DOCSLIB.ORG

Capitalism 1 Capitalism

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Capitalism 1 Capitalism Capitalism 1 Capitalism Part of a series on Capitalism • Capitalism portal • Economics portal • Philosophy portal • Politics portal Part of a series on Economic systems • Business and economics portal Capitalism is an economic system in which capital assets are privately owned and items are brought to market for profit. In a capitalist economy, the parties to a transaction determine the prices at which assets, goods, and services are exchanged.[1][2][3] Central elements of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets and wage labor.[4] Capitalism has existed under many forms of government, in many different times, places, and cultures.[] Following the demise of feudalism, capitalism became the dominant economic system in the Western world. Capitalism successfully overcame a challenge by communism and is now the dominant system worldwide.[][5] Economists, political economists, and historians have taken different perspectives in their analysis of capitalism and recognized various forms of it in practice. These include laissez-faire capitalism, welfare capitalism and state capitalism, all characterizing varying levels of state power and public capital control. A pejorative characterization, crony capitalism, refers to a state of affairs in which insider corruption, nepotism and cartels dominate the system. This is considered to be the normal state of mature capitalism in Marxian economics but as an aberrant state by advocates of capitalism. All such characterizations are subjective and tend to mark out a point of view either more or less sympathetic to attempts by voters to regulate business. Laissez-faire economists emphasize the degree to which government does not have control over markets and the importance of property rights.[6][7] Others emphasize the need for government regulation, to prevent monopolies and to soften the effects of the boom and bust cycle.[8] Most political economists emphasize private property as well, in addition to power relations, wage labor, class, and the uniqueness of capitalism as a historical formation.[9] The extent to which different markets are free, as well as the rules defining private property, is a matter of politics and Capitalism 2 policy. Many states have what are termed mixed economies, referring to the varying degree of planned and market-driven elements in an economic system.[9] Proponents of capitalism use historical precedent to claim that it is the greatest wealth-producing system known to man, and that its benefits are mainly to the ordinary person.[10] Critics of capitalism associate it with economic instability[11] and an inability to provide for the well-being of all people.[12] The term capitalism, in its modern sense, is often attributed to Karl Marx.[][13] However, Marx was far more concerned with characterizing the sociological effects of capital economics. The "ism" was used only twice in the more political interpretations of Marx's work, which were primarily authored by Friedrich Engels. In the 20th century defenders of the capitalist system often replaced the term capitalism with phrases such as free enterprise and private enterprise and replaced capitalist with rentier and investor in reaction to the negative connotations sometimes associated with capitalism.[] The author Ayn Rand attempted a positive moral defense of capitalism as such but in highly romantic or literary terms that did not stand logical or historical scrutiny.[14] By contrast modern welfare economics has produced a number of detailed defenses of the mixed capitalist economy based on public ownership of infrastructure and defense of positive human rights such as housing or education. Amartya Sen in particular, in Development as Freedom[15] , his Nobel Prize winning work, outlined the reasoning by which many human societies have reached the common conclusion that mixed democratic capitalist economies with welfare systems were optimal to support human life. In practice, all early 21st century developed economies devote 40–60% of their GDP to taxes and the public sector. Those that devote more, such as Scandinavian countries, are also rated the most successful by their citizens, and by measures of economic well-being such as literacy, housing, lifespan, and gender equality. This suggests that capitalism is or has evolved towards some kind of compromise or truce with democracy, as Joseph Schumpeter first clearly predicted.[16] Economic elements There are a number of different elements in the capitalist socio-economic system. Capitalism is defined as a social and economic system in which capital assets are mainly owned and controlled by private persons, labor is purchased for money wages, capital gains accrue to private owners, and the price mechanism is utilized to allocate capital goods between uses. The extent to which the price mechanism is used, the degree of competitiveness, and government intervention in markets distinguish exact forms of capitalism.