COMPARATIVE CAPITALIST INSTITUTIONS
EC 435/EC635
MW 4:10 – 5:50
154 Rike Hall
Department of Economics
Wright State University
Fall 2008
208-H Rike Hall
775-2080
E-mail: [email protected]
Office hours: MW 1:00 - 2:30 or by appointment
Texts:
Rosser, J. Barkley and Marina Rosser. 2004. Comparative Economics in a Transforming World. Cambridge, MA. MIT Press.
Esping-Anderson, Gøsta. 1990. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Course Packet
Students are ultimately responsible for what they choose to take away from this course. Learning is facilitated primarily through reading assignments, lecture, writing assignments, and discussion. Reading each assignment before the class for which it was assigned allows you, as the student, a full opportunity to understand the discussion and ask questions that will help you to understand the material and relate it to your own educational and life experience.
Course Objectives:
The objective of this course is for students to gain an understanding of the diversity of capitalist economic institutions and the different ways that societies have tried to resolve the contradictions within capitalism. By the end of this course students will be able to:
· Understand the defining institutions of capitalism (markets and private property), the role that they play in influencing the behavior of economic actors, and their limitations
· Understand the arguments for and against the capitalist economic system.
· Understand the role played by historical experience and culture in shaping the behavior of economic actors.
· Understand the role of government and government policy in shaping the behavior of economic actors.
· Understand the variety of economic institutions.
435 Grades will be based on:
Two Essays 300 points (150 points each)
Discussion 100 points
Midterm 250 points
Cumulative Final 350 points
635 Grades will be based on the two essays the midterm, final, and a class paper.
www.turnitin.com:
Essays must be handed in to turnitin.com. First you must set up an account and then join this class. To do this you must use an e-mail address that incorporates your name, preferably your Wright State e-mail.
Class ID 2367025
Password institutions
Additional Policies:
E-Mail:
You are expected to check your E-mail periodically. You are responsible for any information that has been e-mailed to you using the e-mail address you provide to Turnitin.com.
Class Attendance:
Class attendance is mandatory. There is no substitute for participating in class. Lectures include material that is not included in readings. Every two class periods you miss represents 10% of the material. Therefore, three unexcused absenses will result in a penalty of one letter grade, five will result in a penalty of two letter grades. What constitutes an excuse is entirely at the discretion of the instructor.
Academic Dishonesty:
The University policies on Academic Dishonesty including plagiarism will be strictly enforced. Plagiarism is clearly defined in the guide provided by WSU’s English Dept: http://www.wright.edu/cola/Dept/ENG/wsuwweb/guide/integrity.htm
SCHEDULE:¨
Sept. 8 Comparative Capitalisms
Sept. 10 - 17 Econ. Institutions & the Theory and Practice of Comparing Economies
Rosser and Rosser – Ch. 1
Wilk, Richard R. 1996. Economies & Cultures, Foundations of Economic Anthropology. Boulder: Westview Press. Chapter 4 and 5.
Hodgson, Geoffrey M. 2001. “The Evolution of Capitalism from the Perspective of Institutional and Evolutionary Economics.” In Capitalism in Evolution: Global Contentions -- East and West. Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar.
Veblen, Thorstein. 1998 (1898) “The Beginnings of Ownership” in Ardzrooni, Leon, ed., Essays in Our Changing Order. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
Additional Reading (Optional):
Pryor, Frederic L., "Market Economic Systems". Journal of Comparative Economics, Vol. 13, No. 1, March 2005
Sept. 22 – Oct. 1 Ideal Capitalism and its variants
Rosser and Rosser – Chapter 2
Friedman, Milton, “Capitalism and Freedom” in Richard Romano and Melvin Leiman, eds, Views on Capitalism, Beverly Hills: Glencoe Press, 1970, pp.60-84
Galbraith, John Kenneth, “Planning and the Modern Corporation,” in Richard Romano and Melvin Leiman, eds, Views on Capitalism, Beverly Hills: Glencoe Press, 1975, pp.154-184.
