the abolition of "the commodification of labor-power" and "the law of value". Thus we conclude that the purpose of Uno' theory is not a realization of freedom, equality and individuality, but a recovery of social collaborated relations. We are sure it is not besides the mark to discover a communitarian normative theory in Uno's political economy.
著者
嶋野 智仁
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.51, no.4, pp.70-82, 2015-01-20 (Released:2017-04-25)
被引用文献数
1

The aim of this paper is to examine how financialization affects capital accumulation in Japan from the viewpoint of the spread of shareholder value orientation in Japanese firms. After bubble economy collapse in the beginning of the 1990s, new ideology for corporate governance-"shareholder value orientation"-began to emerge in Japanese firms. The diffusion of shareholder value orientation in firms is one of the most important characteristics of financialization, and there are many empirical studies on the relationship between the change of firms' behavior evoked by this ideology and capital accumulation in US economies. As for Japanese economies, however, there have been no empirical studies on the effect of financialization on capital accumulation from the viewpoint of the spread of shareholder value orientation. In this paper, I make an empirical analysis on how financialization affect capital accumulation in Japan by estimating investment functions which include the proxy variable of the strength of shareholder value orientation in independent variables. As subjects of my empirical research, I choose Japanese non-financial corporation sectors. I also divide these subjects into several industries (manufacturing firms and non manufacturing firms) and several firm sizes(big firms and small-medium firms). And I select dividend payout-capital stock ratio for the proxy variable of Japanese financialization in the investment function because this variable dramatically increase in all categories of subjects of empirical research after 2000s reflecting the diffusion of shareholder orientation in Japanese firms. Theoretically, this significant increase of dividend payout-capital stock ratio may depress capital accumulation because increasing dividend payout reduce internal funds for investment and change firms'management goals from investment for longterm growth to short-term profit for sustaining dividend and stock price. To ascertain this theoretical possibility, I estimate investment function and find interesting results. Dividend payout-capital stock ratio is estimated negatively and statistically significant in the investment function both in the manufacturing and non manufacturing big firms, but is not estimated significantly in the small-medium firms both in the two industries. This means the negative effect of shareholder value orientation on capital accumulation is important for Japanese big firms, but not for Japanese small-medium firms. These results suggest that the spread of shareholder value orientation in Japanese firms decrease capital accumulation especially in big firms after 2000s. This is the effect of financialization on capital accumulation in Japan.
著者
森岡 真史
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.48, no.1, pp.26-38, 2011-04-20 (Released:2017-04-25)

This paper argues what socialism was in the last two centuries and what it still can be in the coming age through reconsideration of the relation among three aspects of Marxism, that is, scientific recognition of reality, struggle for social change, and norms which leads value judgment. Early socialists saw in capitalist society an extreme differentiation over wealth and labor. They criticized capitalism based on the norms that everyone has the right to exist and develop humanly and that everyone has the duty to live not on privately owned property but on his or her own labor. With a few exceptions, most of early socialists advocated universal labor obligation and proclaimed radical reform including the abolition of market and wage labor. While Marx started from this tradition, he drastically transformed the historical nature of socialism. According to Marx's historical materialism, the transition from capitalism to socialism is not a social reform realizing specific norms, but a historical inevitability governed by the objective law of social development. At the same time he admitted that human's conscious actions can affect this transition within a certain bounds. From this viewpoint, the ultimate justice lies in the activity to promote this transition based on scientific recognition of the law. Therefore in Marxism the development of productive force and the victory of labor class in classstruggle are the highest norms which have priority over any other norms. Lenin added following three original propositions to classical Marxism. First, only the party of Marxist revolutionaries is able to lead labor class based on precise recognition of their genuine interests. Secondly, there is no moral restridion in the choice of means of struggle as far as it is necessary for revolution. Thirdly, on the outbreak of the imperialist war the age of world socialist revolution on a global scale begins. These propositions justified communist parties of any country to raise a revolution regardless of the stage of domestic economic development and to use unlimited revolutionary violence against class-enemy. The socialist system of the 20-th century was Leninist regime in that the communist party anointed itself as the permanent and omnipotent master of the people. It also embraced Marxist ideology in that it pursued rapid development of the productive force and political struggle to defeat domestic and foreign class-enemy as the highest norms. Furthermore, this system partially realized the ideal of early socialism in that abolished unearned income and guaranteed its citizen a minimum level of existence. In order for socialism to be a thought which can contribute to social change in the 21-st century, first of all we must separate it off from the dogma of historical inevitability. This task is naturally associated with clarification of the socialist norms which are to be realized through social reform. Considering the past history where the pursuit of labor obligation resulted in the persecution of "non-worker" and the creation of forced labor system, clarification of the norms should be made in the direction to put the right to exist and develop humanly at the center of socialist norms and to reconsider the relation between this right and other norms relating freedom, equality, democracy and economic development.
著者
大野 隆
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.45, no.3, pp.60-69, 2008-10-20 (Released:2017-04-25)

