Development Economics

Neoliberalism and geography: expansions, variegations, formations

by Simon Springer

Springer, S. 2010. Neoliberalism and geography: expansions, variegations, formations. Geography Compass. 4 (8), 1025-1038.

The pervasiveness of neoliberalism within the field of human geography is remarkable, especially when we consider its... more The pervasiveness of neoliberalism within the field of human geography is remarkable, especially when we consider its virtual absence from the literature less than a decade ago. While the growing attention afforded to neoliberalism among geographers is new, the phenomenon of neoliberalism is not. This paper traces the intellectual history of neoliberalism and its expansions across various institutional frameworks and geographical settings. I review the primary contributions geographers have made to the literature, and specifically their recognition for neoliberalism’s variegations within existing political economic matrixes and institutional frameworks. Contra the prevailing view of neoliberalism as a pure and static end-state, geographical inquiry illuminates neoliberalism as a dynamic and unfolding process. The concept of ‘neoliberalization’ is thus seen as more appropriate to geographical theorizations insofar as it recognizes neoliberalism’s hybridized and mutated forms as it travels around our world. I also consider some of the most salient ways that neoliberalism has been theorized among human geographers. In particular, I highlight understandings of neoliberalism as a hegemonic ideology, as a policy-based approach to state reform, and as a particular logic of governmentality, arguing that while there are significant differences between these various formations, it may also be important to work beyond methodological, epistemological, and ontological divides in the larger interest of social justice.

The nonillusory effects of neoliberalisation: linking geographies of poverty, inequality, and violence

by Simon Springer

Springer, S. 2008. The nonillusory effects of neoliberalisation: linking geographies of poverty, inequality, and violence. Geoforum. 39 (4), 1520-1525.

This paper steps into recent debates concerning the (f)utility of neoliberalism as an ‘actually existing’ concept by... more This paper steps into recent debates concerning the (f)utility of neoliberalism as an ‘actually existing’ concept by reminding the reader that without a Marxian political economy approach, one that specifically includes neoliberalisation as part of its theoretical edifice, we run the risk of obfuscating the reality of capitalism’s festering poverty, rising inequality, and ongoing geographies of violence as something unknowable and ‘out there’. By failing to acknowledge such nonillusory effects of neoliberalisation and refusing the explanatory power neoliberalism holds in relating similar constellations of experiences across space as a potential basis for emancipation, we precipitously ensure the prospect of a violent future.

La norma e l’eccezione: i divari regionali in Italia (1891-2001) attraverso un’analisi shift-share

by Emanuele Felice

published in QA . Rivista dell’Associazione Rossi-Doria», 31 (2011), n. 4, pp. 77-112

La copia in pdf è solo un abbozzo. Per la versione definitiva e completa (e per eventuali citazioni) si veda l'articolo pubblicato, dal link sopra

draft only. Please see the published copy (from the link above) for the final and complete version, as well as for quotation

L’articolo analizza le nuove stime del valore aggiunto regionale, per anni benchmark dal 1891 al 2001, con riferimento... more L’articolo analizza le nuove stime del valore aggiunto regionale, per anni benchmark dal 1891 al 2001, con riferimento alla struttura occupazionale e al prodotto per addetto, nell’agricoltura, industria e servizi. Viene stimato l’impatto della distribuzione della forza lavoro e della produttività per addetto sui divari regionali e, attraverso un’analisi shift-share, vengono misurate le componenti strutturali e locali della crescita, in quattro distinti periodi storici: l’età liberale (1891-1911), gli anni fra le due guerre (1911-1951), il miracolo economico (1951-1971) e i decenni della ristrutturazione post-fordista (1971-2001). Dai risultati, emergono importanti spunti di riflessione sul «modello» italiano di disuguaglianza regionale nel lungo periodo, che sembra differenziarsi soprattutto per il percorso del Mezzogiorno, la cui convergenza durante il miracolo economico si è interrotta negli ultimi decenni.


