American Journal of Economics and Sociology最新文献

{"title":"Not Commodities, but Living Beings: A Critique of Animal Commodification","authors":"Ermelinda Rodilosso","doi":"10.1111/ajes.12643","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12643","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The fundamental question underlying this paper is: should we treat animals as commodities? This inquiry challenges the assumption that animals should be downgraded to lifeless objects or goods to be valued solely for human benefit. At the heart of this issue lies a profound contradiction: animals are living beings capable of experiencing pain, pleasure, and, in many cases, complex social and emotional experiences. Yet, within systems of commodification, they are reduced to economic units, valued for their capacity to produce profit—whether as food or emotional companionship. This dysfunctional attitude obscures their intrinsic worth and the ethical responsibilities humans have toward sentient beings. This article provides arguments against animal exploitation and commodification, drawing on concepts belonging to Marxist theory such as <i>metabolic rift</i> and <i>robbery of nature</i>. In addition to Marx, I will mainly refer to Nancy Fraser, Kohei Saito, and John Bellamy Foster. Although these theorists refer more to the natural environment in general than specifically to animals, by connecting these reflections to traditional theories of animal ethics, we can observe more clearly the impact that capitalism and commodification have on animal welfare, as those systems deprive animals of their autonomy and reduce their lives to cycles of exploitation and death.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47133,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Economics and Sociology","volume":"84 4","pages":"627-631"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pass-Through and Tax Incidence in Differentiated Mixed Duopoly With Managerial Delegation","authors":"Di Wu,&nbsp;Leonard F. S. Wang","doi":"10.1111/ajes.12639","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12639","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This article explores how managerial delegation affects pass-through and tax incidence in a mixed Cournot duopoly. It finds that the delegation coefficient of the private firm's manager is positive, while the coefficient of public firm's manager is negative. Sales delegation tends to increase pass-through rates and amplifies tax incidence. Comparing with the scenarios where a single firm hires a manager, both public and private firms hiring managers will generate the highest pass-through rates and the incidence of ad valorem tax, while the incidence of specific tax is the lowest.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47133,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Economics and Sociology","volume":"84 5","pages":"865-876"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145436198","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Economic Factors That Influence Geographic Differentials in the Percentage of Families Who Own Dogs: An Exploratory Empirical Study for the United States","authors":"Richard J. Cebula,&nbsp;Gigi M. Alexander,&nbsp;Richard C. Hollingsworth","doi":"10.1111/ajes.12642","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12642","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This exploratory empirical study seeks to identify factors that influence interstate differentials in the percentage of families that provide a home for one or more dogs. Using PLS estimation for the contiguous 48 states over the period 2008–2016, several conclusions are obtained. These include the following: the percentage of family units with one or more dogs is found to be an increasing function of the percentage of the population that owns its own home, warmer climate, and the percent of the population without a high school diploma. In addition, there are three other findings. Namely, the percentage of family units consisting of one or more dogs is a decreasing function of the overall cost of living, the unemployment rate, and population density.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47133,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Economics and Sociology","volume":"84 4","pages":"621-625"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Testing the Asymmetric Relationship Between Reverse Mortgages and Housing Prices","authors":"Ming-Che Wu,&nbsp;Chien-Ming Wang","doi":"10.1111/ajes.12641","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12641","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This article uses the cross-quantilogram approach to investigate the asymmetric relationship between Reverse Mortgages (RM) and housing prices (HP) from January 2007 to December 2023 in the U.S. It found a strong negative correlation between the HP and RM for the short term. However, in the longer term, there is a significant increase in positive correlation, especially in higher HP quantiles (0.8–0.95). This indicates an asymmetric relationship between RM and HP. Additionally, fluctuations in consumer prices, interest rates, and economic growth also significantly impact this relationship. These findings offer valuable insights for seniors and policymakers to understand the complex dynamics between Reverse Mortgages (RM) and housing prices (HP), highlighting the importance of real estate management in boosting RM demand and enhancing seniors' economic security.