Erik Grimmer-Solem
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199260416
- eISBN:
- 9780191717369
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199260416.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History, Economic History
Social science and social reform flourished in Imperial Germany, and the historical economist Gustav Schmoller made fundamental contributions to both. Despite this, historians have neglected him. ...
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Social science and social reform flourished in Imperial Germany, and the historical economist Gustav Schmoller made fundamental contributions to both. Despite this, historians have neglected him. Questioning the term ‘German Historical School’ associated with Schmoller, this book reveals the European context of Schmoller's thought and the influence of empiricism, statistics, and advances in the natural sciences on his choice of methods. By exploring the social context in detail, it demonstrates how the nexus of young scholars around Schmoller fundamentally transformed German economics into a tool of social reform which was directly relevant to the many ‘social questions’ raised by rapid industrialization and urbanization in Germany in the 1860s. These reform efforts were novel in that they put forth the idea that inequality and poverty were ills emerging from the division of labour which society had an obligation to remedy. As a result, an awareness of the social implications of individual economic action emerged which proved remarkably useful for the development of social policy. Although the dissemination of this reform message influenced public opinion and put social reform on the political agenda, this book shows that Schmoller and his colleagues remained a beleaguered group, attacked from all political directions. It brings the fissures within German liberalism into sharp relief, revealing the persistence of a potent ideal of classlessness that fundamentally shaped German social policy. The author makes a unique and much-needed contribution to our understanding of the thought and milieu of Gustav Schmoller, the origins of social reform, and the development of the social sciences in Germany. The resulting volume addresses central questions in the historiography of the German Empire.Less
Social science and social reform flourished in Imperial Germany, and the historical economist Gustav Schmoller made fundamental contributions to both. Despite this, historians have neglected him. Questioning the term ‘German Historical School’ associated with Schmoller, this book reveals the European context of Schmoller's thought and the influence of empiricism, statistics, and advances in the natural sciences on his choice of methods. By exploring the social context in detail, it demonstrates how the nexus of young scholars around Schmoller fundamentally transformed German economics into a tool of social reform which was directly relevant to the many ‘social questions’ raised by rapid industrialization and urbanization in Germany in the 1860s. These reform efforts were novel in that they put forth the idea that inequality and poverty were ills emerging from the division of labour which society had an obligation to remedy. As a result, an awareness of the social implications of individual economic action emerged which proved remarkably useful for the development of social policy. Although the dissemination of this reform message influenced public opinion and put social reform on the political agenda, this book shows that Schmoller and his colleagues remained a beleaguered group, attacked from all political directions. It brings the fissures within German liberalism into sharp relief, revealing the persistence of a potent ideal of classlessness that fundamentally shaped German social policy. The author makes a unique and much-needed contribution to our understanding of the thought and milieu of Gustav Schmoller, the origins of social reform, and the development of the social sciences in Germany. The resulting volume addresses central questions in the historiography of the German Empire.
Paul W. Glimcher
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199744251
- eISBN:
- 9780199863433
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199744251.003.0009
- Subject:
- Psychology, Neuropsychology
This chapter begins by reviewing what is known about the mechanism that links subjective value to action. The first and most important goal of this examination is to achieve a convincing mechanistic ...
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This chapter begins by reviewing what is known about the mechanism that links subjective value to action. The first and most important goal of this examination is to achieve a convincing mechanistic separation between expected subjective value and action. The second goal of the chapter is to identify mismatches between economic theory and neurobiological data within hard expected utility (Hard-EU) and to examine, as a test case, how neuroeconomics should deal with such mismatches.Less
This chapter begins by reviewing what is known about the mechanism that links subjective value to action. The first and most important goal of this examination is to achieve a convincing mechanistic separation between expected subjective value and action. The second goal of the chapter is to identify mismatches between economic theory and neurobiological data within hard expected utility (Hard-EU) and to examine, as a test case, how neuroeconomics should deal with such mismatches.
Lawrence A. Scaff
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691147796
- eISBN:
- 9781400836710
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691147796.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Population and Demography
This chapter examines the origins and direction of Max Weber's thinking as he set his sights on America. It first considers Weber's enthusiasm as a traveler, citing his trips to various countries as ...
