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on Business, Economic and Financial History |
| By: | Atsushi Tsuneki (College of Economics, Nihon University); Ayumu Banzawa (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the historical conditions and processes that led to the rise of militarism in Japan in comparison with fascism in Germanyï¼ Nazism. While both countries pursued wars as Axis powers in World War II, the underlying political institutions, social structures, and economic foundations differed significantly. Germany’s militarism emerged from a mass-based fascist party movement under Nazi leadership, closely tied to the experience of the Weimar Republic and the economic recovery after the Great Depression. In contrast, Japanese militarism developed within the framework of an incomplete constitutional monarchy, driven by middle-ranking military officers and fragmented decision-making mechanisms, without coherent political leadership or broad-based democratic legitimacy. By analyzing these differences across three periods from the late 1920s to 1945, this study highlights the contrasting dynamics of popular support, institutional responsibility, and socio-political bases of militarism in Japan and Germany. The comparative approach also sheds light on the divergent paths of postwar reflection and responsibility in the two countries. |
| Keywords: | Fascism, Japanese Militarism, National Socialism (Nazism), Comparative Historical Analysis, Second World War |
| JEL: | N14 N15 N44 N45 P16 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osk:wpaper:2511 |
| By: | Yuan, Weipeng; Macve, Richard |
| Abstract: | How far did the indigenous accounting of China's historically successful economy parallel Western double-entry bookkeeping (DEB)? We propose a scheme for classifying stages of bookkeeping that approach full DEB, review recently available nineteenth century Chinese accounting manuals and re-examine how far their recommendations reflect practice to be found in original account books contained in the archives of the Zigong brine wells for 1916-1917 (which have been argued to be essentially unchanged from the nineteenth century Qing era and perhaps earlier) and in the surviving accounts of the Fēngshèngtài salt traders of Henan province spanning 1854-1881. We introduce the accounting records we have now discovered from merchanting businesses in Anhui province, which span 300 years and survive from the 1590s onwards. These are all more sophisticated than the ‘merchant-banking' accounts in the vast archive of Tŏng Tài Shēng covering 1798-1850, and in the case of the Anhui merchants' accounts comprise ‘balance sheets' that include monetary values for physical as well as monetary assets, matching their owners' ‘capital'. We tentatively conclude, on the basis of the evidence now emerging, that despite its variety of forms indigenous Chinese style accounting practice may in some cases have captured the structural essentials of DEB’s content and functions and might be labelled ‘Chinese-style double-entry bookkeeping' ('CDEB'), over which Western bookkeeping had no conceptual advantages. |
| Keywords: | comparative international accounting history; Chinese accounting archives from Ming to late Qing era; Chinese business history; double-entry bookkeeping (DEB); Chinese-style double-entry bookkeeping (CDEB) |
| JEL: | M41 N25 |
| Date: | 2024–02–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:121029 |
| By: | Ioan-Gheorghe Rotaru (Timotheus Brethren Theological Institute of Bucharest, Romania) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the enduring influence of John Locke, one of the best-known and most influential thinkers in European history. He is widely regarded as a man ahead of his time, whose ideas remain highly relevant in our world today. Locke’s ideas about politics, knowledge, religion, and education helped shape the way we live in free societies today, where we value things like the equality of all people before the law, the right to own property, personal freedom, and the ability to believe and speak as we choose. He is considered one of the architects of modern culture and the Enlightenment, and his reflections and philosophical work were the result of the social, critical, and philosophical upheavals of his time. |
| Keywords: | John Locke, Philosophical Thought, Ideas, Philosophical Work |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0514 |
| By: | Michael D. Bordo (Rutgers University and NBER); Oliver Bush (Bank of England); Bank of England |
| Abstract: | Discussion of the causes of the Great Inflation in the UK during the 1970s has centered around the relative importance of two potential explanations, which we label “bad luck†– the occurrence of unusually large commodity price and supply-side shocks - and “bad policy†reflecting failures in both monetary and prices and incomes policies. By reconsidering the historical and empirical record of inflation from 1950s to the early 1990s we show that the persistence of the Great Inflation in the UK cannot fully be explained by these factors, although these can account for some of the major fluctuations. Instead, underlying inflation and inflation expectations appear to be the result of a sequence of regime shifts. We argue those regime shifts are as much related to fundamental changes in fiscal policy as they are to monetary policy and union reforms. Our empirical evidence suggests that fiscal policy was at the heart of many of the problems in the UK during the Great Inflation. In contrast to most of British history, it was not used to stabilize the public finances. Instead, it was used to keep unemployment down and growth up, to subsidize losers from terms of trade shocks and to secure deals with the unions. |
