Vol. 5, No.2, June 2021
Editor-in-chief: Prof. Johannes Platje
Co-Editor: Prof Ali Emrouznejad, Aston University, United Kingdom
Vol. 5, No. 2, 7-53, June 2021
A political economy of reorientation. New theory and policy for the recovery
Author: Henk K. VAN TUINEN
Former deputy director-general of Statistics, Netherlands
Aim: The article aims at developing an economic theory of reorientation. As Western subjects are disoriented by long-time systematic commercial manipulation of their preferences, the theory focuses on new concepts of endogenous preferences and on the process of preference manipulation and its direct and indirect effects on the culture of Western societies. Applying this theory in a historical analysis leads to three radically democratic policy proposals for initiating and accelerating a process of reorientation.
Design/ Research methods: Critical analysis of professional publications within and outside the field of economics. Development of new concepts, analysis of (recent) historical developments and design of new policy instruments.
Conclusions/ findings: In order to achieve an economic concept of reorientation, three concepts of preferences are defined. First conclusion: without removing the commercial bias in preference manipulation no real reorientation is plausible. Therefore, the first policy proposal (The Sovereignty Fund) is a necessary condition for reorientation. It gives citizens a positive voice in determining the cultural development of their societies The other proposals (House of Citizens; Big Data Claim) are fundamentally democratic instruments needed for facilitating the reorientation process. All three proposals can be implemented without removing or seriously disrupting existing institutions.
Originality/ value of the article: Original analysis of a new subject (reorientation) presenting concrete policy proposals, two of them being totally original, addressing topical issues. One of its limitations is its focus on Western democratic societies. The idea of “reorientation” may be interesting to anyone who is shocked by the pandemic or concerned in the state of our societies, our democracies or our climate.
Keywords: endogenous preferences; manipulation; consumer sovereignty; advertising; big data; countervailing power; democracy; surveillance capitalism; neoliberalism
JEL: A13, D10, D70, M30, M37, P16
Vol. 5, No. 2, 55-84, June 2021
Correcting inequality of personal incomes before income taxes and transfers: theoretical underpinnings and competition policy options
Author: Friedrich L. SELL
Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany
Aim: The purpose of this paper is to bring together theory and policy of (personal) income distribution on the one hand and competition policy on the other hand.
Design / research: The methods used in this paper cover a brief model set-up, followed by a numerical model-calibration. Thereafter, we present a model simulation and proceed to a Gini decomposition. Herewith, we are able to demonstrate how market imperfections translate into a higher concentration of personal incomes.
Conclusions / findings: Our major finding is that only a rigorous competition policy is qualified to not only correct for market imperfections, but also to fight a greater inequality of personal incomes ex-ante.
Originality / value of the article: This contribution provides – to our knowledge for the first time – a simultaneous explanation for stagnating, if not falling real wages and a deteriorating development of inequality of personal incomes, as measured by the Gini coefficient ex-ante. The US economy is a case study for this double observation, but many more developed economies may follow in the foreseeable future.
Limitations of the research: The implication of the research is that long before government intervenes income distribution via taxes and transfers, competition policy should correct for market imperfections and thereby reduce the inequality of personal incomes. Unfortunately, to this point, we observe a lack of meaningful macroeconomic indicators for market imperfections and hence the possibility to conduct broad econometric studies in this area of investigation.
Keywords: Market imperfections, superstar economy, Gini coefficient, competition policy.
JEL: D31, D33, D42, D43, J31, L44
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.29015/cerem.919
Vol. 5, No. 2, 85-118, June 2021
Integrating general and local context-dependent factors into a framework for analysing business sectors in Bottom-of-the-Pyramid emerging markets
Authors: Maaike Maren BROEKSMA, Bart Jan Willem (Bartjan) PENNINK
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Aim: This paper investigates how a framework for analysing business sectors in emerging markets looks like when taking into account the local context-dependent and general factors of The Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BoP). The BoP segment in emerging markets represents a major growth potential for firms, including multinational enterprises (MNEs) from developed countries. However, the continued lack of success of MNEs in these markets has shown that generic one-size-fits-all strategies for the BoP are not appropriate as BoP contexts differ between countries.
Design / Research methods: The sample that was selected for the research includes two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) related to the BoP and eight managers at MNEs with activities in the BoP, which have been interviewed in a semi-structured manner to collect rich data. Also, an additional analysis, BoP-orientation, and further extensions to the original analyses are being presented.
Conclusion / findings: The study results in an advanced framework for analysing business sectors in emerging markets.
Originality / value of the article: Current frameworks for analysing business sectors in emerging markets do take into account inter-country differences but fail to recognize intra-country differences, which causes them to fall short on their applicability to the BoP. This paper fills the gap how frameworks for analysing business sectors in emerging markets can be made applicable for the BoP by taking into account both the local context-dependent and general factors of a BoP-market to analyse it for opportunities, threats, and eventually and strategic entry mode.
Keywords: Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BoP), multinational enterprises (MNEs), emerging markets, market entry, business sector analysis, context dependency.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.29015/cerem.913
Vol. 5, No. 2, 121-134, June 2021
Advances in Big Data Applications for transportation: airline, highway, and railway
Authors: Babak Daneshvar ROUYENDEGH
Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Turkey
Sultan Qaboos University, OmanEmine Nur NACAR
Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Turkey
Aim: The purpose of this article is to present the latest advances in big data applications in the industries of the transportation sector such as airline, highway, and railway. It is difficult to analyze data in transportation because there is continuous real-time data flow. Since the improvements made are fast with the same logic, it is necessary to catch up with the new developments. Data should be analyzed with the big data concept because data stacks highly contain non-structural data types in transportation data. Although the mentioned industries are complementary to each other, the applications differ depending on the needs of the industry. Thus, solutions to specific problems in different industries using big data applications should be addressed.
Design / Research methods: In accordance with the purpose of the study, big data studies that provide added value to the transportation sector were examined. Studies have been filtered through some criteria which are whether the application is adaptable to the industry, the study is available online in full-text, and its references are from respectable sources.
Conclusions / findings: All the big data application studies in the academy are not adaptable in real-life problems or suitable for all situations. For this reason, trying all of the applications will lead to moral and material losses for firms. This study is a guideline for companies to follow the developments in the big data concept and to choose the one that suits their problems. Thus, the gap between academia and industry was tried to close.
Originality / value of the article: Although studies are referring to big data applications in the transportation sector, this study differs from others in terms of specifically analyzing big data applications in different industries such as airline, highway, and railway in the transportation sector
Keywords: Big data, transportation, airline, highway, railway
JEL: C55, L9, L92, L93
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.29015/cerem.882