The article analyses the new estimates of regional value added in Italy, in benchmark years from 1891 to 2001, by decomposing them into activity rates and per worker productivity, in agriculture, industry, and services. The contributions of activity rates and per worker productivity to the pattern of regional inequality are assessed and, through a shift-share analysis, the «share change», «mix change», and «shift change» components of growth are measured, in four different periods: the liberal age (1891-1911), the interwar years (1911-1951), the economic miracle (1951-1971), and the post-Fordist years (1971-2001). The results help highlight the peculiarity of the Italian long-run pattern of regional imbalances, i.e. the exceptionality of southern Italy, whose convergence during the economic miracle has come to a halt in the 1970s.

Neither dashboard nor ‘mashup’ indices: an empirical wealth approach as a pathway to a comprehensive measure of development

by Emanuele Felice

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d’Economia i d’Història Econòmica. UHE Working Paper 2012_01, 2012

The article is composed of two sections. The first one is a critical review of the three main alternative indices to... more The article is composed of two sections. The first one is a critical review of the three main alternative indices to GDP which were proposed in the last decades – the Human Development Index (HDI), the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), and the Happy Planet Index (HPI) – which is made on the basis of conceptual foundations, rather than looking at issues of statistical consistency or mathematical refinement as most of the literature does. The pars construens aims to propose an alternative measure, the composite wealth index, consistent with
an approach to development based on the notion of composite wealth, which is in turn derived from an empirical common sense criterion. Arguably, this approach is suitable to be conveyed into
an easily understandable and coherent indicator, and thus appropriate to track development in its various dimensions: simple in its formulation, the wealth approach can incorporate social and ecological goals without significant alterations in conceptual foundations, while reducing to a minimum arbitrary weighting.

The bazaar economy or how bizarre is the bazaar really?

by Frank Fanselow

Man - Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 25, (2), 1990, pp. 250-265

Acquisitions and Dealings

by Historically Digitized

Acquisitions and Dealings - The Torrens system

Crédito y desigualdad: efecto del acceso a crédito en la brecha de ingreso de los hogares ecuatorianos

by Andres Mideros Mora

Economic Liberalization and Development in NIgeria: What Connection?

by Sabo Emmanuel

This is a paper submitted to the Department of Economics as a term paper in fulfilment of the continuous assessment in... more This is a paper submitted to the Department of Economics as a term paper in fulfilment of the continuous assessment in ECN 413, Development Policies and Problems.

This study focuses on the impact economic liberalization has had on development in Nigeria. Many literatures argue in favour of the negative impact of economic liberalization on development in Less Developed Country (LCDs) of which Nigeria is one. This study verifies this fact noting, however, that if some institutions are in place the reverse would have been the case for our dear country, Nigeria, just like it happened in India.

Kaldorian approach to Greek economic growth

by Stavros Drakopoulos

Published in Applied Economics, vol.23, 1991
Co-Author, I. Theodossiou

In the last 30 years, Greece has experienced a rapid rate of economic growth which has
transformed the economy... more In the last 30 years, Greece has experienced a rapid rate of economic growth which has
transformed the economy and enabled it to become a member of the EEC. Specifically,
Greece transformed itself from an agricultural economy with virtually no industrial
base to an economy with a significant industrial sector and consequently a relatively
high income per capita. One can explain this on the lines of a Kaldorian framework. In
this paper we provide an outline of Kaldor's growth model and test its relevance to the
economic experience of Greece during the 1967-1988 period. The empirical results
suggest that the model can adequately explain the developments in the economy to a
considerable degree.

A tale of parallel integration processes. A gravity analysis of EU trade with Mediterranean and Central and Eastern European Countries

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Anna Maria Ferragina and Giorgia Giovannetti.
Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, 5(2): art. 2 (also available as IZA DP, n. 1829, November)

Despite the EU emphasis on the 1995 Barcelona process, trade integration with the Mediterranean (MED) countries is... more Despite the EU emphasis on the 1995 Barcelona process, trade integration with the Mediterranean (MED) countries is still underdeveloped. To contrast the success of EU integration with MED countries and that with the new EU members, we compute the trade potential of these EU partners from 1995 to 2002 using an "out-of-sample" methodology. The coefficients are taken from different panel estimators of the gravity equation relative to intra-EU trade. Our analysis suggests the existence of sizeable, unexploited trade potential with both groups of partners, although the ratio of potential to actual trade with the MED countries is much larger (from 1.7 to 2.5 times), more dispersed and stable compared to that with the CEECs.