| Keywords: | United Kingdom; Great Britain |
| JEL: | N10 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:cepsud:347 |
| By: | Tetsuji OKAZAKI |
| Abstract: | During World War II, the Japanese government carried out a large-scale mobilization of the labor force for war production. To move young and middle-aged men into the military and strategic industries where they were essential, the government restricted male employment in certain designated industries where female workers could substitute for male workers. Women were regarded as a major source of labor, in addition to men in nonessential and nonurgent industries and (male) students. Exploiting the variation in the regulation of male employment across industries, we conducted a simple regression analysis to investigate the impact of the war on the female labor force participation, using industry-level panel data from 1920 to 1970. We found that the female employment ratio in the industries where male employment was restricted increased relative to the other industries from 1940, and that this effect continued until 1970. This suggests that wartime labor mobilization had a positive impact on female labor participation, and that the impact was persistent. The case study on banks indicates that major banks indeed made efforts to substitute female for male employees, and that they changed the internal organization and rules of the banks to achieve this, which is one of the reasons for the persistence of the impact. |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnn:wpaper:25-020e |
| By: | Hiroyuki Yamada (Keio University); TIEN MANH VU (Chuo University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the long-term health impacts of the large-scale herbicide spraying campaign by the U.S. in southern Vietnam during the Vietnam War on the height and weight of children under the age of 16 years in 2022, nearly 50 years after the Vietnam War ended. We combine the information on the age- and gender-adjusted z-score for the height and weight of children in 2022 with the herbicide spraying intensity at commune-level during the war. Our results using an instrumental variable approach show that communes that were exposed to greater amounts of herbicides during the war tended to have shorter children in 2022. Not only Agent Orange but also Agent White had a negative impact on children’s height after half a century. |
| Keywords: | Vietnam War, herbicide, children, physical development, health |
| JEL: | I15 N45 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025–07–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:keo:dpaper:dp2025-017 |
| By: | Peyton, Alicea |
| Abstract: | This article explores the historical and spatial conditions that necessitated Black ecclesial autonomy in the United States, beginning with Absalom Jones’s appointment as the first Black pastor of a mainstream Christian denomination and culminating in the rise of contemporary Black mega churches. Using the framework of land-use enforcement and religious zoning as outlined in The Evolution of Land-Use Enforcement Related to The Religious Storefront Church Movement (Williams-Peyton, 2019), the article traces how exclusionary zoning, denominational gatekeeping, and intra-racial class tensions shaped the road from Black mainstream denominations to the emergence of storefront churches and their architectural successors. Through historical analysis and visual typology—including Table 2’s storefront church models—this study argues that Black religious space has always been a site of resistance, creativity, and contested legitimacy. Building on this foundation, the article applies Wilson’s Evolution of Information Behavior Modeling (1999) to interpret these spatial and theological adaptations as dynamic responses to information needs. Congregants’ pursuit of sanctified space is framed as information-seeking behavior shaped by environmental, psychological, and social variables. The creation of sovereign pews emerges not only as architectural ingenuity but as informational agency rooted in trauma, resilience, and theological innovation. By situating these ecclesial strategies within a broader information behavior framework, the article bridges urban ministry, LIS theory, and cultural preservation. |
| Date: | 2025–08–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:cpxhf_v2 |
| By: | Nicholas A. Carollo; Elior Cohen; Jingyi Huang |