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This chapter examines the origins and direction of Max Weber's thinking as he set his sights on America. It first considers Weber's enthusiasm as a traveler, citing his trips to various countries as well as the impact of these journeys on his spirits and his historical imagination. It then discusses one reason why Weber's travel to the United States in 1904: it came just as Weber had turned his attention to the problems of his most famous work—the theme of the relationships among economic action, economic development, and the moral order of society, explored in his two-part essay The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism. The chapter explains why the journey became a touchstone for a number of Weber's later reflections on issues on the agenda of American Progressivism, from immigration and race to education, religion, democracy, political economy, and capitalism.Less
This chapter examines the origins and direction of Max Weber's thinking as he set his sights on America. It first considers Weber's enthusiasm as a traveler, citing his trips to various countries as well as the impact of these journeys on his spirits and his historical imagination. It then discusses one reason why Weber's travel to the United States in 1904: it came just as Weber had turned his attention to the problems of his most famous work—the theme of the relationships among economic action, economic development, and the moral order of society, explored in his two-part essay The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism. The chapter explains why the journey became a touchstone for a number of Weber's later reflections on issues on the agenda of American Progressivism, from immigration and race to education, religion, democracy, political economy, and capitalism.
Lyn Spillman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226769561
- eISBN:
- 9780226769554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226769554.003.0010
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
This chapter provides an overview of the knowledge gained about business culture and American business associations, and what that means for our understanding of contemporary economic life. Forms of ...
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This chapter provides an overview of the knowledge gained about business culture and American business associations, and what that means for our understanding of contemporary economic life. Forms of disinterested solidarity, as well as self-interest, are intrinsic in orientations to economic action even of capitalist business. Solidarity grounded in the technical division of labor exists as a critical potential within capitalist economic activity. This is what critical theorists used to call a “cultural surplus,” a shared normative grounding for claims-making in favor of institutions of production and exchange that might turn self-interested strategy to more encompassing solidarity. In view of this cultural surplus, assuming that economic action grounded on a norm of strategic, self-interested exchange is a transparent and immutable fact of life is ultimately more dangerous than investigating disinterest and exploring the conditions of its creation in solidaristic institutions.Less
This chapter provides an overview of the knowledge gained about business culture and American business associations, and what that means for our understanding of contemporary economic life. Forms of disinterested solidarity, as well as self-interest, are intrinsic in orientations to economic action even of capitalist business. Solidarity grounded in the technical division of labor exists as a critical potential within capitalist economic activity. This is what critical theorists used to call a “cultural surplus,” a shared normative grounding for claims-making in favor of institutions of production and exchange that might turn self-interested strategy to more encompassing solidarity. In view of this cultural surplus, assuming that economic action grounded on a norm of strategic, self-interested exchange is a transparent and immutable fact of life is ultimately more dangerous than investigating disinterest and exploring the conditions of its creation in solidaristic institutions.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804769129
- eISBN:
- 9780804777810
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804769129.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
In his Theory of Communicative Action, Jürgen Habermas proposes a theory of “communicative action” and sets it within a concept of society he calls “lifeworld.” In both his Theory of Communicative ...
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In his Theory of Communicative Action, Jürgen Habermas proposes a theory of “communicative action” and sets it within a concept of society he calls “lifeworld.” In both his Theory of Communicative Action and later in Between Facts and Norms, Habermas describes the “lifeworld” as the basic conception of society, to be amended or supplemented only for cause. In addition, Habermas argues that in the course of social evolution, systems of economic and political action arise whereby action is coordinated by the consequences of self-interested action, rather than consensual understanding. This chapter explores Habermas's idea of such “systems” based on his reading of Talcott Parsons. It also examines how Habermas integrates the lifeworld and system concepts into his model of system/lifeworld interchange. It argues that the critical model developed by Habermas in Theory of Communicative Action is more functionalist than straightforwardly normative.Less
In his Theory of Communicative Action, Jürgen Habermas proposes a theory of “communicative action” and sets it within a concept of society he calls “lifeworld.” In both his Theory of Communicative Action and later in Between Facts and Norms, Habermas describes the “lifeworld” as the basic conception of society, to be amended or supplemented only for cause. In addition, Habermas argues that in the course of social evolution, systems of economic and political action arise whereby action is coordinated by the consequences of self-interested action, rather than consensual understanding. This chapter explores Habermas's idea of such “systems” based on his reading of Talcott Parsons. It also examines how Habermas integrates the lifeworld and system concepts into his model of system/lifeworld interchange. It argues that the critical model developed by Habermas in Theory of Communicative Action is more functionalist than straightforwardly normative.
