Household Models: An Historical Perspective

This paper is a survey of the literature on theoretical models of the household, paying particular attention to some of the earlier contributions, and using them to place the current state of the theory in perspective. One of its aims is to suggest that the literature’s neglect of Samuelson’s proposal, that households can be modelled as if they maximised a form of social welfare function, was a mistake. However, the idea following directly from the Nash bargaining models, that the household’s preference ordering over the utility profiles of its members depends on exogenous variables, in particular wage rates and non-wage incomes, is an important one. Combined with Samuelson’s proposal, it can be made the basis for a general approach to modelling household decision taking, flexible enough to encompass non-cooperative behaviour and Pareto inefficiencies arising out of the inevitable incompleteness and unenforceability of domestic agreements. We also point out the importance of household production and some of the implications of its neglect in modelling households. Above all, the aim is to provide a deeper understanding of the current theoretical literature on household economics by means of a survey of its history.household behavior, family economics, household welfare, time allocation, labor supply, household production, child care, gender, discrimination, cooperative models, non-cooperative models, trade models, microeconomic history

Western Europe’s growth prospects : an historical perspective

This paper surveys the recent history of Western European growth. It concludes that this experience has been disappointing and that further reforms are desirable in many countries. The requirement for reform comes both from achieving ‘close-to-frontier’ status and from the opportunities provided by the new technological era. The paper goes on to consider the effects that the current crisis may have on medium-term growth rates. The lesson from the 1930s is that, if the current crisis leads to a similarly bad downturn, the policy reaction in terms of greater state intervention will not be conducive to improved growth prospects

Lunar optical telescopes: An historical perspective

There is a long history of thought and discussion on the possibilities of astronomical observatories on the Moon. Numerous ideas have been suggested and a variety of concepts have resulted for lunar optical telescopes. This paper reviews some of the ideas and efforts of individuals and working groups including Hershel, Clarke, Malina, Herbig, and Hess; working groups of the 1960s; and recent initiatives of Burke, Burns, and others. The enhanced technologies of the 1980s and 1990s can make past dreams of lunar observatories come to reality in the 21st century

The International lender of last resort: an historical perspective

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An Historical Perspective on Fractional Calculus in Linear Viscoelasticity

The article provides an historical survey of the early contributions on the applications of fractional calculus in linear viscoelasticty. The period under examination covers four decades, since 1930's up to 1970's and authors are from both Western and Eastern countries. References to more recent contributions may be found in the bibliography of the author's book. This paper reproduces, with Publisher's permission, Section 3.5 of the book: F. Mainardi, Fractional Calculus and Waves in Linear Viscoelasticity, Imperial College Press - London and World Scienti?c - Singapore, 2010.Comment: 6 page

THE CONCEPT OF COMPARISON INCOME: AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Theories of social comparison have a long presence in the social sciences and have provided many useful insights. In economics, the idea of comparison, aspiration or relative income belongs to this theoretical framework. The first systematic usages of this idea can be found in the works of Keynes and Duesenberry. After these works the concept was relatively ignored by orthodox theorists until its recent re-appearance mainly in the fields of labour and macroeconomics. To the contrary, however, income comparisons continued to play a role in much of Keynesian inspired and Behavioural economics literature. In the last few years it has made a strong comeback in the literature of job satisfaction and of the economics of happiness. This paper attempts to trace the development of the concept in the modern history of economic thought. It also discusses the main theoretical implications of adopting income comparisons and possible reasons for its relative disregard by orthodox economics.Relative Income; History of Economic Thought; Wages

Environment and sex ratios among alaska natives: An historical perspective

Human-environment interactions can affect the sex ratios of resource-dependent societies in a variety of ways. Historical and contemporary data on Alaska Native populations illustrate such effects. Some eighteenth and early nineteenth century observers noted an excess of females, which they attributed to high mortality among hunters. Population counts in the later nineteenth century and well into the twentieth found instead an excess of men in many communities. Female infanticide was credited as the explanation: since family survival depended upon hunting success, males were more valued. Although infanticide explanations for the excess of males have been widely believed, available demographic data point to something else: higher adult female mortality. Finally, in the postwar years, the importance of mortality differentials seems to have faded-and also changed direction. Female outmigration from villages accounts for much of the gender imbalance among Native populations today. Natural-resource development, particularly North Slope oil, indirectly drives this migration. In Alaska\u27s transcultural communities, the present gender imbalances raise issues of individual and cultural survival

Simulations, theory, and experiments. Notes from an Historical Perspective

This paper aims at presenting the methodological approach to simulations, proposed at the beginning of the sixties by a group of scholars of the Carnegie Mellon University. This approach can be defined cognitive and behavioural, because of the attention to real perception and decision-making and to the role assigned to learning processes. One of the main points of departure is constituted by the wish to relay on more realistic assumptions, as a condition for better an understanding and forecast of the reality. Simulations are seen as the most important, even if not unique, way to model the resulting complexity.experiment, simulations, Herbert Simon,

Higgs Physics: An Historical Perspective

``Weakly-coupled'' and ``strongly-coupled'' models of electroweak symmetry breaking are introduced by analogy with the Fermi theory of the weak interaction and the low-energy interaction of pions, respectively. The implications of these two classes of models for colliders beyond the LHC and NLC are discussed.Comment: One reference added. 13 pages, LateX, 5 ps figures included. Presented at the Symposium on Future High Energy Colliders, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California at Santa Barbara, October 21-25, 199