| Abstract: | Using novel occupational data from the United States between 1860 and 1940, we evaluate Adam Smith’s core propositions regarding the division of labor, market size, innovation, and productivity. We document significant growth in occupational diversity during this period using new measures of labor specialization that we construct from workers’ self-reported job titles in the decennial census. Consistent with Smith’s hypotheses, we find strong empirical evidence that labor specialization increases with the extent of the market, is facilitated by technological innovation, and is ultimately associated with higher manufacturing productivity. Our findings also extend Smith’s narrative by highlighting the role of organizational changes and innovation spillovers during the Second Industrial Revolution. These results speak to the enduring relevance of Smith’s insights in the context of an industrializing economy characterized by large firms, complex organizational structures, and rapid technological change. |
| Keywords: | division of labor; occupations; productivity growth; technological change |
| JEL: | N11 O14 J24 D24 |
| Date: | 2025–09–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedkrw:101725 |
| By: | Dora Costa; Ziqi Zhao |
| Abstract: | We examine disparities in acquittal rates and sentencing for Black and White soldiers in the US Civil War using all general courts-martial. We find that Blacks were disproportionately punished for group actions like mutiny and for violent crimes involving group violence, suggesting fears of large-scale rebellion influenced justice. However, we also uncover a system that was fair relative to many modern criminal courts in acquittals and in death sentences. The needs of the Army pushed towards fairness. |
| JEL: | J71 K42 N41 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34184 |
| By: | Herrade Igersheim (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | As Amadae observed in her 2003 Rationalizing Capitalist Democracy, "the priority dispute between Black and Arrow over the mathematical analysis of election problems was bitter and unresolved." Arrow's 1951 Social Choice and Individual Values would subsequently overshadow Black's contributions. Based on a study of Black's, Tullock's, and Coase's papers (housed at the University of Glasgow, Hoover Archives -Stanford University, and the University of Chicago respectively), the present article aims to provide a historical reconstruction of the dispute between the two authors and to show its implications for Black's scientific and personal life. The article also brings to light the strong assistance that Black received from American researchers (Coase, Tullock, Riker) from the 1960s onwards, before finally being recognized as the "founding father" of public choice. |
| Keywords: | Gordon Tullock, Duncan Black, Kenneth arrow, Public choice |
| Date: | 2025–07–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05230470 |
| By: | Batinti, Alberto; Costa-Font, Joan; Shandar, Vasuprada |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of royal status—a historically rooted legal privilege enjoyed by hereditary monarchs and their families—on human longevity, a proxy of individuals' health capital. We disentangle the effect of royal status that encompassed serving as heads of state, and hence being subject to status, from that of other family members and compare it to their contemporary countrymen. We have constructed and exploited a dataset containing relevant demographic data and specifically the lifespan (age at death) of European royals and their families spanning the past three centuries (1669–2022) from the sixteen European countries. The dataset includes information records of 845 high‐status nobility and alongside monarchs, which we compare to otherwise similar countrymen by adjusting for relevant confounders. We document robust evidence of a statistically significant longevity advantage, showing that monarchs live, on average, 5.2 to 7.1 years longer than both other members of the royal family and the general population of their time. However, while such longevity advantage between royals and the population has narrowed, the advantage of ruling monarchs persists over time. These effects persist despite improvements in population health, and the role of major sociopolitical transformations including the emergence of both liberal democracy and the advent of Constitutional monarchies in Europe. The latter suggests that “power status” ‐ and specifically the so‐called eustress or positive stress ‐ may be driving the longevity advantage of ruling monarchs. |
| Keywords: | royal family; monarchy; life expectancy; health inequality; social determinants of health; healthy lifestyles; universal health insurance; age at death |
| JEL: | I18 N13 P00 |
| Date: | 2025–09–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:128983 |
| By: | Sujong Kim (Eastern Christian High School, North Haledon, USA) |
| Abstract: | Popular music has long served as a mirror reflecting societal anxieties, particularly during political uncertainty, technological change, and environmental distress. This paper explores apocalyptic and eschatological themes in late 20th-century popular music. It analyzes how musicians across various genres—punk, metal, hip-hop, and pop—incorporated imagery of global catastrophe, existential fear, and societal collapse into their work. By examining musical techniques, lyrical content, and historical context, this research highlights the persistent influence of apocalyptic narratives in shaping cultural perceptions of crisis. From Cold War tensions to contemporary concerns about artificial intelligence and climate change, apocalyptic music remains a powerful artistic expression of collective fears. This study demonstrates how such music transcends mere entertainment, functioning as a cultural barometer for global anxieties and influencing public discourse on pressing social and political issues. |