Lyn Spillman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226769561
- eISBN:
- 9780226769554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226769554.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
This chapter builds on the insights of neoinstitutionalist theory, which has suggested a cultural role for business associations in the production and reproduction of “industry interests.” Arguing ...
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This chapter builds on the insights of neoinstitutionalist theory, which has suggested a cultural role for business associations in the production and reproduction of “industry interests.” Arguing that recent neoinstitutionalist analysis has been overly preoccupied with questions about change and relies on unexamined assumptions about how orientations for economic action are reproduced and inculcated, the chapter shows how business associations routinely produce and reproduce cognitive categories, networks, and industry fields. This account also shows that recent work by economic sociologists on the importance of cognition, networks, and fields for economic action helps understand mechanisms of institutional production and reproduction.Less
This chapter builds on the insights of neoinstitutionalist theory, which has suggested a cultural role for business associations in the production and reproduction of “industry interests.” Arguing that recent neoinstitutionalist analysis has been overly preoccupied with questions about change and relies on unexamined assumptions about how orientations for economic action are reproduced and inculcated, the chapter shows how business associations routinely produce and reproduce cognitive categories, networks, and industry fields. This account also shows that recent work by economic sociologists on the importance of cognition, networks, and fields for economic action helps understand mechanisms of institutional production and reproduction.
Lyn Spillman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226769561
- eISBN:
- 9780226769554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226769554.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
This chapter examines the more recent history of business associations' political context, organization, and orientations. Against the background of findings from earlier studies, the chapter ...
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This chapter examines the more recent history of business associations' political context, organization, and orientations. Against the background of findings from earlier studies, the chapter presents a new analysis of the organizational features and major orientations of the contemporary association population. They are, overall, well established, multifunctional—and weakly organized. The chapter argues that these features mean they are, first and foremost, cultural producers for economic action.Less
This chapter examines the more recent history of business associations' political context, organization, and orientations. Against the background of findings from earlier studies, the chapter presents a new analysis of the organizational features and major orientations of the contemporary association population. They are, overall, well established, multifunctional—and weakly organized. The chapter argues that these features mean they are, first and foremost, cultural producers for economic action.
Lyn Spillman
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226769561
- eISBN:
- 9780226769554
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226769554.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
This chapter explores the standard neoinstitutionalist account, arguing that it borders on circularity if it relies on the putative prior existence of shared interests and it underestimates the ...
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This chapter explores the standard neoinstitutionalist account, arguing that it borders on circularity if it relies on the putative prior existence of shared interests and it underestimates the degree to which associations treat solidarity as an end in itself. Building on neglected theories of occupational community, this chapter shows that a surprisingly widespread theme in business associations' activity and discourse expresses collective identities, normative and status orders, and camaraderie that would make little sense strictly considered as strategic economic action. An important part of what American business associations do is produce solidarity in collective identity. The chapter offers a new and counterintuitive view of American business associations and the cultural embeddedness of capitalist economic action. The picture of the solidarity in business challenges several fundamental assumptions about capitalist economic action. It challenges the broad assumption that all there is to business is strategic, self-interested action.Less
This chapter explores the standard neoinstitutionalist account, arguing that it borders on circularity if it relies on the putative prior existence of shared interests and it underestimates the degree to which associations treat solidarity as an end in itself. Building on neglected theories of occupational community, this chapter shows that a surprisingly widespread theme in business associations' activity and discourse expresses collective identities, normative and status orders, and camaraderie that would make little sense strictly considered as strategic economic action. An important part of what American business associations do is produce solidarity in collective identity. The chapter offers a new and counterintuitive view of American business associations and the cultural embeddedness of capitalist economic action. The picture of the solidarity in business challenges several fundamental assumptions about capitalist economic action. It challenges the broad assumption that all there is to business is strategic, self-interested action.
