Stavros Drakopoulos | National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (original) (raw)

Papers by Stavros Drakopoulos

Review of Political Economy, 2023

This work presents and discusses chapter two of Marc Lavoie’s book Post-Keynesian Economics: New ... more This work presents and discusses chapter two of Marc Lavoie’s book Post-Keynesian Economics: New Foundations. It begins by analysing the concepts of uncertainty and rationality which are extremely important for the post Keynesian approach, and for economic theorizing in general. The notions of fundamental uncertainty and the closely related concept of procedural rationality, are employed in order to build the foundations of a theory of household choice. It proceeds by investigating the repercussions of the theory in a lexicographic/hierarchical analytical framework. In this framework, groups consume different goods depending on their respective needs, income effects are more important than substitution effects, and price competition has a secondary role. It is also shown that Lavoie’s approach does not only draw from the work of Keynes and other major post-Keynesian theorists, but also utilizes contributions from other strands of heterodox economics, thus providing an agenda for a possible theoretical synthesis.

Journal of Business Ethics, 2024

The issue of interpersonal comparisons of utility is about the possibility (or not) of comparing ... more The issue of interpersonal comparisons of utility is about the possibility (or not) of comparing the utility or welfare or the mental states in general, of different individuals. Embedded in the conceptual framework of utilitarianism, interpersonal comparisons were admissible in economics as part of the theoretical justification of welfare policies until the first decades of the twentieth century. Under the strong influence of the scientific philosophy of positivism as reflected in the works of early neoclassical economists and as epitomized by Lionel Robbins, utility comparisons were subsequently rejected as a value judgement. Robbins' methodological stance is still prevalent among mainstream economists. Despite the explicit rejection of comparability by the majority of economists, interpersonal comparisons are necessary for many key policy issues, such as progressive taxation, social welfare policies, GDP-based welfare comparisons, cost-benefit analysis, and public goods provision. In this paper, the case of interpersonal utility comparisons is discussed as an illustrative example of the usefulness of the study of the role of value judgements, and generally of the interrelationship between ethics and economics. It is argued that the current tension between theory and policy practice might be resolved through the efforts of prominent economists and philosophers to challenge positivism, and especially its problematic treatment of value judgements and of ethical assumptions in general. The discussion also provides more strength to the view that policy makers and their economic advisers cannot avoid ethical questions in their analysis of the workings of the economic system.

Review of Political Economy, 2025

Τhe idea that social influences and social interactions play a central role in individual economi... more Τhe idea that social influences and social interactions play a central role in individual economic decisions has had a long presence in the history of economics. With the emergence of marginalism, this idea retreated into the background and the concept of the atomistic individual became established in mainstream economic rationality. Starting in the 1970s, there were some attempts to reintroduce non-atomistic preferences in mainstream microeconomic theory in the form of social interactions, interdependent preferences, keeping up with the Joneses, social identity, social preferences, and status concerns. Social preferences have a growing impact among mainstream microeconomics with the advent of behavioral economics, but still they are not in the hard core of the standard theory of choice. The article argues that atomistic preferences are still prevalent, especially in the form of the assumption of the representative agent. It also focuses on the role of methodological individualism and on the theoretical implications of relaxing the assumption of the atomistic individual as the main explanations for the resilience of the notion.

Research in Economics, 1998

Several explanations are proposed for the observed domination of wages in the wage-fringe benefit... more Several explanations are proposed for the observed domination of wages in the wage-fringe benefit mix. Domination occurs if fringe benefits are taxed at a higher level or marginal rate, or if trading fringe benefits incurs transaction costs. A central result shows wage domination, even in the absence of these effects, due to intertemporal effects of durable fringe benefits, which can be consumed in periods of disagreement. This enables workers to extract a higher bargaining surplus, and leads the firm to resist fringe benefit payments. Finally, the paper gives a novel reason for tenure effects in both wages and fringe benefits.

International Journal of Wellbeing, 2017

One of the main economic outcomes of the recent Great Recession has been the decrease of labor ea... more One of the main economic outcomes of the recent Great Recession has been the decrease of labor earnings in many countries. The relevant literature indicates that earnings and other socioeconomic predictors can influence levels of happiness. This paper tests the effect of pay cuts on happiness levels based on the psychological model of hierarchical needs. The basic idea of hierarchy is that the most important needs must be satisfied first before the secondary needs come into the picture. In a happiness research framework, this implies that for higher income levels, the effect of pay cuts on reported happiness levels becomes much weaker, given that the satisfaction of non-basic needs becomes important. The data used in this paper was drawn from the 5th European Survey on Working Conditions, which focuses on European countries. Two different disaggregation methods were performed, based on absolute nominal income threshold and relative income threshold, respectively. The methods for analyzing the data are the ordinary leastsquares (OLS) regression model, and the Wald chi-square test. The pay cuts are a stronger predictor of happiness for low/middle income individuals than for high income individuals when it comes to disaggregation based on absolute threshold. The regression coefficients of pay cuts for the low/middle income group were not significantly different from those for the high income group regarding disaggregation based on relative threshold. The results seem to depend on the disaggregation method, implying the need for further research and discussion.