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47133,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Economics and Sociology","volume":"85 1","pages":"7-11"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145930828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Overcoming Scientific Cruelty: Bernard Rollin's Fight for Animal Rights","authors":"Barry Kipperman","doi":"10.1111/ajes.12637","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12637","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This essay focuses on the contributions of Dr. Bernard Rollin to the ethical treatment of animals. Rollin was a visionary who questioned systemic societal treatment of animals and promoted a new social ethic for animals. This new ethic centered on ensuring that animals have a “life worth living”. Rollin taught the first class on veterinary ethics in the United States and considered the need to recognize and address animal pain as a moral imperative at a time when the subjective experience of animals was largely dismissed. Rollin did not believe that humans were inherently morally superior to non-human animals. Rollin proposed that all sentient animals should have rights that protect them from oppression of fundamental aspects of their nature for the good of society. Rollin fought for improved treatment of animals in laboratories and on farms, via both the court of public opinion as well as legislation. Rollin understood that animal welfare is an increasing concern for society and that society looks to veterinary medicine for answers. He urged the veterinary profession to lead on ethical and animal welfare issues. Rollin recognized that what many referred to as “animal problems” were often problems created by, and solved by, humans and that humans were often secondary victims of moral stress when work-related expectations or requirements discourage behaviors that could prevent animal suffering. Perhaps most importantly in our polarized socio-political environment, Rollin strongly believed that achieving ethical change occurs when we can find common ground with those we disagree with.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47133,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Economics and Sociology","volume":"84 4","pages":"613-619"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mastery, Equality, or Reciprocity? Ambiguities of Human–Animal Relationships","authors":"Clifford W. Cobb","doi":"10.1111/ajes.12638","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12638","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47133,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Economics and Sociology","volume":"84 4","pages":"591-598"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145062344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Does Urban Expansion Affect Regional Haze Pollution: An Intergovernmental Tax Competition Perspective","authors":"Zhuoxuan Liu,&nbsp;Hai Zhong,&nbsp;Dongyang Zhen","doi":"10.1111/ajes.12636","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12636","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This paper utilizes geographic and nighttime light data to identify the levels of haze pollution and the extent of urban spatial expansion across Chinese provinces, thus partially addressing measurement errors in the variables. Building upon this, the paper incorporates local government tax competition, urban expansion, and regional haze pollution into a unified research framework. Using dynamic spatial panel data from 30 provinces in mainland China for the period 2007–2020, the paper systematically and comprehensively investigates the interrelationships among these factors and delves into their underlying causes and mechanisms. The main findings are as follows: The intergovernmental competition driven by economic growth demands and fiscal incentives has given rise to tax competition and urban expansion among local governments, both of which are key contributors to haze pollution within their jurisdictions. In this process, tax competition further amplifies the adverse impact of urban expansion on environmental quality. Specifically, tax competition leads to a decline in the efficiency of environmental regulations and an increase in industrial pollution, while urban expansion exacerbates pollution emissions from urbanization, transportation, and the construction sector, ultimately resulting in a deterioration of regional air quality.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47133,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Economics and Sociology","volume":"84 5","pages":"841-863"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145435987","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does Institutional Opening-Up Enhance Corporate Green Innovation? Evidence From China's Pilot Free Trade Zones","authors":"Kai Sun,&nbsp;Xin Zhong,&nbsp;Ding Xiong","doi":"10.1111/ajes.12633","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12633","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>To explore the role of institutional opening-up in promoting green technology innovation in enterprises, this study uses data from A-share listed companies in China from 2011 to 2023. Employing a multi-period DID model, we systematically investigate the impact of the establishment of Pilot Free Trade Zones (FTZ) on corporate green technology innovation. The results show that FTZ establishment significantly improves the level of green patent applications by enterprises, particularly exerting a more prominent positive incentive effect on green invention patents, which represent higher technological content and R&amp;D quality. Dynamic effect analysis reveals the cumulative nature of the policy impact over time, with the effect increasing over time. Moderation analysis shows that administrative approval efficiency and public environmental demands play a significant positive moderating role between FTZ establishment and corporate green innovation. The former enhances enterprises' enthusiasm and confidence in green R&amp;D by shortening the patent authorization process and strengthening the protection of innovative achievements, while the latter “forces” enterprises to increase their willingness to invest in environmental protection through social supervision and public opinion pressure, forming a synergistic effect with institutional opening-up. Heterogeneity analysis reveals significant