Intensity of technology use and per capita real GDP across some African countries

African countries may have fared poorly compared to some countries in other regions, but relative to their own performance history some African countries have done quite well over the past eight years. In particular 2004 and 2005 were especially good years. How can such performance be made to stick and even expand? The answer to that question requires better understanding of the source of good performance. This paper proceeds on the assumption that technology was, at least partially, responsible. The result shows that a feeble technology undercuts per capita real GDP across African countries. However, the impacts of new technologies, measured by the intensities of internet and cell phone use are very strong. The policy implication of the findings speaks to the need for investment in new technologies for which productivity is high and the adoption and diffusion costs seem low. Further research can clarify the findings and policy by expanding and improving the data coverage, and examining effects on income of different kinds of technologies

National identity, globalization, and the well-being of nations

Using a simple production function approach I show that conventional factors and forces of production, national identity, and globalization are important to national well-being, but in varying ways. Whereas investment in capital and globalization, especially social globalization, affect national well-being strongly, national well-being is inelastic to all three measures of national identity. A reasonable conclusion is that nations gain more from interactions with other nations than from national isolation.National identity, national colors, globalization, well-being of nations, human development index (HDI), national flag colors

The inhibited (exhibited) spread of innovations

This note makes general statements about standard models of the diffusion of innovations. Its premise is a familiar idea that innovations are socially-learned changes that spread like wildfires across diverse populations. However, the rate at which innovations spread is subject to the forces of exhibition and inhibition. Exhibitors promote the spread of innovations; inhibitors subjugate them. Hence, where the forces of subjugation are stronger than the forces of promotion, it is the slow spread, rather than the lack, of innovations which undermines the competitiveness of nations, and consequently frustrates economic performance. This suggests a need for a simple and more realistic model. Since the analytical components (basic equations and statistical inference) of the needed model are readily available, this note attempts a synthesis. Unfortunately in its current version the note is incomplete, and therefore makes only a tentative concluding remark. Even so, there is enough insight to warrant comment.

Flags, Constitutions, and the well-being of nations

This exploratory paper estimates the effects on well-being of two very important institutional symbols of 59 countries in 2007: national flags and constitutions. The results indicate that well-being responds positively to investment in material things as well as the existence of flags. However, nationalwell-being is highly inelastic with respect to measures of constitutions and national flag colors. In fact, nations with fewer flag colors, infrequent constitutional changes, and small constitutions tend to have higher well-being than others. I resist comment on what this all means, but it would seem GDP per capita, despite its obvious limitations, is still the most important influence on national well-being.Well-being of nations, humand development index (HDI), national flags, number of constitutions, articles of constitutions, national flag colors

Introducing Anthropological Foundations of Economic Behavior, Organization, and Control

One of the rude awakenings for economists from the current recession is an emerging understanding that economics has gone wild with its highbrow mathematical models that bear little resemblance to reality. The failure of economics to predict and solve the current global recession, has restored the “dismal science” title to the profession. It stems from the cultish fascination with Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand, centered around the belief in the efficient market hypothesis. This fascination exposes analytical holes in the methodology that economics has followed lately, as economics itself has moved too far away from its key social foundations. This situation is incomprehensible and needs redressing. I compiled a book - Selected Readings on the Anthropological Bases of Economic Behavior, Organization, and Control - to help economists and others get back in touch with their genealogy. This current paper is a watered down version of the introduction to Selected Readings. It concludes that real life is neither as simple nor economic as economic theory sometimes suggests. In fact, and for much of human history, non-economic factors and forces have driven economic activities. Selected Readings provides an opportunity for reinforced focus on economics principles. Alone and detached from its social foundations economics has a future only as fiction. As serious non-fiction, economics cannot successfully divorce itself from its elemental foundations in the social sciences. To advance its theory in the past economics needed to borrow from mathematics and physics. Such learning must continue. However, to remain policy-relevant economics cannot wish away the very social bases upon which it is founded. Without social foundations one might as well kiss economics goodbye.economic behavior, economic organization, economic control, Frank Knight, W. Arthur Lewis, Joan Robinson, Janos Kornai, J. Herskovits, B. Malinowski, anthropological bases