International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 2012

PurposeThe subject of occupational safety and health (OSH) is increasingly gaining the interest o... more PurposeThe subject of occupational safety and health (OSH) is increasingly gaining the interest of policy makers and researchers in European countries given that the economic and social losses from work‐related injuries and diseases are quite substantial. Under this light, this paper aims to present an overview of the Greek legislation framework regarding OSH issues, and the current status of empirical research on the subject in Greece. In addition, the paper seeks to identify the knowledge gaps and methodological shortcomings of the existing literature in order to contribute towards future research in the OSH field in Greece.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted an extensive literature review of numerous publications, reports and institutions' databases.FindingsThe results suggest that empirical up to date research in Greece is rather inadequate, mainly because of the absence of econometric methods to validate the findings. The available Greek databases indicate that...

Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 1994

Berlin 2011 The research project was funded by the European Commission. The responsibility for th... more Berlin 2011 The research project was funded by the European Commission. The responsibility for this publication lies with the authors. The Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors; they do not represent the Commission's official position.

Journal of Economic Methodology, 2015

Review of Political Economy, 2011

Phillip Wicksteed's ideas played an important role in the history of economic methodology, fi... more Phillip Wicksteed's ideas played an important role in the history of economic methodology, first, because his views represent the starting point of the deliberate attempt to expel hedonism from marginalist economic analysis, and secondly because his ideas influenced his prominent disciple Lionel Robbins. The current mainstream view of an allegedly value-free economic science can be traced to Robbins. The paper examines Wicksteed's conception of economic science and the role of hedonism. His views on the nature and the role of economic man, and his analysis of egoism and of altruistic behaviour are also discussed. The paper assesses Wicksteed's influence, via Robbins, on the formation of mainstream methodological views.

European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 2011

Theories of social comparison have a long presence in the social sciences and have provided many ... more Theories of social comparison have a long presence in the social sciences and have provided many useful insights. In economics, the idea of comparison, aspiration or relative income belongs to this theoretical framework. The first systematic usages of this notion can be found in the works of Keynes and Duesenberry. After these works the concept was relatively ignored by orthodox theorists until its recent re-appearance, mainly in the fields of labour and macroeconomics. To the contrary, however, income comparisons continued to play a role in much of Keynesian inspired and non-mainstream economics literature. In the past few years it has made a strong comeback in the literature of job satisfaction and of the economics of happiness. This paper attempts to trace the development of the concept in the modern history of economic thought. It also discusses the main theoretical implications of adopting income comparisons and possible reasons for its relative disregard by orthodox economics.

Journal of Economic Surveys, 1994

The paper examines the relevance for economic issues of choice which is not characterized by unli... more The paper examines the relevance for economic issues of choice which is not characterized by unlimited substitutability. After showing that hierarchical choice is common in other social sciences like psychology, the paper proceeds with an examination of such choice and of its different categories. Subsequently the implications for hierarchical choice for specific economic issues are analysed. In particular, there is discussion and literature review of demand theory, Engel curves, the theory of the firm and social choice theory. Finally, some suggestions for the application to other economic problems are considered.

Journal of the History of Economic …, 1997

The vast majority of pre-Classical and of many Classical economists thought that it was natural t... more The vast majority of pre-Classical and of many Classical economists thought that it was natural to incorporate value judgments and norms in their economic reasoning. However, there was a gradual dominance of the idea of a neutral or value-free economic science which gained momentum with the second Marginalist generation. More specifically, clear signs of this tendency can be found in the works of Sidgwick, Pareto and Fisher. The paper examines the process of this change and provides possible justifications. In particular, the work discusses this trend with reference to the growing influence of classical physics, and positivist philosophies of science. Consequently, the paper shows that there was a gradual broadening of the meaning of the term “value judgments” to include mental states and motivations. These developments are essential in the understanding of the formation of the standard economic theory and especially of microeconomic theory.

The main purpose of this project has been to construct an international database, especially for ... more The main purpose of this project has been to construct an international database, especially for Europe, involving factors that relate to economic restructuring and job downsizing that have implications for health. Relevant data from the WHO, EUROSTAT, OECD, FAO, ILO, ...

