Robert Rowthorn
Biographic Data
| ID | 981319 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Robert Rowthorn |
| GIVEN NAMES | Robert |
| FAMILY NAME | Rowthorn |
| SIGNATURE | ROWTHORN R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cambridge |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 168 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1965 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Introduction
The countries of East Asia face headwinds that inhibit economic growth, making economic stagnation a conceivable, if not inevitable, outcome. These headwinds include a declining and ageing population, inadequate domestic demand, competition from a new generation of emerging economies, and geopolitical uncertainty in the region. Japan is so far the only East Asian country to have experienced prolonged economic stagnation. There are fears that Japa…
Introduction to premature deindustralisation
Premature deindustrialization
This paper presents a simple model of structural change in an isolated economy. As the economy industrialises the employment share of manufacturing increases. It eventually peaks and thereafter decreases. Simulations with this model indicate that faster growth in manufacturing productivity implies a lower and earlier peak in this sector’s employment share. The model is extended to include a late industrialiser that acquires technology from a more…
The Conflict Theory of Inflation Revisited
This article develops ideas contained in a previous paper on conflict inflation (Rowthorn [1977]. ‘Conflict, Inflation and Money.’ Cambridge Journal of Economics 1 (3): 215–239). It begins with a summary of that paper, stressing the importance of staggered markets, conflicting aspirations and unanticipated inflation. It then examines three recent articles that share a similar perspective. In the light of this discussion, it makes some general obs…
Is government debt net wealth
MMT claims that government borrowing makes the private sector wealthier, thereby stimulating expenditure. Robert Barro famously denied this on the grounds that government borrowing leads eventually to higher tax rates. Rational agents will put funds aside to pay these future taxes and will not perceive themselves as wealthier. They will restrain their expenditure following a fiscal stimulus. Using a model inspired by Wynne Godley and Marc Lavoie,…
The structural change in the world economy with a decay in advanced countries
This article focuses on three aspects of structural changes in the world economy. First, advanced countries are decaying with lower growth, accompanied by increased economic inequality and instability. Most of them are facing a demographic and ecological crisis. Second, the dynamic center of the world economy is shifting to developing countries. Their trajectories were diversified into three types: oil-producing rentier countries, stagnating LLDC…
The Economics of Social Stratification in Premodern Societies
We present a microeconomic model of social stratification, which includes an endogenous fertility component. In the model, egalitarian and stratified societies coexist. The latter are divided into 2 hereditary classes: a warrior elite and a productive class. The model entails that the extra cost warriors must incur to train and equip their children for war determines the relative sizes of both classes and the degree of economic inequality. Higher…
Who's Afraid of Population Decline? A Critical Examination of Its Consequences
In the multitude of people is the king's honour; but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince-Proverbs 14: 28
Male worklessness and the rise of lone parenthood in Great Britain
Deindustrialization has eliminated many traditionally male jobs in Great Britain. Using geographical comparisons based on Census data, this paper estimates that the resulting fall in male employment explains between 38% and 59% of the 1.16m increase in lone parent families over the period 1971–2001. The impact was greatest in the areas which suffered most from industrial decline. Higher male employment would help to contain, and maybe reverse, th…
Procedural Rationality and Equilibrium Trust
This article examines the determinants of steady state trust in a population of principals and agents, where the former learn from experience using boundedly rational procedures. For any distribution of agent types, the long-run distribution of principal behaviour is characterised. Heterogeneity in the behaviour of principals persists under both the sampling procedure ( Osborne and Rubinstein, 1998 ) and the maximum average procedure ( Rustichini…
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
The impact on advanced economies of north-south trade in manufacturing and services
Many types of production are being transferred from the rich economies of the North to the poorer economies of the South. Such changes began in manufacturing but are now spreading to services. This paper provides estimates of their past and future impact on employment in the North. About 5 million manufacturing jobs have been lost over the past decade because of trade with low-wage economies. A similar number of service jobs may be lost to low-wa…
The Economic Effects of Immigration into the United Kingdom
This article is concerned with the economic effects of immigration. The emphasis is on Britain, but extensive material is also provided on other countries. Since 1997 a new British immigration policy has displaced previous policy aims, which were focused on minimizing settlement. Large-scale immigration is now seen as essential for Britain's economic well-being, and measures have been introduced to increase inflows. The benefits claimed include f…
Democracy and Efficiency in the Economic Enterprise