| Keywords: | Apocalyptic Music, Eschatology, Popular Music, Societal Anxieties, Cold War, Dystopian Themes |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0515 |
| By: | Michael D. Bordo (Rutgers University, Hoover Institution, and NBER); John H. Cochrane (Hoover Institution and NBER); Jonathan S. Hartley (Stanford University and Hoover Institution) |
| Abstract: | John B. Taylor is one of the greatest macroeconomists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This paper surveys his seminal contributions to monetary theory, policy rules, and macroeconomic modeling. Taylor’s work on rational expectations, staggered contracts, and the development of the Taylor Rule transformed the theory and practice of monetary policy. Through scholarship, policy engagement, and public service, Taylor has profoundly influenced academic research and central banking practice, establishing rules-based policy as a central paradigm in macroeconomics |
| Keywords: | Monetary Policy, Central Banks, Policy Objectives, International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions |
| JEL: | E52 E58 E61 F33 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:cepsud:346 |
| By: | Grodecka-Messi, Anna (Financial Stability Department, Central Bank of Sweden); Zhang, Xin (Research Department, Central Bank of Sweden) |
| Abstract: | Private money creation lies at the heart of currency competition due to seigniorage rents that are an important contributor to banks’ franchise values. However, it undermines the role of central bank in money provision and has been historically a contentious issue. As shifting from private to public money may come at a cost of bank disintermediation and affect economic growth, such a swap should be well-planned to minimize its costs. In this paper, we study the transition from private to public money in a historical context. The 1897 banking law in Sweden granted the banknote monopoly to the Swedish central bank. To facilitate the shift, the central bank provided preferential liquidity support to formerly note-issuing private banks. Drawing on newly digitized monthly archival data, we show that this liquidity provision played a critical role in shaping private banks’ performances during the transition. Once the support started being withdrawn, affected banks experienced a 23% drop in profitability. No signs of bank disintermediation are found. |
| Keywords: | Money and Banking; Inside Money; Outside Money; Bank Profitability; Bank Lending; Banknote Monopoly |
| JEL: | E42 E50 G21 G28 N23 |
| Date: | 2025–08–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0454 |
| By: | Forest Service |
| Abstract: | The following pages give, in chronological order, positive actions as well as reverses which significantly influenced the movement of forest conservation and wise management for the general public welfare in the United States of America. Particular emphasis is given to the major role of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, which, together with its predecessor agencies, the Bureau of Forestry and the Division of Forestry, has led this movement for the past century. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Resource/Energy Economics and Policy |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersab:369105 |
| By: | David K Levine |
| Date: | 2025–09–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cla:levarc:735347000000000013 |
| By: | Cécile Bastidon (IXXI - Institut Rhône-Alpin des systèmes complexes - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJML - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3 - Université de Lyon - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - INSA Lyon - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon - Université de Lyon - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes, LEAD - Laboratoire d'Économie Appliquée au Développement - UTLN - Université de Toulon); Antoine Parent (LED - Laboratoire d'Economie Dionysien - UP8 - Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis); Patrice Abry (Phys-ENS - Laboratoire de Physique de l'ENS Lyon - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Pierre Borgnat (Phys-ENS - Laboratoire de Physique de l'ENS Lyon - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Pablo Jensen (IXXI - Institut Rhône-Alpin des systèmes complexes - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJML - Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3 - Université de Lyon - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - INSA Lyon - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon - Université de Lyon - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes, Phys-ENS - Laboratoire de Physique de l'ENS Lyon - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Barbara Pascal (LS2N - Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - Nantes Univ - ECN - NANTES UNIVERSITÉ - École Centrale de Nantes - Nantes Univ - Nantes Université - Nantes univ - UFR ST - Nantes université - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques - Nantes Université - pôle Sciences et technologie - Nantes Univ - Nantes Université) |