Acta Oeconomica, 2007

The starting point of this paper is the idea that trade unions and individual workers pay attenti... more The starting point of this paper is the idea that trade unions and individual workers pay attention to wage settlements in similar sectors of the economy. The foundations of the concept of comparison wage can be found in other social sciences and also in the literature of psychological economics. Despite the fact, however, that comparison — or reference — wage enters the decision making of the union (i.e. the union utility function), the concept has not received much attention in connection with union decision making. In this paper, a union utility function is employed incorporating the concept of comparison wage. The analysis is conducted in a bargaining framework and the results show the effects on the optimal wage of important variables like comparison wage, unemployment benefit, union power and of the weight that the union places on the comparison wage.

History of Economics Review,, 2004

The aim of this paper is to offer certain insights into the process of declining of scholastic ec... more The aim of this paper is to offer certain insights into the process of declining of scholastic economics in late medieval and early modern European intellectual circles. In this attempt, the paper adopts the metatheoretical framework of Laudan’s philosophy of science and introduces the concept of scientific research tradition in pre-classical economic thought. It then considers the features of scholastic research tradition, specifies its empirical and conceptual problems and indicates a general scenario of assessing its performance over time. Of primary importance, in this respect, becomes the issue of evaluating the external and internal factors of disintegrating of the scholastic tradition, whose constraints reflect its incorporation into a broader ethical analysis and necessitate its transformation into a more secular approach to economic phenomena.

Theories of social comparison have a long presence in the social sciences and have provided many ... more Theories of social comparison have a long presence in the social sciences and have provided many useful insights. In economics, the idea of comparison, aspiration or relative income belongs to this theoretical framework. The first systematic usages of this idea can be found in the works of Keynes and Duesenberry. After these works the concept was relatively ignored by orthodox theorists until its recent re-appearance mainly in the fields of labour and macroeconomics. To the contrary, however, income comparisons continued to play a role in much of Keynesian inspired and Behavioural economics literature. In the last few years it has made a strong comeback in the literature of job satisfaction and of the economics of happiness. This paper attempts to trace the development of the concept in the modern history of economic thought. It also discusses the main theoretical implications of adopting income comparisons and possible reasons for its relative disregard by orthodox economics.

Abraham Maslow's theory of hierarchical needs has been employed by a large variety of conceptual ... more Abraham Maslow's theory of hierarchical needs has been employed by a large variety of conceptual frameworks. The theory can also offer additional insights to the research field which investigates the relationship between income and reported happiness levels. The incorporation of needs hierarchy into a happiness framework implies that individuals have a priority approach to happiness. This means that the most important needs must be satisfied first before the secondary needs come into the picture. In terms of income-happiness relationship, it suggests that income is very important for happiness up to a certain level of income. For higher income levels this effect becomes much weaker, given that the satisfaction of non-basic needs becomes important. The chapter tests this idea by using the European Foundation European Quality of Life Survey 2007 which contains data from 30 European countries and Turkey. In the proposed model, reported happiness is placed as a dependent variable and income level as an independent variable. The ordered probit model (with robust standard errors) is the main statistical tool of the work. The empirical results indicate that there is a strong positive relationship between income and happiness for low income households group, and a non-significant relationship between income and happiness for high income households group. This result supports the presence of hierarchical behaviour. The model also contains personal variables such as gender, age, marital status, educational level, number of children, working hours per week, country dummy variables and employment status. The relationship of these variables to reported happiness levels is also examined. Finally, there is a comparison of the empirical findings to results in the relevant literature.

Review of Political Economy, 2023

Journal of Business Ethics, 2024

Review of Political Economy, 2025

Research in Economics, 1998

International Journal of Wellbeing, 2017

International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 2012

Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 1994

Journal of Economic Methodology, 2015

Review of Political Economy, 2011

European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 2011

Journal of Economic Surveys, 1994

Journal of the History of Economic …, 1997

Acta Oeconomica, 2007

History of Economics Review,, 2004

Theories of social comparison have a long presence in the social sciences and have provided many ... more Theories of social comparison have a long presence in the social sciences and have provided many useful insights. In economics, the idea of comparison, aspiration or relative income belongs to this theoretical framework. The first systematic usages of this idea can be found in the works of Keynes and Duesenberry. After these works the concept was relatively ignored by orthodox theorists until its recent re-appearance mainly in the fields of labour and macroeconomics. To the contrary, however, income comparisons continued to play a role in much of Keynesian inspired and Behavioural economics literature. In the last few years it has made a strong comeback in the literature of job satisfaction and of the economics of happiness. This paper attempts to trace the development of the concept in the modern history of economic thought. It also discusses the main theoretical implications of adopting income comparisons and possible reasons for its relative disregard by orthodox economics.

