ECONOMIC AFFAIRS最新文献

{"title":"The shadow economy in Vietnam: Estimates using the MIMIC approach","authors":"Dat Van Luong,&nbsp;Tien Van Nguyen,&nbsp;Ha Nguyen Ngoc To","doi":"10.1111/ecaf.70040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.70040","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study provides an updated province-specific measurement of the informal sector in Vietnam and identifies critical macroeconomic factors shaping its growth. It uses a Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model to estimate the size and determinants of Vietnam's shadow economy from 2015 to 2022. Results reveal that the shadow economy accounted for an average of just over 20 per cent of provincial Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) in 2022, up from 17.7 per cent in 2015. Key drivers in the model include revenue from enterprises and individuals, personal income tax, GDP per capita, foreign direct investment, provincial competitiveness and governance indices. The informal economy significantly influences regional economies, employment, social and unemployment insurance participation, income inequality, and household usage of electricity.</p>","PeriodicalId":44825,"journal":{"name":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","volume":"46 2","pages":"313-336"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148395127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adam Smith and market urbanism","authors":"Eugenio Gerardo Garza Garza","doi":"10.1111/ecaf.70041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.70041","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;The following words are mostly by Adam Smith in &lt;i&gt;The Theory of Moral Sentiments&lt;/i&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cities are the centre of attention for many students of society. Urban centres are the image of modernity. Population density allows different groups of people with diverse backgrounds to interact with one another, thus cities can become “engines of economic development, wellsprings of art and culture, and incubators of ideas religious, social, and scientific” (Ikeda, &lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;, p. 21). The many books about cities tell stories about their development in history or explore all the benefits of urbanity for society. Many others study the negatives: crime, disease, social fragmentation, or even moral degradation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As a field of study, urbanism analyses how cities grow, function, and influence human behaviour. Most works on urbanism have design or planning at their core. Few works approach cities as emergent phenomena. Just a handful of authors have seen cities as phenomena within the category of spontaneous orders, results of ‘human action but not of human design’ (Hayek, &lt;span&gt;1967&lt;/span&gt;). Sanford Ikeda (&lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;) provides a short list of authors that generally value relative increases of liberty for private actors over government intervention: Jane Jacobs, Alain Bertaud, Jorge Almazán, David E. Andersson, and a few others. But, Ikeda argues, this is a tradition that is rooted in the work of Adam Smith, Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, F. A. Hayek, and Israel Kirzner. A recent branch of urbanism can be also added to the list: the market urbanism movement advanced by scholars such as Michael Lewyn (&lt;span&gt;2017&lt;/span&gt;). Market urbanism has been described as “the synthesis of classical liberal economics and ethics (market), with an appreciation of the urban way of life and its benefits to society (urbanism)”&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; and has been termed a “Jacobsian-cum-market-process framework” by Ikeda (&lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;, p. 259). For the sake of simplicity in this article, I confine my attention to recent contributions by Sanford Ikeda, Alain Bertaud, and Michael Lewyn.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Market urbanism dovetails with the thought of Adam Smith in his emphasis on spontaneous order, the importance of free exchange, and the unintended benefits of individual initiative. Smith argued that when individuals pursue their own interests within a framework of justice and liberty, they contribute to outcomes that benefit society as a whole – an insight that resonates with how cities organically evolve through decentralised decisions. Market urbanism today parallels the Smithian approach by opposing restrictive zoning and urban planning efforts that distort price signals and constrain the natural growth of cities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I use the term ‘market urbanism’ to describe a general approach to the study of urban development based on the ideas of classical liberalism, giving priority to individual freedom and respect of property rights over central planning and design.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Authors","PeriodicalId":44825,"journal":{"name":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","volume":"46 2","pages":"357-363"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecaf.70041","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148395020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Queering economics: Reimagining the dismal science By Michael E Martell and Leanne Roncolato. University of California Press. 2026. 296 pp. £24.00 (hbk). ISBN: 978-0520413290. £24.00 (ebk). ISBN: 978-0520413313","authors":"Valentin Boboc","doi":"10.1111/ecaf.70047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.70047","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44825,"journal":{"name":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","volume":"46 2","pages":"372-374"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148395129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Licensing requirements and health inspection outcomes in nail salons and barbershops","authors":"Matthew P West","doi":"10.1111/ecaf.70036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.70036","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Occupational licensing is justified on the grounds that it protects the public from incompetent or unscrupulous practitioners, ensuring public health and safety. This study tests the health and safety rationale for occupational licensing by examining whether different licensing requirements for manicurists and barbers in US states result in different health inspection outcomes in nail salons and barbershops. Results show that licensing requirements have no meaningful impact on health inspection outcomes. This suggests that licensing requirements could be eliminated or reduced without adversely affecting health and safety.