Eelke de Jong - Böcker

Since the early 1990s, culture, in the sense of norms and values, has entered economic analysis again, whereas it was totally absent from mainstream economics during most of the second half of the twentieth century. The disappointing results of mainstream economics and developments in the world economy triggered an awareness of the relevance of the context in which people make decisions. Developments which were triggering this were the unexpected high growth rates in Asia, (the Asian miracle), the transition of previously centrally planned economies and the increased attention for the role of religion after 9/11/2001. Some of the areas this research covers are: The history of culture in economics from Adam Smith to the present The way culture is incorporated into economic analysis Methods used in empirical analysis on culture and economics Culture as an explanatory factor of cross-country difference in institutions and performanceCulture appears to be relevant for explaining differences between otherwise similar countries; in particular OECD-countries. Uncertainty avoidance, for example, significantly explains the relative importance of financial markets. This book is the first that provides an overview of the field of culture and economics and will be of use to postgraduate researchers in the field of economics and culture.

Since the early 1990s, culture, in the sense of norms and values, has entered economic analysis again, whereas it was totally absent from mainstream economics during most of the second half of the twentieth century. The disappointing results of mainstream economics and developments in the world economy triggered an awareness of the relevance of the context in which people make decisions. Developments which were triggering this were the unexpected high growth rates in Asia, (the Asian miracle), the transition of previously centrally planned economies and the increased attention for the role of religion after 9/11/2001. Some of the areas this research covers are: The history of culture in economics from Adam Smith to the present The way culture is incorporated into economic analysis Methods used in empirical analysis on culture and economics Culture as an explanatory factor of cross-country difference in institutions and performanceCulture appears to be relevant for explaining differences between otherwise similar countries; in particular OECD-countries. Uncertainty avoidance, for example, significantly explains the relative importance of financial markets. This book is the first that provides an overview of the field of culture and economics and will be of use to postgraduate researchers in the field of economics and culture.

All human beings develop a certain view on the world. Inhabitants of the same country are likely to develop similar worldviews. The common part of these views constitutes the country’s national culture. Consequently, academic economists, policymakers, and the population at large are consistently exposed to the same opinions on the preferred way of organizing an economy. This book explores the economic impacts of these shared cultural values, focusing on the economies of the United States of America, Germany, and France.These three countries broadly represent three different types of economic organization and their corresponding economic ideologies: a free market economy, a coordinated market economy, and a hierarchical market economy. The contributors to this edited volume have examined the extent to which the shared worldviews between academic economists, policymakers, and the wider population impact these economies. In particular, the chapters investigate the consequences for the design of the labor market, the financial system, competition policy, and monetary policy. The work also explores the extent to which the shared views on national culture and economic systems and policies in these countries contribute to the population’s well-being overall.This book makes an invaluable contribution to the literature on comparative economics, economic policy, well-being and cultural economics.

All human beings develop a certain view on the world. Inhabitants of the same country are likely to develop similar worldviews. The common part of these views constitutes the country’s national culture. Consequently, academic economists, policymakers, and the population at large are consistently exposed to the same opinions on the preferred way of organizing an economy. This book explores the economic impacts of these shared cultural values, focusing on the economies of the United States of America, Germany, and France.These three countries broadly represent three different types of economic organization and their corresponding economic ideologies: a free market economy, a coordinated market economy, and a hierarchical market economy. The contributors to this edited volume have examined the extent to which the shared worldviews between academic economists, policymakers, and the wider population impact these economies. In particular, the chapters investigate the consequences for the design of the labor market, the financial system, competition policy, and monetary policy. The work also explores the extent to which the shared views on national culture and economic systems and policies in these countries contribute to the population’s well-being overall.This book makes an invaluable contribution to the literature on comparative economics, economic policy, well-being and cultural economics.

This work has two aims. The first is to investigate the causes of the bad performance of many exchange rate models and the second is to determine the optimal exchange rate regime for small countries. With regard to exchange rate performance, the book concludes that the models' bad performance is probably due to the use of semi-reduced form relations in almost all studies on exchange rate determination and to an inappropriate approximation of expectations. Three criteria for approximating expectations are introduced. The book concludes that the rolling regressions technique and multi-state Kalman filters are appropriate procedures for approximating expectations formation. A structural model of exchange rate determination is developed in which exchange rate expectations are approximated by rolling regressions. The book demonstrates how demand functions determine the explanatory power of the exchange rate or interest rate, showing that the derived exchange rate tracks its historical values well.With regard to the second aim of the book - the determining of a small industrial country's optimal exchange rate regime - the book relates this to recent proposals for a European monetary union, with optimal control experiments being used to determine the best means of pegging a small European country's currency to the Deutsche Mark. This monograph on international economics, empirical economics and macroeconomics is intended for the use of researchers.