Robert McMaster
University of Glasgow, Adam Smith Business School, Faculty Member
This paper argues that the conventional economic approach to housing is subject to a plethora of weaknesses that renders it, at best, a rather limited basis for understanding housing markets. Conventional analyses assume market efficiency... more
This paper argues that the conventional economic approach to housing is subject to a plethora of weaknesses that renders it, at best, a rather limited basis for understanding housing markets. Conventional analyses assume market efficiency and clearing, and ‘rational’ individuals. These core assumptions present an unnecessarily restrictive view of human behaviour and the economic process. By emphasising utility maximisation and equilibrium, and abstracting from history and social institutions, the conventional approach effectively eschews any analysis of the central forces of the market process. The paper asserts that in order to achieve this analysts will have to recognise heterodox economic contributions on uncertainty, human behaviour, evolution and exchange. A possible ramification for empirical research is the adoption of grounded theoretical procedures.
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This paper argues that the conventional economic approach to housing is subject to a plethora of weaknesses that renders it, at best, a rather limited basis for understanding housing markets. Conventional analyses assume market efficiency... more
This paper argues that the conventional economic approach to housing is subject to a plethora of weaknesses that renders it, at best, a rather limited basis for understanding housing markets. Conventional analyses assume market efficiency and clearing, and 'rational' individuals. These core assumptions present an unnecessarily restrictive view of human behaviour and the economic process. By emphasising utility maximisation and equilibrium, and abstracting from history and social institutions, the conventional approach effectively eschews any analysis of the central forces of the market process. The paper asserts that in order to achieve this analysts will have to recognise heterodox economic contributions on uncertainty, human behaviour, evolution and exchange. A possible ramification for empirical research is the adoption of grounded theoretical procedures.
submitted for consideration of inclusion at the 2007 European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy Annual Conference, Universidade do Porto, 1st-3rd November. Neuroeconomics is a very recent development in the evolution of... more
submitted for consideration of inclusion at the 2007 European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy Annual Conference, Universidade do Porto, 1st-3rd November. Neuroeconomics is a very recent development in the evolution of economics. Concisely, it refers to the conception that observed behavioural regularities are caused by the workings of the brain (Davis, 2006). It combines neuroscience with "new" behavioural economics. For its proponents it offers potentially ground-breaking insights into the apparent paradoxes of human behaviour. This paper considers the veracity of these claims within a broader analysis of the interpretation of data, and upon the instinct psychology that influenced Thorstein Veblen. Arguably, neuroeconomists consider that the field makes three critical interventions: First, the application of neuroscientific methods - such as brain imaging techniques, the recording of single neuron activity, animal behaviour, and the behaviour of brain damag...
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Based on the emerging literature on positivity in behavioral and organizational sciences, this study conceptualizes the phenomenon of Vitality at Work (VAW). VAW is an integrative, multi-dimensional framework which combines personal... more
Based on the emerging literature on positivity in behavioral and organizational sciences, this study conceptualizes the phenomenon of Vitality at Work (VAW). VAW is an integrative, multi-dimensional framework which combines personal health with positive work attitudes and an energizing work environment. The article proposes that VAW is a state in which individuals feel healthy and committed to their work and organizations in the presence of positive and energizing work connections. Moreover, these three dimensions exist in a symbiotic relationship with each other. By demonstrating this coexistence, VAW confirms the interdependence of individual and organizational health. Five factors were identified from literature as the underlying dimensions of VAW which are; Sense of Coherence (SoC); Perceived Health and Energy (PHE); Energizing Connections (EC); Organizational Commitment (OC); and Goal Commitment (GC). For the first time, these elements have been brought together in a single emp...
This paper proposes a pragmatic alliance between critical realism and non-parametric statistical techniques in pursuit of causal explanations of economic phenomena by retroductive means. The alliance depends on clarifying the interpretive... more
This paper proposes a pragmatic alliance between critical realism and non-parametric statistical techniques in pursuit of causal explanations of economic phenomena by retroductive means. The alliance depends on clarifying the interpretive requirements for forming categories as nominal or classificatory scales or as ordinal or ranking scales. It also depends on establishing the scope of demi-regularities, as something to be explained and as something that allows a rough and ready extension of experimental conditions. The roughness and readiness of demi-regularities is matched by the assumptions and conditions of non-parametric analysis.
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Marshall's asset equilibrium model provides a way of explaining the identity of entrepreneurs. Keynes adopted this model but transformed it when he emphasized the short-period and volatile character of long-term expectations. This... more
Marshall's asset equilibrium model provides a way of explaining the identity of entrepreneurs. Keynes adopted this model but transformed it when he emphasized the short-period and volatile character of long-term expectations. This entails a view of entrepreneur identity in which radical uncertainty plays a central role. This in turn deepens the post Keynesian view of uncertainty as ontological in that entrepreneurs' survival plays into their behavior. This paper explores this role-based view of individual identity and uses the analysis to comment on Keynes’s ideas for the socialization of investment and euthanasia of the rentier in the last chapter of The general theory.
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This paper discusses how markets and society relate to each other. We present and discuss three views: markets as separate, markets as embedded, and markets as impure. One’s stance on the contribution of markets to welfare hinges on the... more
This paper discusses how markets and society relate to each other. We present and discuss three views: markets as separate, markets as embedded, and markets as impure. One’s stance on the contribution of markets to welfare hinges on the conceptualization of market and other spheres in society. If, for instance, one perceives of the economy (the economic domain) as an all-encompassing sphere or as a sphere totally separate from others, then one would believe markets necessarily contribute to welfare. Markets are presumed to be ubiquitous in mainstream economics; the orthodox view is that of the ‘market as separate’. Indeed, Frank Hahn notably conceded that neoclassical economics does not describe markets, but ‘conjures’ them up. Mainstream conceptions of the market are functionalist – in the appropriate conditions the market is an efficiency conduit, and hence wealth and welfare generating. Creating these appropriate conditions then drives policy, such as the provision of health care...