Encyclopedia of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Spirituality, 2024

This short paper is the entry on Encyclopedia of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Spirituality (e... more This short paper is the entry on Encyclopedia of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Spirituality (edited by Marques, J.). Springer, Cham, 2024. The entry describes the role, function, and nature of labor unions and their leadership from a non-orthodox perspective. It shows that since the end of the 19th century, a division between orthodox and non-orthodox approaches toward the study of labor unions can be discerned. The orthodox framework was formed in the late 19th century with the gradual establishment of Marginalism, and it consolidated itself with the dominance of early neoclassical economics. Orthodox economic theory did not devote much attention to the economic analysis of unions. On the contrary and during the same period, non-orthodox economists such as Sidney and Beatrice Webb and early institutionalists, had paid considerable attention to the study of unions, perceiving them as politico-economic organizations and emphasizing their wider role as social institutions. The legacy of those two approaches continued in the 20th century and contemporary analyses of labor unions. The orthodox approach (originating mainly from the work of John Dunlop), generally conceives unions as purely economic units, analogous to firms, which can be studied by applying the standard tools of microeconomic theory. In this framework, the notion of union leadership plays a minimum role. In contrast, the non-orthodox viewpoint (originating mainly from Arthur Ross' works), embraces a holistic, institutional-political-based attitude to the study of labor unionism.

Routledge, 2024

The old issue of the relationship between economics and psychology has a long and quite complicat... more The old issue of the relationship between economics and psychology has a long and quite complicated history. Even today, the relationship between the two disciplines can be described as rather uneasy and the corresponding debate is far from settled. The proliferation of the literature examining the history of the relationship between economics and psychology in the past two decades is a clear indication of the importance of the topic (e.g., Sent 2004; Bruni and Sugden 2007; Hands 2010; Goodwin 2016). As a possible contribution to this research area, the book attempts to offer additional insights from the history of economic thought and from developments in economic methodology. An investigation of the views concerning psychological ideas and their methodological justification in the history of economic thought might assist to the further understanding of the intricate issue of the interaction between the two disciplines.

Economic Methodology, History and Pluralism, I. Negru and P. Hawkins, London: Routledge Publishers, 2023

Since the emergence of the classical school, the scientific ideal of physical sciences has been a... more Since the emergence of the classical school, the scientific ideal of physical sciences has been a constant influence on economic theory and method. Its influence is still present in contemporary neoclassical economics. Similarly to the case of physics, classical economists were very open in incorporating psychological elements in the economic discourse. This openness towards psychology continued with prominent Marginalist economists, like Jevons and Edgeworth, who were eager to draw from psychological ideas found in earlier authors. In the first decades of the 20th century, a major conceptual change in economics took place which is also known as the Paretian turn. This conceptual change, initiated mainly by Vilfredo Pareto, and completed, in the first decades of the 20th century, by J. Hicks, R. Allen and P. Samuelson, attempted to remove all psychological notions from economic theory. The legacy of the Paretian turn can still be identified in the significant reluctance of the contemporary orthodox economic theory to incorporate the findings of the new behavioral economics, a field with a discernable psychological bent. This chapter argues that the history of the relation of those two subjects to economics can lead to some potentially useful observations concerning the nature of contemporary neoclassical economics. It will also be maintained that the relationship of neoclassical economics to physics ultimately constrained its interaction with psychology.

Εκδόσεις Παπαζήση, 2023

ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ Β’ ΕΚΔΟΣΗΣ Πρωταρχικός στόχος αυτού του βιβλίου είναι η παρουσίαση βασικών θεμάτων της Ο... more ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ Β’ ΕΚΔΟΣΗΣ
Πρωταρχικός στόχος αυτού του βιβλίου είναι η παρουσίαση βασικών θεμάτων της Οικονομικής Επιστήμης με όσο το δυνατόν απλό αλλά ακριβή και επιστημονικό τρόπο. Το βιβλίο είναι γραμμένο σε εισαγωγικό επίπεδο και είναι προϊόν εμπειρίας πολλών ετών διδασκαλίας σε προπτυχιακούς φοιτητές που δεν είχαν διδαχθεί οικονομικά σε αυτό το επίπεδο. Τα πρώτα επτά κεφάλαια του βιβλίου (κεφάλαιο ένα μέχρι και κεφάλαιο επτά), εξετάζουν θεμελιώδη ζητήματα Μικροοικονομικής και τα επόμενα έξι κεφάλαια εξετάζουν θεμελιώδη ζητήματα Μακροοικονομικής (κεφάλαιο 8 μέχρι και κεφάλαιο 13). Σε κάθε κεφάλαιο περιγράφονται οι μαθησιακοί στόχοι και παρουσιάζονται οι έννοιες κλειδιά. Το επίπεδο ανάλυσης δεν προϋποθέτει γνώσεις οικονομικών, αλλά εισάγει τον οικονομικό τρόπο σκέψης με χρήση συγκεκριμένων παραδειγμάτων και διαγραμμάτων τα οποία διευκολύνουν τη κατανόηση των οικονομικών φαινομένων. Η δε μαθηματική ανάλυση περιορίζεται εκεί όπου είναι απολύτως αναγκαία. Σε αρκετές περιπτώσεις υπάρχουν αριθμητικά παραδείγματα-ασκήσεις που δείχνουν το τρόπο εφαρμογής των θεωρητικών εννοιών. Με τα δεδομένα αυτά, το βιβλίο δεν προορίζεται μόνο για φοιτητές οικονομικών σχολών, αλλά και για φοιτητές άλλων συγγενών ή λιγότερο συγγενών πεδίων όπου τα εισαγωγικά οικονομικά θεωρούνται χρήσιμες γνώσεις. Προφανώς, μπορεί να χρησιμεύσει και σε κάθε ενδιαφερόμενο αναγνώστη που επιθυμεί να κατανοήσει βασικές οικονομικές έννοιες και επίκαιρες οικονομικές συζητήσεις.