The Polish LFS: A Rotating Panel with Attrition

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with M. Socha.
Ekonomia Journal, 2004, 15(3): 3-24.

Started in May 1992, the Polish Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is one of the most important data sources to study the... more Started in May 1992, the Polish Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is one of the most important data sources to study the labour market dynamics in Eastern Europe. It is a typical rotating panel with a 2-2-2 rotation scheme. Similar to any other longitudinal survey, panel attrition, also due to measurement errors, is one the main shortcomings of the PLFS. This paper contributes to the analysis of panel attrition in longitudinal survey data in three ways. First, it shows that albeit limited at about 6.5%, attrition in the PLFS is systematic. Second, it shows that panel attrition can cause biased estimates of transitions in the labour market, giving the fake impression of low numerical flexibility. Third, it studies the determinants of attrition. A logistic estimate of the probability of panel selection across the November 1995 and November 1996 rounds of the survey shows that the probability of failing to match consecutive observations is higher among young highly educated men residing in the lowest unemployment regions of the country. Further problems might arise because of unobservables. This is suggestive of the need to take the due caveats when analysing information coming from rotating panels.

Regional convergence in Italy, 1891–2001: testing human and social capital

by Emanuele Felice

forthcoming in Cliometrica (already available on-line)

draft only. Please see the published copy (from the link above) for the final and complete version, as well as for quotation

La copia in pdf è solo un abbozzo. Per la versione definitiva e completa (e per eventuali citazioni) si veda l'articolo pubblicato, dal link sopra

The article aims to present and discuss estimates of levels of human and social capital in Italy’s regions over the... more The article aims to present and discuss estimates of levels of human and social capital in Italy’s regions over the long term, i.e., roughly from the second half of the nineteenth century up to the present day. The results are linked to newly available evidence for regional value added in order to begin to form an explanatory hypothesis of long-term regional inequality in Italy: convergence in value added per capita is tested in light of the neoclassical exogenous growth approach, which incorporates human capital and social capital as conditioning variables into a long-term production function. In contrast with conventional wisdom (e.g. Putnam 1993), we find that social capital was not a significant predictor of economic growth in post-Unification Italy: It grew in importance only in the last decades. Conversely, human capital was more important in the first half of the twentieth century. Results suggest that there was not one single conditioning variable over the long run, thus supporting the view that, in different periods, conditioning variables can be determined by technological regimes.

2012, « The Historicity of the Neoliberal State », in Social Anthropology, volume 20, n° 1, pp. 80-94

by Mathieu Hilgers

Debate with Loic Wacquant “Three Steps to a Historical Anthropology of Actually Existing Neoliberalism." Social Anthropology, 20, 1, with responses in the next issue: Jamie Peck, Nick Theodore, and Neil Brenner, Stephen Collier, Daniel Goldstein, Johanna Bockman, Don Kalb...

Family prestige as old-age security: Evidence from rural Senegal

by Jean-Luc Demonsant

This paper aims at studying the self-enforcing family contract between a migrant son and his ageing father who... more This paper aims at studying the self-enforcing family contract between a migrant son and his ageing father who remained in the village and expects to receive support. In 2004, a household survey conducted in the Senegal River Valley was especially designed to account for the complex socio-political structure of the local institutions. The empirical results suggest that the social rank of the family within the village is a key to the enforcement mechanisms at work. Indeed, while belonging to a prestigious family lowers the probability of migrating, it raises the probability of frequently remitting to the patriarch. Conversely, sons from historically disadvantaged groups are more likely to both migrate and cut ties with their village of origin, including their family. Additional qualitative evidence is rather suggestive that despite their economic success, low status migrants keep being stigmatized in their village of origin. Hence, inheriting his father's dominant position in the village represents a strong incentive for a migrant son from a high-ranked family to remit. Under such circumstances, patriarchs from prestigious families only, can actually rely on their migrating sons as old-age security.

