20,713 research outputs found
ADAM SMITH'S OPTIMISTIC TELEOLOGICAL VIEW OF HISTORY
No full textAdam Smith's four-stage theory provides the framework for his writings on history. The fourth stage is the commercial epoch; the culmination of history in this stage is a key component in the conventional interpretation of Adam Smith as a prophet of commercialism. In two historical case studies Smith shows the capacity of commercial society to regenerate itself. This potent capacity suggests that commercial society is inevitable. At a certain point in time it also overcomes the major obstacles to its permanence. Smith's philosophy of history anticipates the end of history views of Kant and Hegel.Political Economy,
How Might Adam Smith Pay Professors Today?
No full textAdam Smith’s proposal for paying professors was intended to induce increased faculty knowledge. If students have imperfect information about what they learn, and universities can only imperfectly measure the input of faculty time in student learning, publications may be used to measure faculty knowledge. If professors’ ability to publish is positively related to their ability to produce student learning, which universities can imperfectly measure, publications may be necessary to attract more able professors. Since research signals faculty knowledge, schools that do not value publications per se could require higher publication standards and pay higher wages than schools that value only publications.
Negotiating Transaction Cost Economics: Oliver Williamson and his audiences
No full textThe article studies the interaction between Oliver Williamson and his audiences in the construction of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE). His attentiveness to the feedback from different groups has played a major role in the success of TCE. First we discuss briefly the relevance of rhetoric to the study of economics. Rhetoric stresses that economists talk not to a void, but to peers and lay people with their habits, interests, institutional conditionings and values. Using the toolbox of rhetoric we identify Williamson’s intended audiences. Next we discuss his lists of claimed antecedents and the changes made therein. We explore how those (changing) connections could possibly have incited different audiences. In what follows, we use citation data to delineate his actual readers. This helps compare intended and actual audiences as we close with a discussion of Williamson’s ability to modify his intended reader and widen the audience of TCE in the social sciences.
ADAM SMITH'S VIEW OF HISTORY: CONSISTENT OR PARADOXICAL?
No full textThe conventional interpretation of Adam Smith is that he is a prophet of commercialism. The liberal capitalist reading of Smith is consistent with the view that history culminates in commercial society. The first part of the article develops this optimistic interpretation of Smith's view of history. Smith implies that commercial society is the end of history because 1) it supplies the ends of nature that he identifies; 2) it is inevitable; and 3) it is permanent. The second part of the article shows that Smith has some dark moments in his writings where he seems to reject completely such teleological notions. In this more civic humanist mood he confesses that commercial society does not supply the ends of nature, nor is it inevitable, nor is it permanent. Both views exist in Smith and the commentator is forced to choose between passages in Smith's work in order to support a particular interpretation of the former's view of history.Political Economy,
Evolving Bayesian Emulators for Structured Chaotic Time Series, with Application to Large Climate Models
No full textWe develop Bayesian dynamic linear model Gaussian processes for emulation of time series output for computer models that may exhibit chaotic behavior, but where this behavior retains some underlying structure. The statistical technology is particularly suited to emulating the time series output of large climate models that exhibit this feature and where we want samples from the posterior of the emulator to evolve in the same way as dynamic processes in the computer model do. The methodology combines key features of good uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods such as using complex mean functions to capture large-scale signals within parameter space, with dynamic linear models in a way that allows UQ to borrow strength from the Bayesian time series literature. We present an MCMC algorithm for sampling from the posterior of the emulator parameters when the roughness lengths of the Gaussian process are unknown. We discuss an interpretation of the results of this algorithm that allows us to use MCMC to fix the correlation lengths, making future online samples from the emulator tractable when used in practical applications where online MCMC is infeasible. We apply this methodology to emulate the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) as a time series output of the fully coupled non--flux-adjusted atmosphere-ocean general circulation model HadCM3.
Read More: http://epubs.siam.org/doi/abs/10.1137/12090091
Adam Smith and Roman Servitudes
No full textThis essay is a preprint of an article that appeared at: Tijdschrift voor Rechstsgeschiedenis, 72 (2004), 327–57.This essay discusses Adam Smith historical jurisprudence and his use of Roman law materials in his Lectures on Jurisprudence. It argues that Smith found it difficult to maintain his theory of legal development in the face of a highly developed body of Roman law literature
Fast linked analyses for scenario-based hierarchies
No full textWhen using computer models to provide policy support it is normal to encounter ensembles that test only a handful of feasible or idealized decision scenarios. We present a new methodology for performing multilevel emulation of a complex model as a function of any decision within a predefined class that makes specific use of a scenario ensemble of opportunity on a fast or early version of a simulator and a small, well-chosen, design on our current simulator of interest. The method exploits a geometrical approach to Bayesian inference and is designed to be fast, to facilitate detailed diagnostic checking of our emulators by allowing us to carry out many analyses very quickly. Our motivating application involved constructing an emulator for the UK Met Office Hadley Centre coupled climate model HadCM3 as a function of carbon dioxide forcing, which was part of a ‘RAPID’ programme deliverable to the UK Met Office funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. Our application involved severe time pressure as well as limited access to runs of HadCM3 and a scenario ensemble of opportunity on a lower resolution version of the model
THE THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF ADAM SMITH'S WORK
No full textThe paper will discuss the theological foundation to Smith's writings. Teleology, final causes and divine design were initially seen as central to understanding Smith's writings. Over time, this view fell out of fashion. In the period after World War II, with the rise of positivism, commentators tended to overlook or downplay this interpretation. In the last decade, or so, teleology has started to be restored to its former position as an essential element in understanding Smith. After spelling out Smith's teleology and his view of final causes, divine design and the ends of nature, we try to explain the Panglossian nature of the 'new theistic view' of Smith. While our view differs somewhat, we agree with the essence of the 'new view' claim: a theological view exists in Smith which underpins his moral and economic theories.Political Economy,
Interview. Matthew Joseph with Adam Gussow, musician and author
No full textInterview in which Adam Gussow discusses hill country blues musi
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