Gresham's law in politics: Why are politicians not the most remarkable men for probity and punctuality?

Economists have always criticized politicians' behaviour. Adam Smith called politicians “crafty and insidious"; and, more recently Brennan and Buchanan have applied Gresham's law to politics, arguing that the man for whom the expected profit is highest will be the highest bidder for political power. However in their model there is not an argument to explain why these people are elected to public offices. This paper presents a supply model and a demand model explaining why politicians behave as “wicked" men, and are elected by the citizens. Firstly, we develop a model of repetitive and reputation games that shows why probity is not important for many politicians. The second model employs asymmetric information theory to explain why voters elect “wicked" people even if probity is a highly estimated value for them. The paper ends with some suggestions of legal reforms for reducing this asymmetry of information. classification D72. D82     

Cooperative learning vs Confucian heritage culture's collectivism: confrontation to reveal some cultural conflicts and mismatch

Asian countries with Confucian heritage culture (CHC) such as China, Vietnam, Singapore, Korea and Japan have been proven to share characteristics of a collectivist society. Researchers agree that this collectivist mentality strongly supports cooperation that CHC's learners/workers best perform in groups. However, little is known about the other side of the coin. Whilst applying a method born in one culture to another, cultural differences have been forgotten. The so-called global application has led to a situation in which a Western model is forced to launch in a completely new and different context. This new context and the existing cultural values are not always incorporated into the implementation of a Western concept of cooperative learning. Consequently, it does not necessarily follow that all forms of cooperative learning will surely succeed within a CHC environment. As a result of ignoring, stereotyping and underestimating cultural and educational characteristics, in CHC countries, the implementation of constructivism and one of its applications—cooperative learning—has ended up in failures, suspicion or resistance. The authors would like to question (1) the fixed assumption that “group-work surely works in CHC countries” and (2) the domination of developmentalism in education nowadays and its mismatch with cultural assets. With this paper, the authors contribute to the recent call for culturally appropriate pedagogy.

Economic development and population

Conclusion Neo-Malthusian analysis that high and increasing population density hinders economic development and results in poverty has been demonstrated to be false. The two major structural variables negatively associated with rate of population increase are wealth and socialism, and the major determinants of economic growth are level of economic development and economic organization. If our analysis is correct the various campaigns supported by AID, the major U.S. foundations and other groups to discourage population growth in Third World countries in order to increase their rate of economic growth are misguided. Every baby born is not only a new mouth to feed, but also within a few years two more hands to work. There are great potentialities for economic growth in the Third World that await only the proper economic organization to be realized. That is, if the two hands are used efficiently, they will more than feed themselves. Attempts to reduce the birth rate by propaganda and making contraceptives readily available, ignore the structural causes of high fertility and so are not likely to succeed in reducing the birth rate. Our data suggest that only when the structural causes of high fertility—the poverty and economic insecurity associated with capitalism—are removed is the birth rate likely to fall significantly.     

Idealtypen und das Ziel der Soziologie

Michael Schmid’s criticism of Max Weber’s methodology is both the background and touchstone for a rational reconstruction of Webers doctrine of the idealtypes. In my view, idealtypes are non-falsifiable, idealised theoretical models of a non-statement type of view. This recent approach in the philosophy of science distinguishes between theoretical models on the one hand and theoretical hypotheses on the other. I argue that only the application of these models attains the character of hypotheses. In Weber we find a three step conception of explanation, which encompasses social rules and idealtypes on both the micro and the macro level. The ultimate aim of Weber’s sociology is a macro-socially induced formulation of social species (Arten). They allow a categorisation of the social rules, which are explained through types of action and by means of idealtypes on the macro-level, which serve the function of a theoretical unification. For Weber, macrophenomena allow for a species-realistic interpretation. This realism of social species states an ontological order of empirical reality. Objective truth then means the correct registration of the taxonomical order of social reality and the classification of historical phenomena in this taxonomical order. Weber is an ontological individualist, but, contrary to dominant opinion, a methodological holist.     

Consumer beliefs and health plan performance: it's not whether you are in an HMO but whether you think you are

Surveys that rate how persons enrolled in HMOs and other types of health coverage feel about their health care are used to bolster claims that HMOs provide inferior quality care, providing justification for patient protection legislation. This research illustrates that the conventional wisdom regarding inferior care in HMOs may color how people assess their health care in surveys, resulting in survey findings biased toward showing HMOs provide inferior care and reinforcing existing stereotypes. Using merged data from the Community Tracking Study Household and Insurance Followback surveys, we identify privately insured persons who correctly and incorrectly know what kind of health plan they are covered by. Nearly a quarter misidentified their type of health coverage. Differences between responses by HMO and non-HMO enrollees to questions covering satisfaction with health care and physician choice, the quality of the last physician's visit, and patient trust in their physician shrink or disappear when we control for beliefs about what type of plan they are covered by. Results suggest that researchers and policy makers should be cautious about using consumer surveys to assess the relative quality of care provided under different types of health insurance.