The main motivation for this article is to construct a model that induces reserve army effect within a Kaleckian model of income distribution and effective demand. Using this model, we investigate the relationship between the wage pressure and employment not only in the short run but also in the long run. The one of the features of the Kaleckian model is that the real wage rate is exogenous parameter by monopoly power of market. So the Kaleckian model excludes the reserve army effect. But much paper insists wage rate is affected by not only monopoly power but also imperfect labor market, especially employment rate and wage pressure of labor union. Some papers try to induce the imperfect labor market within the Kaleckian model. Following previous works (Stockhammer (2004), Dutt (1992)), it is difficult to develop the Kaleckian model with the reserve army effect in the long run because of the indeterminacy problem, in the sense that the long-run equilibrium point diverges from the steady state. The novelty of this paper is that we introduce not only cost minimization but also an increasing-return-to-scale production function into the model. To satisfy the stability condition, we need both increasing return to scale and the scale effect of the product function is strictly above unity or the slope of the wage-setting curve is small. Hence, the relationship between the degree of increasing return to scale, and the slope of the wage-setting curve is important to satisfy the stability condition. If the condition is fulfilled, an increase in the capital stock leads to excess supply in the product market, and a decrease in employment. This process will go on until the labor-capital ratio is equal to the desired labor-capital ratio. Another result of this paper is that an increase in the wage pressure increases employment in the long run compared to the initial level.
著者
二宮 健史郎
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.51, no.4, pp.83-95, 2015-01-20 (Released:2017-04-25)

The recent international monetary crisis, triggered by the 2008 subprime loan crisis in the US, still casts a dark shadow over the world economy. Owing to this upheaval, the financial instability hypothesis proposed by heterodox economist Hyman P. Minsky has received renewed attention. Many mainstream economists admire Minsky's keen insight. The financial instability hypothesis and the formal mathematical models on related topics treat the cumulative debt burden as one of the causes of financial instability. In addition, the Kaleckian and stock-flow consistent models, which explicitly consider interest-bearing debt burden, have, in recent years, been extensively developed. Ninomiya and Tokuda (2011, 2012) introduced the concept of "instability of confidence" and examined the structural change of an economy. In this study, we construct macro-dynamic models that consider interest-bearing debt burdens and the instability of confidence. Furthermore, we examine financial instability and cycles based on the financial instability hypothesis and related mathematical models. This study highlights the following items as significant causes of economic instability: 1)cumulative interest-bearing debt burdens; 2)fragile financial structures; 3)and the instability of confidence. In other words, a robust financial structure plays an important role in addressing a crisis of confidence. This study also suggests that the recent policy of quantitative easing may exert harmful side effects on the economy. This study implies that some new policies and institutional frameworks are needed to construct a robust financial structure. Furthermore, we can prove that there are closed orbits in the dynamic systems by applying Hopf bifurcation theorem. Interest-bearing debt plays important role in terms of financial cycles in this study. The degree of the instability of confidence also has an important role for one of the financial cycles in this study. The financial cycles in this study are quite different from the Kaldorian business cycle.
著者
知見 邦彦
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.49, no.2, pp.65-77, 2012-07-20 (Released:2017-04-25)

The prevailing view of the main change in the insurance industry in the United States since the 1970's has been the development of "Alternative Risk Transfer" and "Enterprise Risk Management". However, "Financialization of the Economy" has been a grater source of change on the insurance industry as it brought with it-financialization of insurance products, insurance premiums and the insurance business. This paper suggests that the insurance industry has been subsumed into the world of finance, which has meant the decline of the fundamental and comprehensive function of insurance, i.e. risk transference, risk pooling and risk distribution. Firstly, the financialization of insurance products means that they added a financial function to their function of compensation and security. In the era of financialization "Insurance Disintermediation" (the outflow of insurance money by canceling traditional insurance policies) triggered a change in insurance products by adding financial products such as investment trusts. Secondly, securitization of insurance products such as Catastrophe Bond (Insurance Linked Securities) was also a method of financialization of insurance products. Financialization of the insurance premium (which was originally based on the loss ratio) means that the level of the premium becomes influenced by investment yield, which is based on declining the insurance premium and ratio of profit for life insurers. The outcome of covering a deficit with investment transforms insurers to speculative institutional investors. In the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, the collapse of the major mono-line insurers and AIG shook the financial system. It was the first time that the collapse of insurers was deeply connected with the financial system. Financialization of insurance products refers to the expansion of credit. Financial guarantee insurance provides investors with the guaranteed payment of timely interest and the ultimate principal in the event of the failure of the issuer, which leads to incentives for investors to buy those financial products. CDS (Credit Default Swap) which mono-line insurers and AIG provide has had a similar function to financial guarantee insurance policies. As a result, mono-line insurers and the like have grown into a major source of credit enhancement.
著者
栗田 康之
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.47, no.4, pp.30-41, 2011-01-20 (Released:2017-04-25)