</p>","PeriodicalId":44825,"journal":{"name":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","volume":"46 2","pages":"285-312"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148395133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Economic Affairs Applied Research Workshop 2026","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/ecaf.70045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.70045","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44825,"journal":{"name":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","volume":"46 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148395145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ephemeral capital: How memepreneurs profit from memes","authors":"Kris Kaleta","doi":"10.1111/ecaf.70034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.70034","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article offers an Austrian market-process theory of internet memes, framing them as plan-relative symbolic capital goods. It integrates Menger's goods taxonomy with Lachmannian capital heterogeneity to model memetic <i>templates</i> as durable goods and their <i>instances</i> as rapidly depreciating novelty services. Under Knightian uncertainty, actors on the memetic market discover attentional disequilibria, earning dual returns in the form of immediate monetisation and option-like social capital convertible via contract. A hermeneutic layer (Lavoie–Storr) clarifies how shared meanings shape usability. The analysis identifies three institutional vulnerabilities that generate noise and slow discovery in this market. It concludes with institutional implications.</p>","PeriodicalId":44825,"journal":{"name":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","volume":"46 2","pages":"269-284"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148395132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Economic integration and public perceptions: Evidence from the African Continental Free Trade Area","authors":"Josh Matti","doi":"10.1111/ecaf.70039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.70039","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article explores the influence of joining the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on people's perceptions of economic conditions. The study uses multiple waves of the Afrobarometer survey with over 80,000 respondents from 35 countries to include a variety of opinions across the continent of Africa. After a nation deposits its instruments of ratification to join the AfCFTA, respondents perceive worse past, present, and future economic conditions. The article considers possible mechanisms of this negative economic sentiment. After a nation joins the AfCFTA, approval of presidential and parliamentary leaders is unchanged. There are no effects related to a fear of immigrants, a lack job growth, or concerns about inequality. These results are relevant for understanding the potential economic impacts of the AfCFTA and the barriers to its full implementation.</p>","PeriodicalId":44825,"journal":{"name":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","volume":"46 2","pages":"224-242"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148395140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Employer attitudes to concurrent employment: An analysis of the European Union and Ukraine","authors":"Оlena Yе Lutsenko,&nbsp;Dmytro V Gryn,&nbsp;Oleksii S Nesterovych,&nbsp;Karina Y Halynska,&nbsp;Eugene K Pushkarev","doi":"10.1111/ecaf.70031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.70031","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article examines concurrent employment as a growing feature of contemporary labour markets in the European Union and Ukraine. It analyses employer attitudes, legal regulation, and the impact of external shocks such as digitalisation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. Using comparative legal analysis, literature review, and statistical data, the study identifies common trends and contextual differences between the two regions. The findings show that while the EU emphasises regulated flexibility and worker protection, Ukraine demonstrates greater employer tolerance driven by wartime economic necessity, highlighting the adaptive role of concurrent employment in crisis conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":44825,"journal":{"name":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","volume":"46 1","pages":"132-149"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147268978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Your life versus their jobs: The political economy of transport safety automation","authors":"Roslyn Layton","doi":"10.1111/ecaf.70027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.70027","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article examines regulatory misalignment in US transportation policy, highlighting the tolerance of high roadway fatalities (100 + per day) alongside resistance to safety-enhancing automation in sectors such as aviation and rail. Despite proven risk reduction, modernisation of air traffic control and deployment of autonomous freight trains face institutional constraints from unions and sector-specific regulators. Meanwhile driverless vehicles navigate complex roads in the United States, autonomous public transport has operated reliably for decades, and automated freight trains routinely traverse China and Australia. Through comparative sectoral analysis, the article argues that fragmented governance and stakeholder pressures impede adoption of automation that could improve safety outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":44825,"journal":{"name":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","volume":"46 1","pages":"99-114"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecaf.70027","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147268945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How countries go broke: The big cycle. By Ray Dalio. Avid Reader Press. 2025. 400 pp. £30.00 (hbk). ISBN: 978-1501124068. £15.99 (Kindle ed.). ISBN: 978-1501124075","authors":"Milena Mazzoli","doi":"10.1111/ecaf.70030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.70030","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44825,"journal":{"name":"ECONOMIC AFFAIRS","volume":"46 1","pages":"157-159"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147280112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}