[17] There are different variations of capitalism which have different relationships to markets and the state. In free-market and laissez-faire forms of capitalism, markets are utilized most extensively with minimal or no regulation over the pricing mechanism. In interventionist and mixed economies, markets continue to play a dominant role but are regulated to some extent by government in order to correct market failures, promote social welfare, conserve natural resources, and fund defense and public safety. In state capitalist systems, markets are relied upon the least, with the state relying heavily on state-owned enterprises or indirect economic planning to accumulate capital. Capitalism and capitalist economics is generally considered to be the opposite of socialism, which contrasts with all forms of capitalism in the following ways: social ownership of the means of production, where returns on the means of production accrue to society at large, and goods and services are produced directly for their utility (as opposed to being produced by profit-seeking businesses). Capitalism 3 Money, capital, and accumulation Money is primarily a standardized medium of exchange, and final means of payment, that serves to measure the value of all goods and commodities in a standard of value. It is an abstraction of economic value and medium of exchange that eliminates the cumbersome system of barter by separating the transactions involved in the exchange of products, thus greatly facilitating specialization and trade through encouraging the exchange of commodities. Capitalism involves the further abstraction of money into other exchangeable assets and the accumulation of money through ownership, exchange, interest and various other financial instruments. Capital in this sense refers to money used to buy something only in order to sell it again to realize a financial profit. The accumulation of capital refers to the process of "making money", or growing an initial sum of money through investment in production. Capitalism is based around the accumulation of capital, whereby financial capital is invested in order to realize a profit and then reinvested into further production in a continuous process of accumulation. In Marxian economic theory, this dynamic is called the law of value. Capital and financial markets The defining feature of capitalist markets, in contrast to markets and exchange in pre-capitalist societies like feudalism, is the existence of a market for capital goods (the means of production), meaning exchange-relations (business relationships) exist within the production process. Additionally, capitalism features a market for labor. This distinguishes the capitalist market from pre-capitalist societies which generally only contained market exchange for final goods and secondary goods. The "market" in capitalism refers to capital markets and financial markets. Capitalism is the system of raising, conserving and spending a set monetary value in a specified market. There are three main markets in a basic capitalistic economy: labor, goods and services, and financial. Labor markets (people) make products and get paid for work by the goods and services market (companies, firms, or corporations, etc.) which then sells the products back to the laborers. However, both of the first two markets pay into and receive benefits from the financial market, which handles and regulates the actual money in the economic system. This includes banks, credit-unions, stock exchanges, etc. From a monetary standpoint, governments control just how much money is in circulation worldwide, which can play a role on how money is spent in one's own country. Wage labor and class structure Wage labor refers to the class-structure of capitalism, whereby workers receive either a wage or a salary, and owners receive the profits generated by the factors of production employed in the production of economic value. Individuals who possess and supply financial capital to productive ventures become owners, either jointly (as shareholders) or individually. In Marxian economics these owners of the means of production and suppliers of capital are generally called capitalists. The description of the role of the capitalist has shifted, first referring to a useless intermediary between producers to an employer of producers, and eventually came to refer to owners of the means of production.[] The term capitalist is not generally used by supporters of mainstream economics. "Workers" includes those who expend both manual and mental (or creative) labor in production, where production does
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Alan Greenspan: Adam Smith
    Alan Greenspan: Adam Smith Remarks by Mr Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System, at the Adam Smith Memorial Lecture, Kirkcaldy, Scotland, 6 February 2005. * * * Kirkcaldy - the birthplace, in 1723, of Adam Smith and, by extension, of modern economics - is also, of course, where your Chancellor of the Exchequer was reared. I am led to ponder to what extent the Chancellor's renowned economic and financial skills are the result of exposure to the subliminal intellect-enhancing emanations of this area. *** In the broad sweep of history, it is ideas that matter. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. As John Maynard Keynes famously observed: "Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back."1 Emperors and armies come and go; but unless they leave new ideas in their wake, they are of passing historic consequence. The short list of intellectuals who have materially advanced the betterment of civilization unquestionably includes Adam Smith. He is a towering contributor to the development of the modern world. In his Wealth of Nations, Smith reached far beyond the insights of his predecessors to frame a global view of how market economies, just then emerging, worked. In so doing, he supported changes in societal organization that were to measurably enhance world standards of living. For most of recorded history, people appear to have acquiesced in, and in some ways embraced, a society that was static and predictable.
