| REVISTA DE ECONOMÍA
INSTITUCIONAL No. 6, FIRST SEMESTER 2002
How did Economics Arrive to Such
a Situation?
Geoffrey M. Hodgson [pdf] [html]
[Key words: Teaching of economics, plurality, tolerance,
academic project, JEL: A11, A12, A20, A23]
In this short essay Hodgson denounces the superficiality
in the teaching of economics and agrees with the student
protests which have urged deep academic reforms. He also
censures the absence of plurality and tolerance in teaching
methods and argues that excessive mathematical formulation,
together with the commercialization of knowledge and research
have contributed to narrowing the approach of economics.
He proposes the study of philosophy, economic history, history
of ideas, as well as relevant social institutions and the
practical conditions of social politics, should be as important
as the academic requirement of knowledge of mathematics.
Has Colombia Finally Found
an Agrarian Reform that Works?
Albert Berry [pdf] [html]
[Key words: agrarian reform, landlords, squatters, agrarian
policies, property rights, JEL: N56, Q15]
This article assesses Colombian agrarian reforms from the
beginning of the 20th century. It shows the positive and
negative effects of Law 200 of 1936, criticizes the impact
of INCORA in land distribution in the seventies and the
failure of ‘campesino’ organizations that sought
pacific agrarian reforms. The essay highlights the positive
effects of DRI on ‘campesino’ income but recognizes
its negative effects on social inequality. Also, it argues
that the adoption of free market policies in the nineties
deteriorated rural conditions and social inequality. Finally,
it evaluates the scope of recent projects and offers some
policy recommendations.
Toward a Theory of Social
Capital
Gonzalo Vargas [pdf] [html]
[Key words: social capital, economic development, New Institutionalism,
social organization, JEL: B52, D24, O15]
In the last decade, the concept of social capital has been
widely accepted by academics, advisors and government officials,
who have attributed to it virtuous effects on economic and
social development. However, theoretical and applied literature
gives many different meanings to the concept of social capital,
leading to methodological difficulties. Thus, the concept
of social capital is merely the entrance to a theoretical
structure under construction, whose components and ‘materials’
come from different approaches. From a mainstream economics
approach, the New Institutionalism offers important elements
for the construction of this theory.
Endogenous Growth:
Knowledge
and Institutions
Óscar A. Benavides G. y Clemente Forero P. [pdf] [html]
[Key words: endogenous growth, human capital, technological
knowledge, competence, multiple equilibrium, JEL: E22, O15,
O32, O49]
This document develops an endogenous growth model in which
it is possible to obtain a positive long run growth rate
by combining investment in human capital and the endogenous
advance of technological knowledge. The model shows the
complementary characteristics of the two kinds of knowledge
and implies the abandonment of the competitive equilibrium
model because of the non-rival nature of technological knowledge.
The model also shows the presence of multiple equilibria
and the requirement of a central planner for some of them.
The Evaluation of Results
in the Modernization of the State in Latin America
Eduardo Weisner [pdf] [html]
[Key words: evaluation of results, modern State, reform
process, evaluation strategies, JEL: H50, O20, O22]
This article shows how structural rigidities of public
spending in different institutional situations have created
a hostile environment in the market of evaluation of results.
For this reason it is necessary to find a legal framework
that encourages the process of evaluation. The key for the
development of evaluation capacity lies in demand incentives
that link evaluation results with budget planning. The essence
of the evaluation process is therefore compiling and ordering
information necessary for decision makers. Thus, evaluation
of results and self-evaluation are indispensable for the
modernization of the State in Latin America.
New Institutional Economics
and Implementation Theory
Ernesto Cárdenas y Jaír Ojeda [pdf] [html]
[Key words: New Institutional Economics, Implementation
Theory, transaction costs, property rights, methodological
individualism, JEL: B52, D23, D78 ]
This paper shows how some of the most important concepts
of the New Institutional Economics (NIE) can be expressed
in terms of Implementation Theory (IT). First, it explains
some of the expressions used by the NIE, such as institutions,
transaction costs, property rights and methodological individualism.
Afterwards, it gives a wide definition of the IT in order
to establish correspondences between both theories.
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