Routledge, 2023

This book discusses key issues in economic policy in the context of the history of economic thoug... more This book discusses key issues in economic policy in the context of the history of economic thought.

Most of the current and past academic controversies in economics are, explicitly or implicitly, centred around the application and form of economic policy. This is particularly evident in the post-WWII period, with the appearance of economic policy as a distinguishable subfield, but important elements of various economic policy issues can be found throughout the history of economic thought. This book discusses various topics in economic policy – such as questions over state spending and taxation, income redistribution, and the role of money – with each chapter focusing on a particular period or major school of economic thought ranging from the ‘prehistory’ of economics up to the present day. Specific chapters of the volume cover the main schools of economic thought from different national and theoretical traditions, incorporating mercantilism, the Physiocratic School, the German Historical School, Marxism, the Austrian School, institutional economics, Keynesian economics, behavioural economics and more.

This book will be of great interest to readers of the history of economic policy as well as the history of economic thought, macroeconomics and economic history more broadly.

An Introduction to Macroeconomics A Heterodox Approach to Economic Analysis. Chentelham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021

In Keynes' consumption theory absolute income is the major determinant of consumption, and the ma... more In Keynes' consumption theory absolute income is the major determinant of consumption, and the marginal propensity to consume determines the magnitudes of fiscal multipliers. Keynes employed a largely psychological analysis of consumption, rejecting the model of utility maximizing consumer. J. Duesenberry extended and improved Keynes' approach by also emphasizing the role of psychological and social factors on consumption decisions (the relative income hypothesis). Similar conclusions regarding the role of income on consumption, and therefore support for Keynesian policies, are reached by Duesenberry's analysis. The life-cycle hypothesis by Modigliani and Brumberg (1954), and the permanent income hypothesis by Friedman (1957), emerged as the two main alternatives to Keynes' and Duesenberry's approaches. Modern orthodox consumption theories are extensions of these two theories in a rational expectations framework. By employing the concept of forward looking, optimizing agents, current or relative income plays a minimal role in the life-cycle and permanent income hypotheses, and an even lesser role in contemporary orthodox consumption theories. Consequently, fiscal policy has a negligible effect on output and employment. The paper argues that Keynes and Duesenberry's approaches were marginalized not because of their empirical or theoretical shortcomings, but because of emphasizing the psychological and social influences on consumption patterns, and because of not employing the intertemporal utility maximizing framework. The clear implication of the discussion is that the marginalization of absolute and relative income hypotheses was due to the dominance of a specific methodological framework that did not favour such approaches.