It has been often pointed out that Kalecki's political economy was based on that of Marx. For example, T. Kowalik and J. Robinson referred to the Marxian roots of Kalecki's political economy. They emphasized that Kalecki's theory of effective demand was based on Marx's scheme of reproduction, and, at the same time, gave a solution to 'the problem of the realization of surpuls value' in the third volume of Capital. However, only a few studies have been done to explore the relationship between Kalecki's theory of effective demand and Marx's scheme of reproduction. First of all, in this paper, we survey Kalecki's referrance to Marx's scheme of reproduction and Kalecki's own scheme. Kalckie often refered to Marx's scheme of reproduction, and, at the same time, modified the Marx's scheme: he formulated his own scheme ("tableau economicue of the nationl income"). In his scheme, Kalecki divided the economy into two sectors (the investment goods sector and the consumption goods sector) or three sectors (the consumption goods were subdivided into for workers and for capitalists), and he assumed that each department represents "the integrated production" of the final products. Moreover, Kalecki asssumed, "as Marx does", that workers do not save. Then, he arrived at "the fudamental Marxian 'equation of exchange'" (C_1=S_2 or P_3=W_1+W_2). The "fudamental Marxian 'equation of exchange'" is just the equation of the balancing condition in Marx's scheme of expanded reproduction. From this "fudamental Marxian 'equation of exchange'," Kalecki derived the proposition that investment and capitalst consumption determin profits. Second, we compare Kalecki's theory of capitalist economy with that of Marx in Capital, especialy in the third volume of Capital, in order to clarify the theoretical relationship of them. Kalecki succeeded to the Marxian concept of class, the capital-labour relation. For Kalecki, capitalists are owners of money and the means of production, and workers do not save. But he rejected the Marxian theory of value and the theory of surplus-value. He never dealt with such Marxian concepts of labour value, surplus value and price of production. On the other hand, he emphasized the oligopolitic nature of the capitalist economy and the realization of profits in the process of circulation i. e. in the product market. Coseqently, he could derive the proposition that investment and capitalst consumption determin profits, and, at the same time, give a solution to 'the problem of the realization of surpuls value'. However, on the other hand, he neglected the reduction in cost and the formation of the relative surplus population (industrial reserve army) by the technical change in the process of production. It is necessary and possibie to integrate Kalecki's theory of effective demand in his scheme ("tableau economicue of the nationl income") with marx's theory of surpuls value. From this point of view, we need to integrate Kalecki's political economy with that of Marx.
著者
藤田 真哉
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.47, no.1, pp.66-78, 2010-04-20 (Released:2017-04-25)

This paper explains why the U.S. economy experienced high growth from the 1990s to the early 2000s while the Japanese economy stagnated during this same period. To do so, we firstly construct a Kaldorian cumulative causation model which takes into account the interrelation between demand and labor productivity growth in a two-sector (investment goods and consumption goods sectors) framework. Secondly, we estimate the model parameters, using data for the U.S. during 1994-2004 and for Japan during 1991-2003 and substitute them into our model. Then, we compare both countries estimated demand regime functions, which describe the effect of productivity on demand, and productivity regime functions, showing the effect of demand on productivity in each sector. Our results are summarized as follows. The U.S. rapid GDP growth in the 1990s was characterized by the investment goods sector's high demand growth, which in turn was mainly driven by its high labor productivity growth. The U.S. established a new growth regime, which was caused not by wage indexation to productivity and mass consumption, as appeared during the so-called 'Fordism' period, but by decreasing the investment goods price and increasing investment demand in the consumption goods sector. Moreover, higher export and public expenditure growth for the consumer goods sector was the driving force behind this sector's high growth. As for the Japanese economy, although the investment goods sector also attained rapid productivity growth and could have raised its high demand growth during this period, it was unable to do so. The decreasing investment goods price didn't lead to its high demand growth as it did in the U.S. because the idle stock due to over-accumulation and bad loans caused by the burst of the bubble economy in the early 1990s gave disincentive for firms to invest. But, we should note that deregulating the labor market itself, which leads to an increase in the low-skilled irregular worker, could not produce higher performance without active labor market policies because it brings about low productivity in both the investment goods and the consumer goods sectors.
著者
山森 亮
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.41, no.2, pp.28-37, 2004-07-20

