1,721,002 research outputs found
A strategic and operational view of competitiveness and cohesion in the European context
Get PDFThe persistence of spatial developmental disparities suggests that the strategic directions of any initiative targeting regional competitiveness should follow the lines of (1) maximizing its competitive impact and (2) matching the territorial specificity. According to this perspective, the paper discusses an original theoretical construct and points to graphical representations of operational forms that may configure a policy of territorial development along four co-existent levels: (1) urban fields, (2) clusters, (3) development areas, and (4) disadvantaged areas. The main implication for public policy initiatives resides in facilitating the progress towards building up such a potential for growth.agglomeration, competitiveness, development, spatial network, territorial planning
Încalzirea globala si analiza economica: o perspectiva heterodoxa asupra pietei
No full textSympathetic with similar concerns raised by academics outside the economics realm as well, the paper suggests that the application of economic principles centred on the ‘market’ mechanism reveals a poor understanding of the actual organisation of economic life. The present inquiry takes on this conspicuous feature of standard economics the more so this mindset is increasingly applied to matters which predominantly involve moral choices. And the issue of climate change is just such a case in the study of green economics. This investigation adds to the existing research supporting arguments of the view that the 'market' mindset plays a controversial role in devising feasible policy recommendations and complements it with factual data based on the search for market solutions in the economics of climate change. The main argument is developed along the representations of the ‘market’ metaphor in its perfect— market-clearing—and imperfect—market failure—variants. The paper concludes with the observation that people should take care for the environment, but not as a result of cold calculations about the welfare of future or present generations, but for its intrinsic values, like repugnance of waste and consumerism, or the empathetic care for other beings’ fate.market mechanism, methodology, neoclassical economics, green economics, climate change.
Competitiveness of trade in services: some problems of measurement
No full textThis paper sheds light on the main approaches in measuring the competitive performance in trade in services and discusses some problems associated therewith. The existing literature points to two conclusions. On the one hand, data interpretation should be normally qualified due to some specificities of production in this sector. On the other hand, data collection is impeded by statistical and conceptual difficulties which make the refinement of analytical techniques a much harder task relative to production of and trade in goods. An illustrative empirical analysis is presented in a table of competitive hierarchies in „travel and tourism“ for selected Eastern European countries.competitiveness, services, trade, methodology, Eastern Europe
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Georgescu-Roegen's entropic model: a methodological appraisal
No full textPurpose – This paper aims to tackle in turn the merits and limits of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen's entropic model, as well as its implications for the methodological discourse in economics. This appraisal of the Georgescu-Roegen's work emphasizes the emergence of the entropic nature of the economic processes as a paradigm à la Kuhn of explanation in social economics. Design/methodology/approach – This work provides a critical assessment of the entropic model's main conceptual pillars, namely the role of mathematical formalism and the natural imagery of irreversibility. This discussion takes them in turn and develops a critique from a methodological point of view. Findings – The focus of this work is that the proposed epistemological reconstruction of economics is vulnerable to attacks from two methodological objections. The first deals with the change of metaphor from the “pendulum” of mechanics to the “hourglass” of thermodynamics. The second refers to the changes this replacement of metaphors brings about as to the relevance of the formalism of the discipline. Originality/value – This material has gathered arguments to show that the intellectual concurrence of the arguments onto the field of physics makes the methodological value of the new paradigm of entropy not transcend into a new logic of reasoning in economics. The limits of this approach stems from the same rationale for which it has got its revolutionary stature: what it proposes consists of a scientific discourse based on a mixture of evolutionary biology, economics and thermodynamics, which may open up new original and insightful perspectives, but which has never been justified on terms of economic nature alone.Economic models, Economic processes, Research methods
A Critical View of the Institutional Solution in Economics
No full textReasoning, Causality, Institutional economics, Methodology, Eastern Europe, B15, B52, P48, P51,
Către un concept operațional al dezvoltării competitive în plan teritorial
Get PDFThis paper emphasizes the conceptual need for an agreement on reassigning priorities of competitive development from policies aiming at reducing regional differences to policies encouraging functional integration of a development area. The underlying rationale in shifting the analytical focus rests on the political-economic and socio-cultural characteristics of a habitat that indeterminably amplify or scale down the benefits of economic activities. The permanence of spatial developmental disparities suggests that the strategic directions of any initiative targeting regional competitiveness should follow the lines of (1) maximizing its competitive impact and (2) matching the territorial specificity. According to this perspective, the paper discusses an original theoretical construct and points to graphical representations of operational forms that may configure a policy of territorial development along four co-existent levels: (1) urban fields, (2) clusters, (3) development areas, and (4) disadvantaged areas. The main implication for public policy initiatives resides in smoothing the progress towards building up such a potential for growth. A selected list of recommendations is therefore advanced in compliance with the expeditiousness imperative, namely: (1) adjusting public policy interventions to geographically variable areas of development; (2) prioritizing financial assistance according to integration difficulties specific to a certain area of development, whose coordinates are described along variable geographical scales (local, regional, national and, possibly, international) and functional potentialities; (3) enhancing the complementary role of private and community interventions in developing the programming capability.</p
The 'market' metaphor and climate change: an epistemological application in the study of green economics
No full textThe paper proposes a critical discussion of the 'market' mindset that is centred on epistemological concerns relative to its increasing application to matters which predominantly involve moral choices. The issue of climate change is explicitly defined in terms of ethical responsibility to future generations and becomes a natural candidate to discuss the analytical relevance of incorporating the 'market' paradigm into the study of green economics. This investigation gathers factual data based on the search for market solutions in the economics of climate change. The main argument is developed along the representations of the 'market' metaphor in its perfect (market-clearing) and imperfect (market-failure) variants. Both theoretical arguments and observational data seem to offer convincing support to the view that the 'market' mindset plays a controversial role in devising feasible policy recommendations. If climate change can be seen as a global public good, expectations are that the voluntary initiatives to mitigate global warming are to be accompanied by the selfish pursuit of people's own material interest, with the remaining combinations between empathy and self-interest in between.market mechanisms; methodology; neoclassical economics; climate change; epistemology; green economics; ethical responsibility; ethics.
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