Innovations spread more like wildfires than like infections

Conventional theory says that innovations first diffuse slowly, then at faster paces, and finally at asymptotically declining rates. Economists and others explain such behavior with a variety of logistic models. Early models like the contagion model derive their predictive power from reliance on the history of the variables they are trying to predict. New social learning models improve the dynamics of diffusion across heterogeneous populations, while other studies propose various modifications. However, these extensions of the logistic and related models are still too orderly in structure and outcome. In reality one can expect both order from disorder and disorder from order. The argument of this paper is that innovations spread more like wild fire than like systematic epidemics. This analogy is no mere conjecture; some environments are more susceptible to catching fire than others. Just as the rate of the spread of fire is a function of fuel and other factors, so too is the spread of innovations, only that in the latter case the fuel is human population. Human population in general is a necessary fodder for the spread of innovations. The sufficient condition is the quality of the population which can favor or disfavor the spread of innovations, which explains why there are some random chances of finding islands untouched by fire surrounded by a sea of fire devastation.Innovation spread; logistic model; derivative Gompertz; diffusion of innovations

National symbols, globalization, and the well-being of nations

I estimate the effects of national symbols and globalization on the well-being of 88 countries. I find that conventional determinants of production affect national well-being, measured as human development index (HDI). The effects on HDI of national symbols like national flag colors are unstable, while those of globalization are strong, with social globalization having the strongest effect. The results suggest that national symbols are important to national well-being, but nations gain more from global interactions with other nations than from national pride. Even as there is a need for further research to improve upon the results associated with the effects of national symbols, the policy implications of the findings clearly recommend increased investment in material conditions of nations and globalization.National identity, national colors, globalization, well-being of nations, human development index (HDI), national flag colors

Intensity of technology use and per capita real GDP across some African countries

African countries may have fared poorly compared to some countries in other regions, but relative to their own performance history some African countries have done quite well over the past eight years. In particular 2004 and 2005 were especially good years. How can such performance be made to stick and even expand? The answer to that question requires better understanding of the source of good performance. This paper proceeds on the assumption that technology was, at least partially, responsible. The result shows that a feeble technology undercuts per capita real GDP across African countries. However, the impacts of new technologies, measured by the intensities of internet and cell phone use are very strong. The policy implication of the findings speaks to the need for investment in new technologies for which productivity is high and the adoption and diffusion costs seem low. Further research can clarify the findings and policy by expanding and improving the data coverage, and examining effects on income of different kinds of technologies.technology and per capita income; GDP per capita Africa; African countries’ GDP-technology nexus

National flags, national flag colors, and the well-being of countries

This paper utilizes a simple production function model to assess the relative importance of national flags and national flag colors on the well-being of 93 nations in 2007. It finds that the existence of national flags affects well-being positively. Well-being is inelastic with respect to national flag colors. In other words, it is far more important to well-being to have a national flag than whether the flag is a certain color combination. There is considerable regional variation, but the effects of national flags on well-being are invariant with respect to region.National well-being, human development index (HDI), national flags, national flag colors

Globalization, governance, and the economic performance of Sub-Saharan Africa

I estimate and compare the effects of globalization, governance, and conventional factors and forces on the economic performance of Sub-Saharan African countries. The analysis finds that both physical and human capita as well as unexplained technical residuals affect economic performance, although human capital and technical change do not always have statistically significant impacts. The policy implication of these results calls for improvement of all three variables. Economic performance also varies with measures of globalization, suggesting that globalization is good for economic performance, but it is social globalization rather than economic globalization that is most beneficial. On average the quality of institutions are important to economic performance, but, when disaggregated, different measures of institutional quality have different effects on performance. The results are reasonable, even as there remains a need to improve them.Globaliztion, governance, economic performance, Sub-Saharan Africa