Εκδόσεις Παπαζήση, 2018

Ο πρωταρχικός σκοπός αυτού του εγχειρίδιου είναι η παρουσίαση βασικών θεμάτων της οικονομικής επι... more Ο πρωταρχικός σκοπός αυτού του εγχειρίδιου είναι η παρουσίαση βασικών θεμάτων της οικονομικής επιστήμης με όσο το δυνατόν απλό αλλά ακριβή και επιστημονικό τρόπο. Το βιβλίο είναι γραμμένο σε εισαγωγικό επίπεδο και είναι προϊόν εμπειρίας πολλών ετών διδασκαλίας σε φοιτητές και φοιτήτριες που δεν είχαν διδαχθεί οικονομικά σε πανεπιστημιακό επίπεδο. Μπορεί δε, να διαχωριστεί σε δύο μεγάλες θεματικές ενότητες: Μικροοικονομική και Μακροοικονομική. Τα πρώτα έξι κεφάλαια (κεφάλαιο ένα μέχρι και κεφάλαιο έξι), εξετάζουν ζητήματα Μικροοικονομικής και τα επόμενα πέντε κεφάλαια εξετάζουν ζητήματα Μακροοικονομικής (κεφάλαιο επτά μέχρι και κεφάλαιο έντεκα).
Η παρουσίαση ακολουθεί το καθιερωμένο πρότυπο πολλών ελληνικών και ξένων εισαγωγικών εγχειριδίων. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο αναλύονται οι βασικές έννοιες και τα μεθοδολογικά ζητήματα της οικονομικής. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζεται το οικονομικό πλαίσιο της αγοράς, δηλαδή οι έννοιες της προσφοράς και της ζήτησης χωρίς όμως την απαραίτητη θεωρητική θεμελίωση. Τα κεφάλαια τρία και τέσσερα επικεντρώνονται ακριβώς στη θεωρητική θεμελίωση της έννοιας της ζήτησης (μέσω της θεωρίας καταναλωτή), και της έννοιας της προσφοράς (μέσω της θεωρίας παραγωγής), αντίστοιχα. Το κεφάλαιο πέντε εστιάζει στη λειτουργία της ανταγωνιστικής αγοράς. Το μικροοικονομικό μέρος του βιβλίου κλίνει με την παρουσίαση των μη-ανταγωνιστικών μορφών αγοράς, δηλαδή του καθαρού μονοπωλίου, του μονοπωλιακού ανταγωνισμού και του ολιγοπωλίου. Το κεφάλαιο επτά είναι ουσιαστικά μία εισαγωγή στις βασικές μακροοικονομικές έννοιες και μεγέθη. Τα επόμενα δύο κεφάλαια (οκτώ και εννέα) αναπτύσσουν το απλό υπόδειγμα προσδιορισμού του εθνικού εισοδήματος. Η παρουσίαση αρχίζει με το απλό υπόδειγμα κλειστής οικονομίας χωρίς δημόσιο τομέα, και σταδιακά τελειώνει με την ανοικτή οικονομία με δημόσιο τομέα. Το κεφάλαιο δέκα ασχολείται με τις βασικές λειτουργίες του χρήματος, του τραπεζικού τομέα και την αγορά χρήματος. Τέλος, το κεφάλαιο έντεκα συνθέτει τα δύο προηγούμενα κεφάλαια και εστιάζει στη συνολική ζήτηση, συνολική προσφορά και τις βασικές αρχές της οικονομικής πολιτικής. Σε κάθε κεφάλαιο περιγράφονται οι μαθησιακοί στόχοι και οι έννοιες κλειδιά.
Το παρόν βιβλίο δεν επιχειρεί την εκτενή και λεπτομερή εξέταση που συναντάμε σε εξειδικευμένα βιβλία μικροοικονομικής και μακροοικονομικής ανάλυσης. Ο στόχος του είναι μία συνολική εισαγωγή στις βασικές αρχές της οικονομικής θεωρίας, και για το λόγο αυτό είναι ένα ενιαίο σύγγραμμα. Η παρουσίαση των κύριων μικροοικονομικών και μακροοικονομικών θεματικών ενοτήτων σε ένα τόμο είναι στο πνεύμα αυτής της προσέγγισης. Το επίπεδο της συζήτησης δεν προϋποθέτει γνώσεις οικονομικών, αλλά εισάγει τον οικονομικό τρόπο σκέψης με χρήση συγκεκριμένων παραδειγμάτων και διαγραμμάτων τα οποία νομίζω ότι διευκολύνουν τη κατανόηση των οικονομικών φαινομένων. Η δε μαθηματική ανάλυση περιορίζεται εκεί όπου είναι απολύτως αναγκαία. Με τα δεδομένα αυτά, το βιβλίο δεν προορίζεται μόνο για φοιτητές οικονομικών σχολών, αλλά και για φοιτητές άλλων συγγενών ή λιγότερο συγγενών στα οικονομικά επιστημονικών πεδίων όπου τα εισαγωγικά οικονομικά θεωρούνται χρήσιμες γνώσεις. Προφανώς, μπορεί να χρησιμεύσει και σε κάθε ενδιαφερόμενο αναγνώστη που επιθυμεί να κατανοήσει βασικές οικονομικές έννοιες και επίκαιρες οικονομικές συζητήσεις.
Επιθυμώ να ευχαριστήσω όλους τους συναδέλφους μου που έμμεσα βοήθησαν στη συγγραφή αυτού του βιβλίου, αλλά και τους πολυάριθμους φοιτητές και φοιτήτριες στην Ελλάδα και στη Μ. Βρετανία που με τις ερωτήσεις και παρατηρήσεις τους, με βοήθησαν να κατανοήσω καλύτερα την παιδαγωγική θεώρηση της οικονομικής που ελπίζω να είναι και το βασικό συστατικό του βιβλίου.