    [Show full text]
  • Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship and Marketing for Global Reach in the Digital Economy
    Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship and Marketing for Global Reach in the Digital Economy Luísa Cagica Carvalho Universidade Aberta, Portugal & Universidade de Évora, Portugal Pedro Isaías University of Queensland, Australia A volume in the Advances in Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage (ABSCA) Book Series Published in the United States of America by IGI Global Business Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global) 701 E. Chocolate Avenue Hershey PA, USA 17033 Tel: 717-533-8845 Fax: 717-533-8661 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: http://www.igi-global.com Copyright © 2019 by IGI Global. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without written permission from the publisher. Product or company names used in this set are for identification purposes only. Inclusion of the names of the products or companies does not indicate a claim of ownership by IGI Global of the trademark or registered trademark. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Carvalho, Luisa Cagica, 1970- editor. | Isaias, Pedro, editor. Title: Handbook of research on entrepreneurship and marketing for global reach in the digital economy / Luisa Cagica Carvalho and Pedro Isaias, editors. Description: Hershey, PA : Business Science Reference, [2019] Identifiers: LCCN 2018008418| ISBN 9781522563075 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781522563082 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Electronic commerce. | Internet marketing. | Entrepreneurship. Classification: LCC HF5548.32 .H358 2019 | DDC 658.8/72--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018008418 This book is published in the IGI Global book series Advances in Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage (ABSCA) (ISSN: 2327-3429; eISSN: 2327-3437) British Cataloguing in Publication Data A Cataloguing in Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
    [Show full text]
  • Markets Not Capitalism Explores the Gap Between Radically Freed Markets and the Capitalist-Controlled Markets That Prevail Today
    individualist anarchism against bosses, inequality, corporate power, and structural poverty Edited by Gary Chartier & Charles W. Johnson Individualist anarchists believe in mutual exchange, not economic privilege. They believe in freed markets, not capitalism. They defend a distinctive response to the challenges of ending global capitalism and achieving social justice: eliminate the political privileges that prop up capitalists. Massive concentrations of wealth, rigid economic hierarchies, and unsustainable modes of production are not the results of the market form, but of markets deformed and rigged by a network of state-secured controls and privileges to the business class. Markets Not Capitalism explores the gap between radically freed markets and the capitalist-controlled markets that prevail today. It explains how liberating market exchange from state capitalist privilege can abolish structural poverty, help working people take control over the conditions of their labor, and redistribute wealth and social power. Featuring discussions of socialism, capitalism, markets, ownership, labor struggle, grassroots privatization, intellectual property, health care, racism, sexism, and environmental issues, this unique collection brings together classic essays by Cleyre, and such contemporary innovators as Kevin Carson and Roderick Long. It introduces an eye-opening approach to radical social thought, rooted equally in libertarian socialism and market anarchism. “We on the left need a good shake to get us thinking, and these arguments for market anarchism do the job in lively and thoughtful fashion.” – Alexander Cockburn, editor and publisher, Counterpunch “Anarchy is not chaos; nor is it violence. This rich and provocative gathering of essays by anarchists past and present imagines society unburdened by state, markets un-warped by capitalism.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Santa Cruz Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC Santa Cruz UC Santa Cruz Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Unbecoming Silicon Valley: Techno Imaginaries and Materialities in Postsocialist Romania Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0vt9c4bq Author McElroy, Erin Mariel Brownstein Publication Date 2019 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ UNBECOMING SILICON VALLEY: TECHNO IMAGINARIES AND MATERIALITIES IN POSTSOCIALIST ROMANIA A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in FEMINIST STUDIES by Erin Mariel Brownstein McElroy June 2019 The Dissertation of Erin McElroy is approved: ________________________________ Professor Neda Atanasoski, Chair ________________________________ Professor Karen Barad ________________________________ Professor Lisa Rofel ________________________________ Professor Megan Moodie ________________________________ Professor Liviu Chelcea ________________________________ Lori Kletzer Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Copyright © by Erin McElroy 2019 Table of Contents Abstract, iv-v Acknowledgements, vi-xi Introduction: Unbecoming Silicon Valley: Techno Imaginaries and Materialities in Postsocialist Romania, 1-44 Chapter 1: Digital Nomads in Siliconizing Cluj: Material and Allegorical Double Dispossession, 45-90 Chapter 2: Corrupting Techno-normativity in Postsocialist Romania: Queering Code and Computers, 91-127 Chapter 3: The Light Revolution, Blood Gold, and
    [Show full text]
  • THE RISE of LIFESTYLE ACTIVISM from New Left to Occupy
