The Elgar Companion to Social Economics

by John B. Davis, Wilfred Dolfsma

Overview

As this comprehensive Companion demonstrates, social economics is a dynamic and growing field that emphasizes the key role that values play in the economy and in economic life. Social economics treats the economy and economics as being embedded in the larger web of social and ethical relationships. It also regards economics and ethics as essentially connected, and adds values such as justice, fairness, dignity, well-being, freedom and equality to the standard emphasis on efficiency. The Elgar Companion to Social Economics brings together the leading contributors in the field to elucidate a wide range of recent developments across different subject areas and topics. In so doing the contributors also map the likely trends and directions of future research. This Companion will undoubtedly become a leading reference source and guide to social economics for many years to come.

Providing concise discussion and an indication of what to expect in future decades, this interdisciplinary Companion will be of great interest to students and academics of social economics and socio-economics, as well as institutional, evolutionary and heterodox economics. It will also appeal to management scholars and those concerned with business ethics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845422806
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	09/30/2008
Series:	Elgar Original Reference Series
Pages:	704
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Edited by John B. Davis, Professor of Economics, Marquette University, US and Professor of Economics, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Wilfred Dolfsma, Professor of Business Management & Organization, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands

Table of Contents

Contents:

Preface

Social Economics: An Introduction and a View of the Field
John B. Davis and Wilfred Dolfsma

PART I: SOCIAL CONCERNS IN ECONOMICS
1. Environment and Sustainability
Jouni Paavola and Inge Røpke

2. Institutions, Culture and Values
Anne Mayhew

3. Insecurity
John Vail

4. The Ethical Dimensions of the ‘Globalization Thesis’ Debate
George DeMartino

PART II: THE SOCIALLY EMBEDDED INDIVIDUAL
5. Individual Preferences and Decision-Making
Shaun P. Hargreaves Heap

6. The Conception of the Socially Embedded Individual
John B. Davis

7. The Social Dimension of Internal Conflict
David George

8. The Socio-economics of Consumption: Solutions to the Problems of Interest, Knowledge and Identity
Metin M. Coşgel

PART III: INDIVIDUALS IN CONTEXT
9. Capabilities and Well-being
Irene van Staveren

10. Culture, Values and Institutions
Paul D. Bush

11. Caste and Diversity in India
Ashwini Deshpande

12. Feminism and/in Economics
Edith Kuiper

PART IV: GROWTH AND (IN-)EQUALITY
13. Income Distribution and Inequality
Frank A. Cowell

14. The Social Economics of Growth and Income Inequality
Morris Altman

PART V: SOCIALLY EMBEDDED EXCHANGE: MARKETS
15. Markets
Geoffrey M. Hodgson

16. Are Markets Everywhere? Understanding Contemporary Processes of Commodification
Luís Francisco Carvalho and João Rodrigues

17. Work: Its Social Meanings and Role in Provisioning
Deborah M. Figart and Ellen Mutari

PART VI: SOCIALLY EMBEDDED EXCHANGE: FIRMS
18. Firms: Collective Action and its Supportive Values
Helena Lopes and José Castro Caldas

19. Knowledge Spillover Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Large and Small Firms
David B. Audretsch and Max Keilbach

20. Firms, Managers and Restructuring: Implications of a Social Economics View
Hans Schenk

PART VII: SOCIAL RELATIONS IN THE ECONOMY
21. Social Capital: A Critique and Extension
Nicolas Sirven

22. Social Networks: Structure and Content
Wilfred Dolfsma and Rick Aalbers

23. Communication in the Economy: The Example of Innovation
Stefan Kesting

24. Methodological Approaches in Economics and Anthropology
Pranab Bardhan and Isha Ray

PART VIII: FINANCE, MONEY AND POLICY
25. Saving, Stock Market Investments and Pension Systems
Martha A. Starr

26. Monetary Policy
Sheila C. Dow

27. Banking, Finance and Money: A Social Economics Approach
L. Randall Wray

28. Global Finance and Development: False Starts, Dead Ends and Social Economic Alternatives
Ilene Grabel

PART IX: THE STATE
29. The Welfare State and Privatization
Robert McMaster

30. The States of Social Economics
Charlie Dannreuther and Oliver Kessler

PART X: LAW AND THE ECONOMY
31. Law and Social Economics: A Coasean Perspective
David Campbell and Matthias Klaes

32. Social Law and Economics and the Quest for Dignity and Rights
Mark D. White

PART XI: THE LONG VIEW
33. Technology and Long Waves in Economic Growth
Alfred Kleinknecht and Gerben van der Panne

34. Analysing Regional Development: From Territorial Innovation to Path-Dependent Geography
Frank Moulaert and Abid Mehmood

35. Radical Institutionalism
William M. Dugger

36. Exploitation and Surplus
Philip Anthony O’Hara

Index

Editorial Reviews

'I highly recommend this volume for all scholars interested in challenging conventional wisdom about how a capitalist economy works, and willing to call into question assumptions that narrow our interpretation, preventing more socially beneficial practices from being implemented.'

International Sociology

'Davis and Dolfsma have edited a volume of 36 essays that provides a first-rate introduction to the recent cutting-edge scholarship in social economics. . . the volume provides an impressive and broad array of articles covering traditional social economic topics. . . Each essay is an excellent point of entry into social economic thought. This volume will be of great interest to economists writing in the heterodox tradition and/or to mainstream economists seeking a richer analysis of socioeconomic relationships. Highly recommended.'

Q.M. Duroy