Routledge Publishers, London, 2016

The idea of comparing rewards with others has a long and persistent presence in the social scienc... more The idea of comparing rewards with others has a long and persistent presence in the social sciences, and can be found in many psychological, social and managerial theories. In economics, this idea can be traced back through the works of a substantial number of eminent thinkers, from Genovesi and Hume, to Smith, Ricardo, Marx, and Mill, through to Veblen, Pigou, and Keynes.

In the last two decades the notion of social comparisons has started to appear more frequently in economic literature, especially in the subfield of happiness research. There are also signs that the notion has resurfaced in some strands of literature such as positional concerns, social identity models and social capital theory. Comparisons in Economic Thought offers a uniquely comprehensive account of how social comparisons have featured in the history of economic thought. This book provides an assessment as to why social comparisons have been dismissed by mainstream economists and considers their current and future usefulness.

This volume is suitable for those who are interested and study history of economic thought, economic methodology and History of Consumer Theory, as well as Rational Choice Theory.

This text consists of two parts. In the first part, there is a presentation of the basic elements... more This text consists of two parts. In the first part, there is a presentation of the basic elements of the methodology of social sciences, whereas the second part focuses on the methodology of economics. After an introductory section outlining the nature and the purpose of the text, chapter one discusses the basic characteristics and methodological foundations of scientific discourse. There is also a very brief historical review of the history of science starting from ancient times. Chapter two discusses the development of social sciences methodology, commencing from the main methodological currents of the 17th century and finishing with the main trends of the first decades of the 20th century. The following chapter examines the influence of positivism and logical positivism on the formation of social sciences methodology. Chapter four focuses on the main methodological currents observed in the social sciences such as: deductivism, dialectical method, and operationalism. The next two chapters investigate the issue of the value-free science and also the modern methodological approaches of Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Imre Lakatos and Paul Fyerabend. Part two begins with chapter seven which discusses the methodological development of economics starting from classical political economy and finishing with the neoclassical model of Homo Economicus. The following chapter provides an analysis of the main tendencies in economic methodology such as: Paul Samuelson’s operationalism, Milton Friedman’s positivism, and economics imperialism. Chapter nine concentrates on the heterodox methodologies such as those of neo-institutionalists, Post Keynesians and the methodological views of Deirdre McCloskey and Tony Lawson. The last chapter discusses the current methodological approaches of Popper, Kuhn and Laudan. There is also a concluding section summarizing the main arguments of the text.

Kritiki Publishers, Jan 2003

H Ιστορία της Οικονομικής Σκέψης είναι ένας ευρύς κλάδος της Οικονομικής Επιστήμης που αρχίζει απ... more H Ιστορία της Οικονομικής Σκέψης είναι ένας ευρύς κλάδος της Οικονομικής Επιστήμης που αρχίζει από τους αρχαίους χρόνους και τελειώνει στο πρόσφατο παρελθόν. Είναι ένας κλάδος που συνεχώς διευρύνεται, αφού τα οικονομικά φαινόμενα και θέματα προσεγγίζονται από νέες πλευρές που σχετίζονται με τα σημερινά οικονομικά ενδιαφέροντα και προβλήματα.
Η συνεχής αυτή διεύρυνσή του εμπλουτίζει τις γνώσεις των σπουδαστών των Οικονομικών και τις κάνει πιο δημιουργικές και παραγωγικές, αυξάνει όμως το κόστος ευκαιρίας τους. Επειδή κατά γενική ομολογία δεν νοείται επιστημονικός τομέας χωρίς την Ιστορία του και επειδή κατά γενική εκτίμηση οι γνώσεις που προσφέρει αυτή είναι πολύτιμες, το βιβλίο αυτό αποτελεί μια επισκόπηση των σπουδαιότερων θεμάτων της Ιστορίας της Οικονομικής Σκέψης. Περιλαμβάνει τις σημαντικότερες ιδέες πρωτοπόρων θεωρητικών του παρελθόντος, οι οποίοι συνέβαλαν στην ανάπτυξη των σύγχρονων θεωριών και ιδεών. Στόχος είναι να μειωθεί το κόστος ευκαιρίας για τους σπουδαστές ώστε να αυξηθεί το ενδιαφέρον τους για την Ιστορία της Οικονομικής Σκέψης.

Aldersot, Gower UK., Jan 1, 1991

Demonstrates that the hedonistic approach has played a central role in the development of orthodo... more Demonstrates that the hedonistic approach has played a central role in the development of orthodox economic theory. Discusses the meaning of hedonism and its origins in ancient Greek thought; the reappearance of hedonism and its introduction to economics; the hedonistic influence on marginalism; the attempt to downplay hedonism in economics; the theory of choice; the current state of microeconomic theory; nonhedonistic economic approaches; and the issue of value systems in orthodox economics.