The collapse of central planning was hailed as evidence of the economic and moral superiority of capitalism over any possible alternative. The essays in this book challenge that claim. The case for more democratic forms of enterprise management is considered from a variety of viewpoints. One chapter deals with the philosophical justification for enterprise democracy. The remaining chapters are devoted to the question of efficiency, which has been…
The role of the state in economic change
The role of the state has occupied centre stage in the development of economics as an independent discipline and is one of the most contentious issues addressed by contemporary economists and political economists. The immediate postwar years saw a swing in economic theory towards interventionism, motivated by the urgent need for reconstruction in advanced capitalist countries, the establishment of socialism in parts of Asia and Eastern Europe, an…
Centralisation, Employment and Wage Dispersion
This paper is about bargaining institutions and their influence on wage dispersion and employment. Using novel statistical measures, it compares labor-market performance in seventeen OECD countries since 1973. It concludes that countries with highly centralized wage bargaining have generally achieved the best performance, combining high employment with low wage dispersion, thereby avoiding certain major inequalities prevalent elsewhere. The paper…
Efficiency Wages and Wage Dispersion
The efficiency wage hypothesis has normally been used to generate an equilibrium level of unemployment. The authors use it, instead, to generate an equilibrium wage distribution. This paper starts by generalizing the previous work of R. M. Solow in this area. They then use their results on effort-wage elasticities to derive a model of wage dispersion. The wage rate is shown to be an increasing function of the damage potential of workers; that is,…
The macroeconomic effects of overseas investment on the UK balance of trade, 1870-1913
A Note on Verdoorn's Law
Journal Article A Note on Verdoorn's Law Get access R. E. Rowthorn R. E. Rowthorn Faculty of Economics and Politics, Cambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 89, Issue 353, 1 March 1979, Pages 131–133, https://doi.org/10.2307/2231413 Published: 01 March 1979
The international operations of national firms
A Reply to Lord Kaldor's Comment
Journal Article A Reply to Lord Kaldor's Comment Get access R. E. Rowthorn R. E. Rowthorn University of Cambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 85, Issue 340, 1 December 1975, Pages 897–901, https://doi.org/10.2307/2230634 Published: 01 December 1975
What Remains of Kaldor's Law
Journal Article What Remains of Kaldor's Law? Get access R. E. Rowthorn R. E. Rowthorn University of Cambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 85, Issue 337, 1 March 1975, Pages 10–19, https://doi.org/10.2307/2230525 Published: 01 March 1975
The Emergence of Multinational Enterprise
International Big Business, 1957-1967
International Big Business 1957-1967. A Study of Comparative Growth
Journal Article Rowthorn (R.). International Big Business 1957-1967. Get access International Big Business 1957-1967. A Study of Comparative Growth. By R. Rowthorn in collaboration with S. Hymer. University of Cambridge Department of Applied Economics Occasional Papers: 24. (London: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Pp. viii + 112 . £1.80 (cloth), 80p (paper).) P. E. Hart P. E. Hart University of Reading Search for other works by this author on: …
The international operations of national firms
Who's Afraid of Population Decline? A Critical Examination of Its Consequences
In the multitude of people is the king's honour; but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince-Proverbs 14: 28
The Economic Effects of Immigration into the United Kingdom
This article is concerned with the economic effects of immigration. The emphasis is on Britain, but extensive material is also provided on other countries. Since 1997 a new British immigration policy has displaced previous policy aims, which were focused on minimizing settlement. Large-scale immigration is now seen as essential for Britain's economic well-being, and measures have been introduced to increase inflows. The benefits claimed include f…
What Remains of Kaldor's Law
Journal Article What Remains of Kaldor's Law? Get access R. E. Rowthorn R. E. Rowthorn University of Cambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 85, Issue 337, 1 March 1975, Pages 10–19, https://doi.org/10.2307/2230525 Published: 01 March 1975
Centralisation, Employment and Wage Dispersion
This paper is about bargaining institutions and their influence on wage dispersion and employment. Using novel statistical measures, it compares labor-market performance in seventeen OECD countries since 1973. It concludes that countries with highly centralized wage bargaining have generally achieved the best performance, combining high employment with low wage dispersion, thereby avoiding certain major inequalities prevalent elsewhere. The paper…
A Note on Verdoorn's Law
Journal Article A Note on Verdoorn's Law Get access R. E. Rowthorn R. E. Rowthorn Faculty of Economics and Politics, Cambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 89, Issue 353, 1 March 1979, Pages 131–133, https://doi.org/10.2307/2231413 Published: 01 March 1979
A Reply to Lord Kaldor's Comment
Journal Article A Reply to Lord Kaldor's Comment Get access R. E. Rowthorn R. E. Rowthorn University of Cambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 85, Issue 340, 1 December 1975, Pages 897–901, https://doi.org/10.2307/2230634 Published: 01 December 1975
The Conflict Theory of Inflation Revisited