| Abstract: | An original procedure is devised for the automated detection of global financial crises from multivariate databases of share prices. It consists of: i) the construction of time series from the time-windowed estimations of crisis relevant information (cross-correlations or volatilities); ii) the piecewise-linear filtering of times series by nonlinear filtering, achieved by nonsmooth proximal minimization implemented by an efficient iterative algorithm; iii) the estimation of a reassigned time in each window; iv) the detection of crises and estimation of their intensities by exploiting the multivariate structure of denoised time series. Applied to a world dataset of 32 indices over 6 decades, this original model based procedure detects all major crises from the reference lists. It also permits to devise a typology in reference to an archetypal financial crisis. It is automated, data-driven and reproducible notably for the analysis of financial crises over history, or contemporary crises on worldwide databases, via a novel toolbox. Finally it is robust to scarce, incomplete and noisy data. |
| Keywords: | multivariate time series analysis, nonlinear filtering, time reassignment, detection of financial crises, financial globalization, econophysics, cliometrics and complexity |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05234050 |
| By: | Yueran Ma; Benjamin Pugsley; Haomin Qin; Kaspar Zimmermann |
| Abstract: | We present new facts about the largest American companies over the past century. In manufacturing, top firms in the 1910s, 1950s, and 2010s predominantly date back to around 1900. Even as this special generation persists, turnover among top firms has been substantial. In contrast, in retail and wholesale, we do not observe a special generation among top firms. We show in a model of firm dynamics that a special generation can arise from an industrial revolution, through the adoption of a scalable technology and learning-by-doing. Top firm turnover is matched by standard idiosyncratic productivity shocks. Time-varying market size growth rates or entry costs are not sufficient to explain the facts. Among retailers and wholesalers, learning appears absent, so a special generation would be harder to sustain. Our results highlight the potential for lasting nonstationarity among the dynamics of top firms, which can result from the long echoes of technological change. |
| JEL: | D2 E2 L1 M1 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34194 |
| By: | Bedük, Selçuk (University of Oxford); Yong, Anna |
| Abstract: | While any experience of child poverty can affect life chances, longer exposure is particularly concerning due to its lasting effects on education, health and earnings. This study adopts a life-course perspective, tracking poverty from birth to age 10 for cohorts born in Britain between 1991 and 2017. On average, 17% of children spent at least half of their childhood in poverty. Long-term poverty affected 25% of those born in the early 1990s, markedly declined to 13-14% for cohorts born after the 1997 welfare reforms, and substantially increased again to 23% for children born following the 2013 austerity reforms. Decomposition analysis shows that cross-cohort changes are driven more by shifts in the penalties associated with work and family risk factors than by changes in their prevalence. These shifts in penalties reflect broader changes in redistribution and predistribution. The early decline in long-term poverty was largely due to rising employment and earnings in low-income households, while the post-austerity increase stems mainly from reduced redistribution. For cohorts born in the 2000s, social transfers played a substantial role in containing long-term poverty despite worsening predistribution. Overall, the findings show that long-term childhood poverty remains a significant challenge in Britain and highlight the need for both stronger redistribution and improved predistribution to address it. |
| Date: | 2025–08–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:e7pkj_v1 |
| By: | Masaya Sakuragawa (Faculty of Economics, Keio University); Satoshi Tobe (School of Policy Studies, Kwansei Gakuin University) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically investigates if there is a causal relation from credit expansion to housing prices, using a data set of an unbalanced panel that covers 20 developed countries from 1980 to 2019, which includes many episodes of boom and bust of housing prices. The estimates based on the local projections with instrumental variables (LP-IV) show that an exogeneous increase in credit supply leads to a boom of housing prices at short horizons, and to a bust at longer horizons. The boom lasts for two and a quarter years, turns into a bust in three years after the initial shock, and then the bust lasts for three and a half years. Our results favor the Kindleberger–Minsky view that the combination of expectation errors and the credit-supply shock leads to financial crises. We also study the cumulative effects, differential effects of current account position, and effects of a longer credit expansion. |