    THE RISE OF LIFESTYLE ACTIVISM From New Left to Occupy NIKOS SOTIRAKOPOULOS The Rise of Lifestyle Activism Nikos Sotirakopoulos The Rise of Lifestyle Activism From New Left to Occupy Nikos Sotirakopoulos Loughborough University United Kingdom ISBN 978-1-137-55102-3 ISBN 978-1-137-55103-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-55103-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016947743 © Th e Editor(s) (if applicable) and Th e Author(s) 2016 Th e author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identifi ed as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Th is work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and trans- mission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Th e use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Th e publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
    [Show full text]
  • Daniel Woodley, Globalization and Capitalist Geopolitics
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Woodley, Daniel Book Globalization and Capitalist Geopolitics: Sovereignty and State Power in a Multipolar World Provided in Cooperation with: The Bichler & Nitzan Archives Suggested Citation: Woodley, Daniel (2015) : Globalization and Capitalist Geopolitics: Sovereignty and State Power in a Multipolar World, ISBN 978-1-315-79816-5, Routledge, Abingdon, http://bnarchives.yorku.ca/532/ This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/174363 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz
    [Show full text]
  • The Rise of Technocapitalism
    Science Studies 2/2001 The Rise of Technocapitalism Luis Suarez-Villa The rise of technocapitalism involves the commodification of knowledge in faster and more diverse ways than at any previous time in human history. This article provides insights from a macro-analytical perspective on the phenomena that mark the emer- gence of technocapitalism as a new form of market capitalism, and their influence on the commodification of knowledge for invention and innovation. The phenomena in question involve the rapid accumulation of inventions and of knowledge-sensitive in- frastructure. The rapid reproduction of creativity and a faster diffusion of knowledge, both of which have been supported by a massification of technical education, are also important for the emergence of the new era. Their contribution to the commodification of technological knowledge is most obvious in the pervasive corporatization of inven- tion and innovation, and even more so in the emergence of continuous invention and innovation as a standard component of corporate strategy. Keywords: technocapitalism, knowledge society, commodification, innovation Technocapitalism is an emerging form of most valuable resources of this emerging market capitalism, rooted in invention new era. As a result, the new industries and the development of new technolo- and activities that have risen in recent gies. Various phenomena mark the rise years are far more dependent on intan- of this new epoch and are harbingers of gibles than any of their predecessors. major changes in the social and eco- Technocapitalism is replacing the re- nomic structures of the twenty-first cen- production of capital as the most impor- tury. All of the identifiable phenomena tant function of society with the repro- have substantial implications for the duction of knowledge.
    [Show full text]
  • For an Immanent Critique of a Neoliberal Form of Life Por Uma Crítica Imanente a Uma Forma De Vida Neoliberal
    http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1677-2954.2021.e79812 FOR AN IMMANENT CRITIQUE OF A NEOLIBERAL FORM OF LIFE POR UMA CRÍTICA IMANENTE A UMA FORMA DE VIDA NEOLIBERAL BÁRBARA BURIL1 (UFSC/Brasil) ALESSANDRO PINZANI2 (UFSC/CNPq – Brasil) ABSTRACT This paper departs from the assumption that the critique of neoliberalism should not restrict itself to a criticism of an economic project. Another possible criticism of neoliberalism consists of a critique of how this specific form of life forms subjects. In this paper, we argue that a critique of a form of life is only justified in a reasonable way if it starts from the experiences of suffering produced by this form of life. As we will show, we must criticise neoliberalism not because it is inadequate for solving problems, since for a specific portion of the world population it has been extremely effective, but because it causes suffering. Suffering, unlike mere unsolved problems, represents sufficient grounds for highlighting the existence of a normative problem in a form of life. According to Max Horkheimer, the first step of a critical project committed to the transformation of a form of life are the crises of the present, which are not fully understood through the theoretical tools of “problem solving” or “learning processes”, as Rahel Jaeggi resorts to in her critical theory of society. Keywords: Forms of life; Immanent critique; Neoliberalism; Rahel Jaeggi; Suffering. RESUMO Este artigo parte do pressuposto de que a crítica ao neoliberalismo não deve se restringir a uma crítica a um projeto econômico. Outra crítica possível ao neoliberalismo consiste em uma crítica a como essa forma específica de vida constitui sujeitos.
    [Show full text]
  • Neoliberalism, Technocracy and Higher Education Editors' Introduction Cruickshank, Justin
    University of Birmingham Neoliberalism, Technocracy and Higher Education Editors' Introduction Cruickshank, Justin DOI: 10.1080/02691728.2019.1638983 License: None: All rights reserved Document Version Peer reviewed version Citation for published version (Harvard): Cruickshank, J 2019, 'Neoliberalism, Technocracy and Higher Education Editors' Introduction', Social Epistemology. https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2019.1638983 Link to publication on Research at Birmingham portal Publisher Rights Statement: Checked for eligibility: 16/07/2019 This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Social_Epistemology on 09/07/2019, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02691728.2019.1638983 Justin Cruickshank & Ross Abbinnett (2019) “Neoliberalism, Technocracy and Higher Education” Editors’ Introduction, Social Epistemology, DOI: 10.1080/02691728.2019.1638983 General rights Unless a licence is specified above, all rights (including copyright and moral rights) in this document are retained by the authors and/or the copyright holders. The express permission of the copyright holder must be obtained for any use of this material other than for purposes permitted by law. •Users may freely distribute the URL that is used to identify this publication. •Users may download and/or print one copy of the publication from the University of Birmingham research portal for the purpose of private study or non-commercial research. •User may use extracts from the document in line with the concept of ‘fair dealing’ under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (?) •Users may not further distribute the material nor use it for the purposes of commercial gain. Where a licence is displayed above, please note the terms and conditions of the licence govern your use of this document.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tragedy of Marx and Justice: a Critique of Marx's