This article develops ideas contained in a previous paper on conflict inflation (Rowthorn [1977]. ‘Conflict, Inflation and Money.’ Cambridge Journal of Economics 1 (3): 215–239). It begins with a summary of that paper, stressing the importance of staggered markets, conflicting aspirations and unanticipated inflation. It then examines three recent articles that share a similar perspective. In the light of this discussion, it makes some general obs…
Efficiency Wages and Wage Dispersion
The efficiency wage hypothesis has normally been used to generate an equilibrium level of unemployment. The authors use it, instead, to generate an equilibrium wage distribution. This paper starts by generalizing the previous work of R. M. Solow in this area. They then use their results on effort-wage elasticities to derive a model of wage dispersion. The wage rate is shown to be an increasing function of the damage potential of workers; that is,…
International Big Business 1957-1967. A Study of Comparative Growth
Journal Article Rowthorn (R.). International Big Business 1957-1967. Get access International Big Business 1957-1967. A Study of Comparative Growth. By R. Rowthorn in collaboration with S. Hymer. University of Cambridge Department of Applied Economics Occasional Papers: 24. (London: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Pp. viii + 112 . £1.80 (cloth), 80p (paper).) P. E. Hart P. E. Hart University of Reading Search for other works by this author on: …
Male worklessness and the rise of lone parenthood in Great Britain
Deindustrialization has eliminated many traditionally male jobs in Great Britain. Using geographical comparisons based on Census data, this paper estimates that the resulting fall in male employment explains between 38% and 59% of the 1.16m increase in lone parent families over the period 1971–2001. The impact was greatest in the areas which suffered most from industrial decline. Higher male employment would help to contain, and maybe reverse, th…
The structural change in the world economy with a decay in advanced countries
This article focuses on three aspects of structural changes in the world economy. First, advanced countries are decaying with lower growth, accompanied by increased economic inequality and instability. Most of them are facing a demographic and ecological crisis. Second, the dynamic center of the world economy is shifting to developing countries. Their trajectories were diversified into three types: oil-producing rentier countries, stagnating LLDC…
The Economics of Social Stratification in Premodern Societies
We present a microeconomic model of social stratification, which includes an endogenous fertility component. In the model, egalitarian and stratified societies coexist. The latter are divided into 2 hereditary classes: a warrior elite and a productive class. The model entails that the extra cost warriors must incur to train and equip their children for war determines the relative sizes of both classes and the degree of economic inequality. Higher…
Procedural Rationality and Equilibrium Trust
This article examines the determinants of steady state trust in a population of principals and agents, where the former learn from experience using boundedly rational procedures. For any distribution of agent types, the long-run distribution of principal behaviour is characterised. Heterogeneity in the behaviour of principals persists under both the sampling procedure ( Osborne and Rubinstein, 1998 ) and the maximum average procedure ( Rustichini…
Investment Decisions, Economic Forecasting, & Public Policy
Journal Article Investment Decisions, Economic Forecasting, & Public Policy Get access Investment Decisions, Economic Forecasting, & Public Policy. By J. R. Meyer and R. R. Glauber. (Boston: Harvard Business School (London: Bailey Bros, and Swinfen), 1964. Pp. xix + 280. 54s.) R. E. Rowthorn R. E. Rowthorn Churchill College, Cambridge. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 75, Issue …
International Big Business 1957-1967. A Study of Comparative Growth
Journal Article Rowthorn (R.). International Big Business 1957-1967. Get access International Big Business 1957-1967. A Study of Comparative Growth. By R. Rowthorn in collaboration with S. Hymer. University of Cambridge Department of Applied Economics Occasional Papers: 24. (London: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Pp. viii + 112 . £1.80 (cloth), 80p (paper).) P. E. Hart P. E. Hart University of Reading Search for other works by this author on: …
International Big Business, 1957-1967
The Emergence of Multinational Enterprise
A Reply to Lord Kaldor's Comment
Journal Article A Reply to Lord Kaldor's Comment Get access R. E. Rowthorn R. E. Rowthorn University of Cambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 85, Issue 340, 1 December 1975, Pages 897–901, https://doi.org/10.2307/2230634 Published: 01 December 1975
What Remains of Kaldor's Law
Journal Article What Remains of Kaldor's Law? Get access R. E. Rowthorn R. E. Rowthorn University of Cambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 85, Issue 337, 1 March 1975, Pages 10–19, https://doi.org/10.2307/2230525 Published: 01 March 1975
The international operations of national firms
A Note on Verdoorn's Law
Journal Article A Note on Verdoorn's Law Get access R. E. Rowthorn R. E. Rowthorn Faculty of Economics and Politics, Cambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 89, Issue 353, 1 March 1979, Pages 131–133, https://doi.org/10.2307/2231413 Published: 01 March 1979
Efficiency Wages and Wage Dispersion
The efficiency wage hypothesis has normally been used to generate an equilibrium level of unemployment. The authors use it, instead, to generate an equilibrium wage distribution. This paper starts by generalizing the previous work of R. M. Solow in this area. They then use their results on effort-wage elasticities to derive a model of wage dispersion. The wage rate is shown to be an increasing function of the damage potential of workers; that is,…