Harald Bathelt and Johannes Glückler
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199587384
- eISBN:
- 9780191806728
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199587384.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
How are firms, networks of firms, and production systems organized and how does this organization vary from place to place? What are the new geographies emerging from the need to create, access, and ...
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How are firms, networks of firms, and production systems organized and how does this organization vary from place to place? What are the new geographies emerging from the need to create, access, and share knowledge, and sustain competitiveness? In what ways are local clusters and global exchange relations intertwined and co-constituted? What are the impacts of global changes in technology, demand, and competition on the organization of production, and how do these effects vary between communities, regions, and nations? This book synthesizes theories from across the social sciences with empirical research and case studies in order to answer these questions and to demonstrate how people and firms organize economic action and interaction across local, national, and global flows of knowledge and innovation. It is structured in four clear parts. The first part looks at foundations of relational thinking. The next part is about relational clusters of knowledge. The third part looks at knowledge circulation across territories. The final part considers whether there is a relational economic policy. The book employs a relational framework, which recognizes values, interpretative frameworks, and decision-making practices as subject to the contextuality of the social institutions that characterize the relationships between the human agents.Less
How are firms, networks of firms, and production systems organized and how does this organization vary from place to place? What are the new geographies emerging from the need to create, access, and share knowledge, and sustain competitiveness? In what ways are local clusters and global exchange relations intertwined and co-constituted? What are the impacts of global changes in technology, demand, and competition on the organization of production, and how do these effects vary between communities, regions, and nations? This book synthesizes theories from across the social sciences with empirical research and case studies in order to answer these questions and to demonstrate how people and firms organize economic action and interaction across local, national, and global flows of knowledge and innovation. It is structured in four clear parts. The first part looks at foundations of relational thinking. The next part is about relational clusters of knowledge. The third part looks at knowledge circulation across territories. The final part considers whether there is a relational economic policy. The book employs a relational framework, which recognizes values, interpretative frameworks, and decision-making practices as subject to the contextuality of the social institutions that characterize the relationships between the human agents.
Wendy Nelson Espeland
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199677573
- eISBN:
- 9780191757037
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199677573.003.0014
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This final chapter takes a look the analysis in this book and argues that the value of the contributions to this book on qualifying attests to the importance of theorizing actors as doing things in ...
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This final chapter takes a look the analysis in this book and argues that the value of the contributions to this book on qualifying attests to the importance of theorizing actors as doing things in specific contexts, using resources that are available that they may or may not adapt for new purposes. A rich verbal theoretical language is especially important in economic sociology. This is because of the dominance of models of economic action that entail very little action, at least action that can be aligned with specific sophisticated actors. There is a price to pay for a less abstract and more grounded theory. The models may be less elegant and capacity for synthesis more constrained. This may mean that we can be less certain in advising policy makers. But the payoff is robust action and actors, and the pleasure of uncovering and appreciating the unexpected.Less
This final chapter takes a look the analysis in this book and argues that the value of the contributions to this book on qualifying attests to the importance of theorizing actors as doing things in specific contexts, using resources that are available that they may or may not adapt for new purposes. A rich verbal theoretical language is especially important in economic sociology. This is because of the dominance of models of economic action that entail very little action, at least action that can be aligned with specific sophisticated actors. There is a price to pay for a less abstract and more grounded theory. The models may be less elegant and capacity for synthesis more constrained. This may mean that we can be less certain in advising policy makers. But the payoff is robust action and actors, and the pleasure of uncovering and appreciating the unexpected.
Harald Bathelt and Johannes Glückler
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199587384
- eISBN:
- 9780191806728
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199587384.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This introductory chapter provides a consistent relational conceptualization of economic action and interaction in spatial perspective. It also highlights three complementary conceptions that are ...