| Keywords: | Credit, Housing Prices, Local Projections |
| JEL: | G12 G21 |
| Date: | 2025–06–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:keo:dpaper:dp2025-011 |
| By: | Chiang, Daniel Minghan (University of Rochester); Fan, Elliott (National Taiwan University); Hsu, Dexter (University of California, Davis) |
| Abstract: | Postwar land reforms in East Asia were implemented as a geopolitical strategy to curb communism expansion. This paper evaluates their long-term political effects in Japan and Taiwan. In Japan, reform increased support for conservative parties and reduced backing for socialist and communist factions, with intergenerational persistence. Taiwan’s reform similarly bolstered electoral support for the Kuomintang. IV analyses support a causal interpretation. Survey evidence suggests that land acquisition fostered a desire for political stability as the mechanism, rather than through reciprocity or pro-market ideology. These findings highlight land reform’s critical role in shaping postwar political alignment and deflecting communist influence. |
| Keywords: | containment, communism, land reform, Japan, Taiwan |
| JEL: | Q15 Q11 N55 P26 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18095 |
| By: | Narcisa Ispas (Bucharest University, Romania) |
| Abstract: | The fear of death is a central theme in existentialism, psychology, and theology, profoundly influencing human life. This article examines the fear of death from an existentialist perspective, incorporating the contributions of thinkers such as Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Sartre, Frankl, and Yalom. It also explores existential psychotherapy approaches and the role of spirituality in managing existential anxiety. Finally, the study discusses the impact of modern society on the perception of death, including distancing from death through technology and medical practices. The research highlights the importance of consciously confronting mortality to live an authentic and meaningful life. |
| Keywords: | Fear of Death, Existential Anxiety, Existential Psychotherapy, Viktor Frankl, Irvin Yalom, Death and Spirituality, Existentialist Philosophy, Modern Society and Death |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0516 |
| By: | António Afonso, Joshua Jablonowski; Joshua Jablonowski |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates fiscal sustainability and the prevailing fiscal regime in the Federal Republic of Germany. Using annual data from 1950 to 2023, the long-term relationship between the primary balance and government debt is estimated using a single-equation error correction model (SECM). The results from this long-term analysis do not support the hypothesis of fiscal sustainability, and the SECM proves inconclusive in identifying a dominant fiscal regime, showing a statistically insignificant long-run coefficient and bidirectional Granger causality. Moreover, with the local projections method on quarterly data from 2002 to 2023, this impulse response analysis reveals a clear Money-Dominant (MD) regime. A discretionary positive shock to the primary balance leads to a significant a decrease in real government debt, a result consistent with the MD regime. These findings suggest that while Germany’s long-run fiscal framework is ambiguous, its policy dynamics in the 21st century have been characterised as sustainable fiscal practices. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal Sustainability; Fiscal Theory of the Price Level; Local Projection. |
| JEL: | C12 C22 E31 E62 E63 H63 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp03922025 |
| By: | Adrian Vasile (Ovidius University, Romania) |
| Abstract: | Within a framework marked by the tension between tradition and modernity, Jewish women position themselves on a broad spectrum of attitudes, from secularization and reform to orthodoxy and neo-orthodoxy. This research examines the rabbinic perspective on the role of women as reflected in the Talmud and post-Talmudic legislation, highlighting both constraints and opportunities for reconfiguring the status of women. At the same time, the transformations generated by reform and feminist movements within Judaism and their impact on traditional religious structures are analyzed. The study thus highlights the complexity and diversity of female experiences in Judaism, emphasizing the dynamics of its adaptation to the socio-cultural realities of the contemporary world. |
| Keywords: | Women in Judaism, Talmud, Halakhah, Orthodoxy, Neo-Orthodoxy, Reform, Secularization |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0518 |
| By: | Christine Ho (School of Economics, Singapore Management University) |