The management of the possibilities

by Marcelo Manucci

New skills for new business territory

We are living an historical moment that presents us two profound changes. On one hand, a global change related to a... more We are living an historical moment that presents us two profound changes. On one hand, a global change related to a new landscape full of unexpected situations. On the other hand, a change related to the personal skills for dealing with instability. Which resources do we need to advance in unknown territories?

Neoliberalism as discourse: between Foucauldian political economy and Marxian poststructuralism

by Simon Springer

Springer, S. Forthcoming. Neoliberalism as discourse: between Foucauldian political economy and Marxian poststructuralism. Critical Discourse Studies.

Contemporary theorizations of neoliberalism are framed by a false dichotomy between, on the one hand, studies... more Contemporary theorizations of neoliberalism are framed by a false dichotomy between, on the one hand, studies influenced by Foucault in emphasizing neoliberalism as a form of governmentality, and on the other hand, inquiries influenced by Marx in foregrounding neoliberalism as a hegemonic ideology. This article seeks to shine some light on this division in an effort to open up new debates and recast existing ones in such a way that might lead to more flexible understandings of neoliberalism as a discourse. A discourse approach moves theorizations forward by recognizing neoliberalism is neither a ‘top down’ nor ‘bottom up’ phenomena, but rather a circuitous process of socio-spatial transformation.

As jazidas petrolíferas do pré-sal: marco regulatório, exploração e papel da Petrobras

by Elson Rodrigo Souza Santos

Co-authored: Armando Dalla Costa

This paper discusses the new possibilities that exploration of oil from the Pré-sal reserves open to the Brazilian... more This paper discusses the new possibilities that exploration of oil from the Pré-sal reserves open to the Brazilian economy, which could become one of the largest oil producer and exporter. Three key aspects are discussed in the paper. First, the role played by Petrobras and its ambiguous position as a firm that seeks profits but which is at the same time an instrument of the energy policy of the Brazilian government. The second is the emergence of a debate on the legislation and rules that would be in place to organize oil exploration and distribute its benefits to the whole society. Thirdly, it addresses the forms and viability of oil exploration in these conditions. The paper thus aims to discuss whether the Pré-sal could effectively produce benefits to the Brazilian society.

O grupo Randon: Estratégia e trajetória de expansão a partir do enfoque da teoria evolucionária da firma

by Elson Rodrigo Souza Santos

Co-authored: Armando Dalla Costa

The objective this paper is explorer the strategic and trajectory of expantion of the of the Randon Group. This... more The objective this paper is explorer the strategic and trajectory of expantion of the of the Randon Group. This enterprise born how garage little in city of Caxias do Sul – RS, in the south of Brazil at decade of 1940, grounded over Raul Anselmo and Hercílio Randon brothers front the need of a means of survive. In the decades of 1950 and 1960, the Randon brothers known harness the environment and create the opportunities for transformed the garage in industry, leader in the market of implements for trucks. In the decade of 1970 the enterprise transformed in S. A. with holding negotiate in stock exchange for viable itself expantion, damage for crisis of the decade of 1980 that provoked an situation hard to firm. After this fact, the Randon Group again to growth across of enterprise in the market of car spare, financial services, special vehicles and implements. Moreover, the Randon Group have vacation for be multinational not only and great export, but with industrial plants in others countries and search of investors and partner for growth.

Sistema financeiro e desenvolvimento: uma discussão teórica sobre bank-based, market-based e abordagem funcional

by Elson Rodrigo Souza Santos

Preliminary and incomplete version

Over time several authors have discussed how best to organize the financial system to promote growth of... more
Over time several authors have discussed how best to organize the financial system to promote growth of long-term cover and support the changes arising from development. The recurring debate about the structures and theoretical defenses of the bank-based system (based on financial intermediaries) and market-based (direct relationship between savers and borrowers of funds). More recently, the functional approach was added as a central point that puts the capacity of the financial system to support the productive sector and moving to the background structure. In this paper seek to present the theoretical aspects of these three visions highlighting the differences in the defense and criticism, but also seeking to compare the concentrations in common and how they can see the same problem through different perspectives.

State weakness in developing countries and strategies of institutional reform–Operational Implications for Anti-Corruption Policy and A case-study of Tanzania

by Hazel Gray