    THE TRAGEDY OF MARX AND JUSTICE: A CRITIQUE OF MARX’S FAILED ATTEMPT TO DISPENSE WITH PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE PAUL CHRISTOPHER GRAY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN POLITICAL SCIENCE YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO April 2016 © Paul Christopher Gray, 2016 Abstract In The Tragedy of Marx and Justice: A Critique of Marx’s Failed Attempt to Dispense with Principles of Justice, I critique Marx’s belief that his theory of history, as well as the socialist society it would help to bring about, are beyond the need for justice. Although there have been three waves of debate about the relation between Marxism and ethics (1890-1900s; 1950-70s; 1970-90s), no one has yet provided the definitive interpretation of Marx on the question of justice. Furthermore, each of these debates ended in the same basic impasse between consequentialism and deontology, both of which Marx explicitly rejects. This occurred for three reasons. First, they misinterpreted Marx’s immanent critique, which demonstrates how capitalism systematically contradicts its own principles. I explore Marx’s use of this method with regard to principles of justice. Second, they not only neglected the use of immanent critique in Marx, but also of Marx. They do not critique him according to his own standards. They fail to subject Marx to a historical materialist critique which roots his evasive relation to justice in the transformations of the theory and practice of justice in the transitions to capitalism. I discuss the major aspects of these transformations, the most important of which is the devaluation of justice relative to the ethical systems of non-capitalist class societies.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction. Target: International Journal of Translation Studies, 29(2), Pp
    Baumgarten, S. and Cornellà-Detrell, J. (2017) Introduction. Target: International Journal of Translation Studies, 29(2), pp. 193-200. (doi:10.1075/target.29.2.001int) This is the author’s final accepted version. There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite from it. http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/115019/ Deposited on: 25 September 2017 Enlighten – Research publications by members of the University of Glasgow http://eprints.gla.ac.uk Translation in times of technocapitalism Stefan Baumgarten and Jordi Cornellà-Detrell Bangor University and University of Glasgow Most of what we do in translation studies, and anywhere else in the Humanities and Social Sciences, is to analyse the manifold facets of power. It is a notion so all-encompassing that academics seem not to be daring to pursue an engaged analysis. Just like the notion of ‘translation’, this concept would need to be ‘fenced in’ for it to maintain enough scope for our research endeavours. Several publications over the last 20 years or so feature the word ‘power’ in their titles (Fawcett 1995, Alvarez and Vidal 1996, Tymoczko and Gentzler 2002), and the word ‘ideology’ has been even more prominent in this regard (Calzada-Pérez 2003, Munday 2007, Munday and Cunico 2007), and all this in connection with calls for a ‘power turn’ (Tymoczko and Gentzler 2002) or indeed an ‘ideological turn’ in our field of enquiry (Leung 2006). Largely absent from most of the sociological literature on translation, however, is the question of how translation features in times of advanced capitalism and rapid technological advance.
    [Show full text]
  • Inter-State Dynamics of Invention Activities, 1930–2000∗
    Inter-State Dynamics of Invention Activities, 1930–2000∗ Catherine Y. Co Economics, University of Nebraska at Omaha [email protected] John S. Landon-Lane Economics, Rutgers University [email protected] Myeong-Su Yun Economics, Tulane University [email protected] April 3, 2005 ∗Corresponding author: John Landon-Lane, Department of Economics, Rutgers University, 75 Hamil- ton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. Email: [email protected] Telephone: (732) 932-7691 Fax: (732) 932-7416. We thank an anonymous referee whose comments and suggestions have helped to improve the paper. Inter-State Dynamics of Invention Activities, 1930–2000 Abstract We study the dynamics of the cross-section distribution of patents per capita for the 48 continental U.S. states from 1930 to 2000 using a discrete-state Markov chain. We test for and find evidence in favor of the (knowledge) convergence hypothesis as we find that the distribution of patents is converging to a limiting distribution that is significantly more concentrated than its initial distribution. States in the extreme are more mobile and are more likely to move to the middle than states in the middle of the cross-sectional distribution and the rate of convergence to the limiting distribution is “slow.” Keywords: Patent, U.S. States, Convergence JEL Classification: O31; O18; C32 1 Introduction and Background Knowledge is assumed to flow instantly between economies in neoclassical growth theory. If technology gaps exist initially, they will close very quickly. That is, if convergence tests on knowledge rates (e.g., patenting rates) are conducted, unequivocal evidence in favor of knowledge convergence would be found (See Cani¨els (2000) for a review).
    [Show full text]