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... According to the UK Treasury (2000) PFI/PPP offers modern government and modernprocurement. PPP involves the introduction of private sector ownership in state activitiesranging from partnership agreements to full transfer of... more
... According to the UK Treasury (2000) PFI/PPP offers modern government and modernprocurement. PPP involves the introduction of private sector ownership in state activitiesranging from partnership agreements to full transfer of assetsco-operation of private sector firms ...
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The programme of market‐oriented reforms to the UK’s welfare state commenced during the 1980s with the implementation of the competitive tendering of certain defined activities in health and local authorities. This paper argues that... more
The programme of market‐oriented reforms to the UK’s welfare state commenced during the 1980s with the implementation of the competitive tendering of certain defined activities in health and local authorities. This paper argues that mainstream economic analysis offers only a very partial analysis of this policy; merely reducing investigation to a comparison of costs across alternative governance arrangements. It is contended that the old institutionalist account of institutional change provides a richer anaytical vein. The paper concisely applies this in a survey of 21 authorities. Results indicate that the policy engendered change in the values correlating behaviour by partially supressing established welfarist values. There was also some deterioration in trust between parties with the formalisation of relationships, although this varied between health and local authorities. The new contracting environment and decline in staff morale may have contributed to increased rigidities.
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Key themes for evolution in economic geography are identified that clarify and further refine and reinforce our argument for broader conceptions of institutions, social agency, and power and for the situation of the plural and emerging... more
Key themes for evolution in economic geography are identified that clarify and further refine and reinforce our argument for broader conceptions of institutions, social agency, and power and for the situation of the plural and emerging field of evolutionary approaches more fully ...
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... a reputation for ensuring and promoting a firm's continued success will be sought after, thereby improving their human capital valuation."The converse ... The question remains, however, whether professional football is... more
... a reputation for ensuring and promoting a firm's continued success will be sought after, thereby improving their human capital valuation."The converse ... The question remains, however, whether professional football is subject to such problems and, if it is, whac mechanisms can ...
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ABSTRACT
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... uk Andy Pike Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies Newcastle University andy.pike@ncl.ac.uk Kean Birch Department of Geography and Sociology University of Strathclyde kean.birch@strath.ac.uk Robert McMaster ...
Research Interests: Economic Sociology, Geography, Human Geography, Economic Geography, Evolutionary Economics, and 15 moreInternational Political Economy, Comparative Political Economy, Evolution, Economic Development, Critical Geography, Heterodox Economics, Critical international political economy, Applied Economics, Institutions, City and Regional Planning, Evolutionary Economic Geography, Comparative Regionalism, International and Comparative Political Economy, Capital Accumulation, and Economic
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ABSTRACT Purpose ‐ This paper seeks to challenge the simplistic formulation of public ownership in terms of centralized planning and state bureaucracy. Instead, drawing on the works of Dewey and Veblen the paper aims to argue that public... more
ABSTRACT Purpose ‐ This paper seeks to challenge the simplistic formulation of public ownership in terms of centralized planning and state bureaucracy. Instead, drawing on the works of Dewey and Veblen the paper aims to argue that public ownership is a critical aspect of forging progressive change through enhancing democratic participation in economic decision making.Design/methodology/approach ‐ The paper presents a conceptual analysis of public ownership types and employs case examples to further illuminate the argument.Findings ‐ The conceptual analysis challenges the supposition of market superiority in standard economic approaches and in neoliberalism. Drawing from the instrumental valuation principle a wide corpus of public ownership modes can offer the prospect of enhanced democratic participation that challenges existing power structures.Originality/value ‐ By emphasising the association between ownership and democracy the paper challenges the assumption that markets necessarily offer the only route to democratic participation. It also identifies and challenges the market fundamentalism of standard economic approaches.
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Bowles and Gintis have, over the last twenty-five years, contributed to a Post Walrasian approach to economics drawing upon this in making policy recommendations concerning institutional design and the distribution of productive resources... more
Bowles and Gintis have, over the last twenty-five years, contributed to a Post Walrasian approach to economics drawing upon this in making policy recommendations concerning institutional design and the distribution of productive resources in society. We establish that Post Walrasian Economics is a broadly coherent system of thought, with two distinct phases, contested exchange and evolution, that Bowles and Gintis consider addresses what they term as Walras’ fiction, i.e., the Walrasian system only offers a relationship between ‘things’ as opposed to humans. Nevertheless, we argue that they perpetrate their own fiction through an inherently reductionist framework.
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In the 18 years that John Davis has single-handedly edited the Review of Social Economy (RoSE), the journal has not only maintained its prominent position as a heterodox economics journal of international renown, but has also strengthened... more
In the 18 years that John Davis has single-handedly edited the Review of Social Economy (RoSE), the journal has not only maintained its prominent position as a heterodox economics journal of international renown, but has also strengthened its recognition and ...
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Abstract Economic geographers have drawn upon concepts from institutional economics and economic sociology in recent years to understand processes of regional development within an increasingly globalized economy. In this paper, we assess... more
Abstract Economic geographers have drawn upon concepts from institutional economics and economic sociology in recent years to understand processes of regional development within an increasingly globalized economy. In this paper, we assess the influence of this ...