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This introductory chapter provides a consistent relational conceptualization of economic action and interaction in spatial perspective. It also highlights three complementary conceptions that are related to the relational approach developed in this book, namely milieu school, which focuses on the social foundations of regional innovation; conceptions of global value chains and production networks; and ideas of geographies of practices. The overview of the ensuing chapters is also presented in this chapter.Less
This introductory chapter provides a consistent relational conceptualization of economic action and interaction in spatial perspective. It also highlights three complementary conceptions that are related to the relational approach developed in this book, namely milieu school, which focuses on the social foundations of regional innovation; conceptions of global value chains and production networks; and ideas of geographies of practices. The overview of the ensuing chapters is also presented in this chapter.
Richard Whitley and Xiaoke Zhang
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198729167
- eISBN:
- 9780191795886
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198729167.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, International Business, Political Economy
This book addresses three different yet interrelated questions: first, how dominant business systems have changed across Asian political economies since the early 1990s; second, how such changes can ...
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This book addresses three different yet interrelated questions: first, how dominant business systems have changed across Asian political economies since the early 1990s; second, how such changes can be understood and explained; and, third, how changing business systems and institutions have shaped the development of innovation strategies in the region. By addressing these questions, the book provides an interdisciplinary account of changes, variations and continuities in the dominant configurations of business organizations and practices and presents a comparative analysis of the impact of changing systems of economic coordination and control and their underlying socio-economic institutions on technology development strategies and innovation processes.Less
This book addresses three different yet interrelated questions: first, how dominant business systems have changed across Asian political economies since the early 1990s; second, how such changes can be understood and explained; and, third, how changing business systems and institutions have shaped the development of innovation strategies in the region. By addressing these questions, the book provides an interdisciplinary account of changes, variations and continuities in the dominant configurations of business organizations and practices and presents a comparative analysis of the impact of changing systems of economic coordination and control and their underlying socio-economic institutions on technology development strategies and innovation processes.
Christopher Yenkey
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199594641
- eISBN:
- 9780191806766
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199594641.003.0011
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Finance, Accounting, and Banking
This chapter examines the issue of value creation in emerging financial markets by focusing on the state's use of advertising to stimulate share ownership among new, domestic investors in the ...
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This chapter examines the issue of value creation in emerging financial markets by focusing on the state's use of advertising to stimulate share ownership among new, domestic investors in the frontier stock exchange in Kenya. More specifically, it considers how an advertising campaign for an initial public offering in Kenya elicits an aspirational response from potential investors. It also explores the connection between aspirational emotions and economic action among Kenyan investors. Finally, it shows how an actor living in a country with institutional weaknesses, including volatile macroeconomic environments and low incomes, might come to value share ownership.Less
This chapter examines the issue of value creation in emerging financial markets by focusing on the state's use of advertising to stimulate share ownership among new, domestic investors in the frontier stock exchange in Kenya. More specifically, it considers how an advertising campaign for an initial public offering in Kenya elicits an aspirational response from potential investors. It also explores the connection between aspirational emotions and economic action among Kenyan investors. Finally, it shows how an actor living in a country with institutional weaknesses, including volatile macroeconomic environments and low incomes, might come to value share ownership.
Khadija Haq (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199474684
- eISBN:
- 9780199089833
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199474684.003.0016
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The chapter discusses that the global food security in the eighties presented a sorry picture: a billion hungry people, a precarious system of world food security, and even growing imbalances in the ...
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The chapter discusses that the global food security in the eighties presented a sorry picture: a billion hungry people, a precarious system of world food security, and even growing imbalances in the future. An end of global hunger requires bold political and economic actions. For Haq, a system of world food security requires action at the global, national and people level. In this paper, he lays out four proposals on which a new structure of world food security can be built for nations and people.Less
The chapter discusses that the global food security in the eighties presented a sorry picture: a billion hungry people, a precarious system of world food security, and even growing imbalances in the future. An end of global hunger requires bold political and economic actions. For Haq, a system of world food security requires action at the global, national and people level. In this paper, he lays out four proposals on which a new structure of world food security can be built for nations and people.