Esping-Andersen's influential analysis for de-commodification is one of powerful conceptualization of need fulfillment under modern capitalism. Feminists' critique against his analysis and his effort to reply to these criticisms has contributed to the academic enquiry for "the welfare state and family". In his response, Esping-Andersen introduced concept of de-familialization. I discuss both consepts (de-commodification and de-familialization) have two analytically distinct contents; say, Polanyian de-commodification (policies for maintenance of commodification), and Esping-Andersenian de-commodification(policies beyond such a institutional rationality); De-familialization for maintenance of family, and De-familialization beyond such a institutional rationality. I argue both latter contents are crucial if we consider both concept as "emancipatory potential", as Esping-Andersen wrote. I also argue his conceptualizing de-familialization is problematic because it means eventually commodification. We could recognize really existing both latter contents and de-familialization beyond his conceptualization, in terms of "moral economy".
著者
吉田 文和
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.50, no.1, pp.14-24, 2013-04-20

If we review the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on 11 March 2011 and examine the nuclear disaster that has followed it from the standpoint of the theories that have been developed to deal with the problems of pollution, and analyze it first from the point of view that focuses on "the causes of pollution" and "the damage that pollution causes", and then, further, to go on to consider the various theories or concepts that relate to issues of "responsibility", "countermeasures", "social cost", "relief", and finally to weigh up proposals for "an alternative policy", it should become possible to determine the extent of the problem, the issues that have to be faced and the courses of action that we need to take, the prospects for finding a solution, and a timeline that may lead to its resolution.
著者
横川 太郎
出版者
経済理論学会
雑誌
季刊経済理論 (ISSN:18825184)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.49, no.1, pp.64-75, 2012-04-20 (Released:2017-04-25)

This paper examines rise and fall of non-traditional business of investment banks in neo-liberal era basing on Minsky's theory of the Stage of Capitalist Financial Development. In the United States, "Managerial Capitalism" was established through the Great Depression and following World War II. Under the prosperous Managerial Capitalism, money managers collected small savings from the households and invested them in stock market as long term investments. It created virtuous cycles of the rise of stock prices and economic growth in the early 1960s. When the US economy was destabilizing after 1966, Managerial Capitalism lost its stability. Under the new environment money managers were expected better performances by the households, and had to transfer their investment models to more active ones. Their active investment strategy strengthened their influence on the stock market, and as a result the existing system fails into malfunctioning. After the 1980s, influence of money manager was further strengthened, exercising their market power. The economy entered the stage of "Money Manager Capitalism". Changes in market environments gave significant impacts on investment banking business. Investment banks faced intensified competition in the fields of underwriting and trading business. Therefore, while strengthening advisory services such as merger and acquisition, they sought new sources of revenue. That was the business for money managers. Investment banks expanded their business by arranging securities for money managers into their preference, and provided prime brokerage services. At the same time, they also acted as money managers themselves. It means that they expanded their business to proprietary trading, merchant banking business and asset management business. As a result, investment banks earned huge profits. Money Manager Capitalism was vulnerable to a financial crisis, because of the preference for high risks and the inadequate "margin of safety". Consequently, non-traditional Investment Banking business incurred huge loss by the Subprime Financial Crisis. It is followed by disappearance of major investment banks which is subject to supervision of CSE program by SEC. However, on the other hand, the profit of traditional investment banking business continued to support the earnings of investment banks. In this sense, it is too early to conclude that the crisis proclaims the end of the investment banking model. In fact, the most serious problem is that, in spite of the underlying cause of crisis, the excessive money managing business by the investment bank became active again. To prevent the recurrence of the crisis, we must suppress excessive investments by money managers, and it is necessary to establish a horizontal regulatory system. Therefore, we have to pay attention to the regulatory reform, Dodd-Franc Act, which was enacted on July 21, 2010 in the United States. We need to check out whether the act is effective in reality and whether it can regulate excessive investment behaviors of money managers.