| Abstract: | This Special Issue brings together nine papers that examine how families allocate time and money across generations. Spanning aging societies in East Asia to informal settlements in the Pacific, the contributions employ diverse methodological approaches, from natural experiments and policy variation to administrative data linkage and cross-generational panel surveys. The findings converge on a central insight: intergenerational transfers of time and money are not merely cultural practices, but systematic responses to changing economic environments and institutional frameworks. Family decisions are critical to the provision of long-term care, investment in children’s human capital, and the transmission of preferences, opportunities, and well-being across generations. Together, these studies highlight the importance of household economics for understanding and addressing the policy challenges of demographic transition, rising care demands, and the complex interplay between family resources and intergenerational outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational Transfers; Long-term Care; Fertility; Investment in Children; Intergenerational Tr |
| JEL: | D13 D64 I14 J13 J14 J22 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:smuesw:021527 |
| By: | Hongfa Zi; Zhen Liu |
| Abstract: | Many modern areas have not learned their lessons and often hope for the wisdom of later generations, resulting in them only possessing modern technology and difficult to iterate ancient civilizations. At present, there is no way to tell how we should learn from history and promote the gradual upgrading of civilization. Therefore, we must tell the history of civilization's progress and the means of governance, learn from experience to improve the comprehensive strength and survival ability of civilization, and achieve an optimal solution for the tempering brought by conflicts and the reduction of internal conflicts. Firstly, we must follow the footsteps of history and explore the reasons for the long-term stability of each country in conflict, including providing economic benefits to the people and means of suppressing them; then, use mathematical methods to demonstrate how we can achieve the optimal solution at the current stage. After analysis, we can conclude that the civilization transformed from human plowing to horse plowing can easily suppress the resistance of the people and provide them with the ability to resist; The selection of rulers should consider multiple institutional aspects, such as exams, elections, and drawing lots; Economic development follows a lognormal distribution and can be adjusted by expected value and variance. Using a lognormal distribution with the maximum value to divide equity can adjust the wealth gap. |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2507.00067 |
| By: | Alper Deniz Karakas |
| Abstract: | This study examines the long-term economic impact of the colonial Mita system in Peru, building on Melissa Dell's foundational work on the enduring effects of forced labor institutions. The Mita, imposed by the Spanish colonial authorities from 1573 to 1812, required indigenous communities within a designated boundary to supply labor to mines, primarily near Potosi. Dell's original regression discontinuity design (RDD) analysis, leveraging the Mita boundary to estimate the Mita's legacy on modern economic outcomes, indicates that regions subjected to the Mita exhibit lower household consumption levels and higher rates of child stunting. In this paper, I replicate Dell's results and extend this analysis. I apply Double Machine Learning (DML) methods--the Partially Linear Regression (PLR) model and the Interactive Regression Model (IRM)--to further investigate the Mita's effects. DML allows for the inclusion of high-dimensional covariates and enables more flexible, non-linear modeling of treatment effects, potentially capturing complex relationships that a polynomial-based approach may overlook. While the PLR model provides some additional flexibility, the IRM model allows for fully heterogeneous treatment effects, offering a nuanced perspective on the Mita's impact across regions and district characteristics. My findings suggest that the Mita's economic legacy is more substantial and spatially heterogeneous than originally estimated. The IRM results reveal that proximity to Potosi and other district-specific factors intensify the Mita's adverse impact, suggesting a deeper persistence of regional economic inequality. These findings underscore that machine learning addresses the realistic non-linearity present in complex, real-world systems. By modeling hypothetical counterfactuals more accurately, DML enhances my ability to estimate the true causal impact of historical interventions. |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2506.18947 |
| By: | Torres, Valeria; Naser, Alejandra; Barragán, Daniel |
| Abstract: | A más de una década de implementación de planes de gobierno abierto en América Latina y el Caribe, esta publicación busca compartir lecciones y aprendizajes respecto de cómo institucionalizar nuevos modelos de gestión pública bajo la noción del gobierno abierto. Como se plantea en la publicación, este es un nuevo paradigma de gestión pública que promueve esquemas de colaboración y cocreación entre la ciudadanía y el gobierno con el fin de mejorar la calidad y eficiencia de las intervenciones públicas y fortalecer la acción colectiva de múltiples actores de modo que las partes interesadas puedan aportar ideas y agregar valor público. La efectividad de este paradigma dependerá de la voluntad política, de la creación y fortalecimiento de capacidades institucionales y de la sostenibilidad de los procesos para asegurar cambios culturales duraderos. |
| Date: | 2025–08–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:col047:82275 |