Horvat, Branko, “Capitalism,” in The Political Economy of Socialism: A Marxist Social Theory, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1982, pp 5-20.
Additional Reading (Optional)
Ward, Benjamin. 1979. The Ideal Worlds of Economics: Liberal, Radical, and Conservative Economic World Views. Basic Books.
Essay 1 due Oct. 6
Oct. 6-8 The Welfare State
Esping-Andersen – Chapters 1-3.
Leung, Joe C.B. and Nann, Richard C., (1995) Authority and Benevolence: Social Welfare in China, Hong Kong: Chinese University Press. (pp. 159-168).
Midterm Oct. 13
Oct. 15-20 United States of America – Anglo/American System
Rosser and Rosser – Chapter 5
Albert, Michel. 1993. Capitalism vs. capitalism. New York: Four Wall Eight Windows. – Chapter 4
Krugman, Paul. 2002. “For Richer,” The New York Times. Thursday, July 17, 2008. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505EFD9113AF933A15753C1A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=5
Additional Reading (Optional)
Albert, Michel. 1993. Capitalism vs. capitalism. New York: Four Wall Eight Windows.
Tyson, Laura D’Andrea. 1992. Who’s Bashing Whom? Trade Conflict in High-Technology Industries. Institute for International Economics.
Schor, Juliet. 1992. The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure. Basic Books.
Schor, Juliet. 1999. The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need. Harper Collins.
Daly, Herman and John Cobb, Jr. 1994. For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy toward Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future. Beacon Press.
Krugman, Paul. 2003. The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century. New York: W.W. Norton
Oct. 22-27 European Welfare States
Rosser and Rosser – Chapter 7 - 9
Schneider, Geoffrey E. 2007. “Sweden’s Economic Recovery and the Theory of Comparative Institutional Advantage.” Journal of Economic Issues. 41(2): 417-426. (Available through the library via electronic journals)
Pfau-Effinger, Birgit. .1999. “The Modernization of Family and Motherhood in Western Europe,” (pp. 60-79) in Crompton, Rosemary, (Eds.), Restructuring Gender Relations and Employment: The Decline of the Male Breadwinner, New York: Oxford.
Additional Reading (Optional)
Freeman, Richard B. (Ed.).1994. Working Under Different Rules. New York: Sage.
Turner, Lowell.1998. Fighting for Partnership: Labor and Politics in Unified Germany. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Schmidt, Vivien. The Futures of European Capitalism. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Oct. 29-Nov. 3 Japan
Rosser and Rosser – Chapter 6
Beeson, Mark. 2004. “Competing Capitalisms and Neoliberalism: The Dynamics of, and Limits to, Economic Reform in the Asia-Pacific,” http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:10022/mb_cc_nl_pre.pdf .
Additional Reading (Optional)
Gerlach, Michael. 1992. “Rethinking Market Capitalism,” in Alliance Capitalism: The Social Organization of Japanese Business. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 39-62.
Brinton, Mary. 1994. “The Evolution of a Gendered Employment System.” In Women and the Economic Miracle: Gender and Work in Postwar Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 109-140.
Koizumi, Tetsunori, 1993. Interdependence and Change in the Global System. Lanham: University Press of America.
Shichihei, Yamamoto, 1992. The Spirit of Japanese Capitalism and Selected Essays. Lanham: Madison Books.
Dore, Ronald. 2000. Stock Market Capitalism: Welfare Capitalism: Japan and Germany versus the Anglo-Saxons. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Essay 2 Due Nov. 5
Nov. 5-12 China
Rosser and Rosser – Chapter 15
Herrmann-Pillath, Carsten. 2006. “Cultural Species and Institutional Change in China,” Journal of Economic Issues, 40:3, pp. 539-574. (Available through the library via electronic journals)
Additional Reading (Optional)
Child,John, and David K. Tse. 2001. “China's Transition and Its Implications for International Business.” Journal of International Business Studies. 32(1):5-21.
Prestowitz, Clyde, 2005. Three Billion New Capitalists: The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the East. New York: Basic Books.
Final Exam Due Wednesday, November 14, 8:00 pm.