Essays in Contemporary Economics: A Festschrift in Memory of Anastasios D. Karayiannis, G. Bitros and N. Kyriazis (eds), Springer, New York, 2015, Jan 2015

The scientific methodology of classical physics has been a constant influence in the development ... more The scientific methodology of classical physics has been a constant influence in the development of orthodox economics. Clear signs of this can be found in the works of many classical economists such as Smith, Ricardo, Cournot, and Mill. The physics influence became more apparent with the emergence of marginalism. The economic thought of Edgeworth, however, is the peak of the influence of classical physics to economics. The identification of maximum energy in physics with that of the maximum pleasure in economic calculus, is central in his thought. In the same manner, Fisher, the founder of marginalism in the US, promoted a physics based economic methodology. The close analogy of physics and economics concepts and the application of tools from mathematical physics to economic theory, are basic characteristics of his work. These views eventually dominated orthodox economic methodology. The paper argues that, apart from establishing the physics scientific ideal in economics, both of these authors provided the methodological justification for its adoption in economics. It also examines the possible reasons for its wider acceptance as their subsequent influence on the formation of the current methodological approach in orthodox economics, indicates. Finally, there is a discussion of Edgeworth and Fisher views in the light of current trends in economic methodology.

Spoudai Journal of Economics and Business vol. 74(1-2), 2024, 2024

John Komlos" academic career is impressive. He received PhDs in both history and economics from t... more John Komlos" academic career is impressive. He received PhDs in both history and economics from the University of Chicago, and he has published in major journals in economics, history, statistics, statistical methodology, and mathematical population studies. He is also considered to be the founder of the field of Economics and Human Biology with the journal of the same name. Komlos is currently Professor Emeritus of Economics and of Economic History at the University of Munich, Germany. This is the 3rd augmented edition of John Komlos" book. Both of the previous editions (the first edition was published in 2015 and the 2nd in 2019), have received positive receptions (e.g. Coclanis, 2015; Foster, 2019; Tomer, 2020). The current edition consists of 18 chapters with 3 new chapters compared to the previous edition.

Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, 2023

Journal of Economic Psychology, 2023

The economics of subjective well-being or happiness economics is an established and thriving rese... more The economics of subjective well-being or happiness economics is an established and thriving research field. Given its inherently multidisciplinary nature, it is researched mainly by specialized economists, psychologists and other social scientists. However, until the late 1970's, the study of the relationship between economic variables and subjective well-being was considered to be outside the domain of economics. The main reason was the methodological hostility of orthodox economists towards incorporating "subjective" and "psychological" variables. The legacy of economics as a

History of Economic Ideas, 2003

History of Economic Ideas, 2021

History of Economic Ideas, 2020

Replete with detailed case material, the author's knowledge of and obvious regard for the communi... more Replete with detailed case material, the author's knowledge of and obvious regard for the communities whose lives she has shared sometimes get in the way of her discussion of the more general theoretical issues with which she is concerned. However, the detail is always relevant, always illustrative of the substantial theoretical points she is making. The issues to which she gives most attention are those of transaction costs, contractual choices, property rights and collective action, and changes in each of these fields are traced with care.

1992. Pp. xvi + 291. ^40.00 hardback, ,{^12.99 paperback. ISBN o 333 56745 5, o 333 56815 X.

Review of Political Economy vol.27, 2015.

Although social scientists have been investigating the nature and impact of job satisfaction for ... more Although social scientists have been investigating the nature and impact of job satisfaction for many decades, economists only started to investigate job satisfaction systematically in the late 1980’s. Almost from the first systematic studies of job satisfaction by economists, the research potential of the notion of pay level comparisons was realized. The idea of pay level comparisons in job satisfaction has proven particularly useful also because it has important implications for a number of standard theoretical and economic policy results. However, the inclusion of the variable of comparison wage in job satisfaction and the resulting supporting empirical findings, are in sharp contrast to the orthodox approach, given that in mainstream economic theory an individuals’ utility is assumed to be a function of absolute income only. Despite the important theoretical and policy implications, mainstream economic theory has not paid much heed to the job satisfaction conceptual formulations and empirical findings. The paper argues that there are methodological reasons for this state of affairs which seem to be linked to the subjective well-being research in general, and to the job satisfaction literature in particular. A strong mistrust against the method of stated preferences and the inherent methodological bias against the integration of psychological findings, are suggested as the two prime reasons. Although a few prominent figures in job satisfaction research have realized the mainstream methodological attitude, it is necessary that job satisfaction specialists should consider more seriously the basic components of mainstream economic methodology that relate to their research field.

Ξενοφών, 2021

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