differences in policy responsiveness among different entities: non-digital economy enterprises show a stronger policy response than digital economy enterprises, peripheral cities show a stronger response than central cities, and non-old industrial base cities show a stronger response than old industrial base cities. Furthermore, FTZs not only promote independent R&amp;D by enterprises but also significantly enhance the output of green patents under collaborative R&amp;D models, indicating that institutional opening-up provides diversified innovation pathways for enterprises. This study provides new empirical evidence for understanding the intrinsic link between institutional opening-up and green technology innovation and has important reference value for promoting the optimization of the institutional environment, the improvement of administrative efficiency, and the design of green innovation policies with the participation of multiple stakeholders.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47133,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Economics and Sociology","volume":"84 5","pages":"823-840"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145436075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Neoliberalism and Globalization Are Not Undermining Democracy: Panel Evidence From More Than 140 Countries, 1980–2022","authors":"Stefani Branilović,&nbsp;Tibor Rutar","doi":"10.1111/ajes.12635","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12635","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The rise of neoliberal reforms in the period of globalization is often claimed to be linked with wider outcomes, such as increased inequality, unemployment, and different cultural grievances. Because of these economic and cultural concerns, voters might seek solutions to their ostensible problems by turning to illiberal populist parties, which tend to undermine democracy and its basic principles. The present article empirically tests if neoliberalism, operationalized with the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World, and globalization, operationalized with the KOF's Globalization Index, were somehow associated with democratic integrity. The analysis is performed through fixed-effects regressions in more than 140 countries between 1980 and 2022. The main results show that over-time increases in both neoliberalism and globalization predicted over-time increases in five different types of democracy scores. Furthermore, the analyses with disaggregated indexes showed that freedom of international trade, modesty of regulation, legal system and property rights, and social globalization are what drive the relationship at the aggregate level. Results also showed that there are no statistically significant relationships between economic freedom and Freedom House's democracy scores specifically in the time period between 2011 and 2022. Furthermore, there are no statistically significant results indicating a relationship between globalization and democracy during the same time period. This is an interesting observation since this time period is commonly understood as most clearly embodying the democratic recession.</p>","PeriodicalId":47133,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Economics and Sociology","volume":"84 5","pages":"797-821"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ajes.12635","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145436286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Toward an Austro-Libertarian Sociology","authors":"Alexis Sémanne","doi":"10.1111/ajes.12630","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12630","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Interventionism has become a defining feature of modern societies, shaping individual behavior, economic activity, and social norms through state regulations, subsidies, and collectivist ideologies. Despite its profound impact, sociology has largely failed to critically examine the dynamics of interventionism from a praxeological standpoint in recent sociological debates, leaving a significant gap in understanding how individuals and communities adapt to coercive environments. This article proposes a new framework for sociological inquiry rooted in libertarian and Austrian principles, drawing on the works of Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Murray Rothbard, and others. Building on the Austrian tradition's emphasis on human action and spontaneous order, this framework—termed <i>Austro-Libertarian Sociology</i>, <i>Modern Austrian Sociology</i>, <i>Sociology of Spontaneous Social Orders</i> or <i>Sociology of Natural Order</i>—focuses on how voluntary cooperation and decentralized systems emerge despite state-imposed constraints. The method is structured around five domains: the sociology of human action, free-market capitalism, property rights, freedom of contract, and natural competition. Furthermore, 12 innovative concepts, including <i>State Dependency Syndrome</i>, <i>Adaptive Agency</i>, and <i>Spontaneous Resistance Networks</i>, are introduced to analyze the societal consequences of interventionism and the resilience of natural social orders. The article also calls for the modernization of Austrian sociology by incorporating empirical tools to enhance its relevance in public debates. By critiquing contemporary sociology's collectivist biases and proposing a renewed discipline, this work aims to establish a sociological subfield capable of addressing the interplay between state intervention and societal adaptation, fostering a deeper understanding of decentralized, voluntary cooperation in an increasingly regulated world.</p>","PeriodicalId":47133,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Economics and Sociology","volume":"84 5","pages":"781-796"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ajes.12630","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145436454","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}