The macroeconomic effects of overseas investment on the UK balance of trade, 1870-1913
Centralisation, Employment and Wage Dispersion
This paper is about bargaining institutions and their influence on wage dispersion and employment. Using novel statistical measures, it compares labor-market performance in seventeen OECD countries since 1973. It concludes that countries with highly centralized wage bargaining have generally achieved the best performance, combining high employment with low wage dispersion, thereby avoiding certain major inequalities prevalent elsewhere. The paper…
The role of the state in economic change
The role of the state has occupied centre stage in the development of economics as an independent discipline and is one of the most contentious issues addressed by contemporary economists and political economists. The immediate postwar years saw a swing in economic theory towards interventionism, motivated by the urgent need for reconstruction in advanced capitalist countries, the establishment of socialism in parts of Asia and Eastern Europe, an…
Democracy and Efficiency in the Economic Enterprise
The collapse of central planning was hailed as evidence of the economic and moral superiority of capitalism over any possible alternative. The essays in this book challenge that claim. The case for more democratic forms of enterprise management is considered from a variety of viewpoints. One chapter deals with the philosophical justification for enterprise democracy. The remaining chapters are devoted to the question of efficiency, which has been…
The Economic Effects of Immigration into the United Kingdom
This article is concerned with the economic effects of immigration. The emphasis is on Britain, but extensive material is also provided on other countries. Since 1997 a new British immigration policy has displaced previous policy aims, which were focused on minimizing settlement. Large-scale immigration is now seen as essential for Britain's economic well-being, and measures have been introduced to increase inflows. The benefits claimed include f…
The impact on advanced economies of north-south trade in manufacturing and services
Many types of production are being transferred from the rich economies of the North to the poorer economies of the South. Such changes began in manufacturing but are now spreading to services. This paper provides estimates of their past and future impact on employment in the North. About 5 million manufacturing jobs have been lost over the past decade because of trade with low-wage economies. A similar number of service jobs may be lost to low-wa…
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
Male worklessness and the rise of lone parenthood in Great Britain
Deindustrialization has eliminated many traditionally male jobs in Great Britain. Using geographical comparisons based on Census data, this paper estimates that the resulting fall in male employment explains between 38% and 59% of the 1.16m increase in lone parent families over the period 1971–2001. The impact was greatest in the areas which suffered most from industrial decline. Higher male employment would help to contain, and maybe reverse, th…
Procedural Rationality and Equilibrium Trust
This article examines the determinants of steady state trust in a population of principals and agents, where the former learn from experience using boundedly rational procedures. For any distribution of agent types, the long-run distribution of principal behaviour is characterised. Heterogeneity in the behaviour of principals persists under both the sampling procedure ( Osborne and Rubinstein, 1998 ) and the maximum average procedure ( Rustichini…
Who's Afraid of Population Decline? A Critical Examination of Its Consequences
In the multitude of people is the king's honour; but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince-Proverbs 14: 28
The Economics of Social Stratification in Premodern Societies
We present a microeconomic model of social stratification, which includes an endogenous fertility component. In the model, egalitarian and stratified societies coexist. The latter are divided into 2 hereditary classes: a warrior elite and a productive class. The model entails that the extra cost warriors must incur to train and equip their children for war determines the relative sizes of both classes and the degree of economic inequality. Higher…
The structural change in the world economy with a decay in advanced countries
This article focuses on three aspects of structural changes in the world economy. First, advanced countries are decaying with lower growth, accompanied by increased economic inequality and instability. Most of them are facing a demographic and ecological crisis. Second, the dynamic center of the world economy is shifting to developing countries. Their trajectories were diversified into three types: oil-producing rentier countries, stagnating LLDC…
Is government debt net wealth
MMT claims that government borrowing makes the private sector wealthier, thereby stimulating expenditure. Robert Barro famously denied this on the grounds that government borrowing leads eventually to higher tax rates. Rational agents will put funds aside to pay these future taxes and will not perceive themselves as wealthier. They will restrain their expenditure following a fiscal stimulus. Using a model inspired by Wynne Godley and Marc Lavoie,…
Introduction to premature deindustralisation
Premature deindustrialization
This paper presents a simple model of structural change in an isolated economy. As the economy industrialises the employment share of manufacturing increases. It eventually peaks and thereafter decreases. Simulations with this model indicate that faster growth in manufacturing productivity implies a lower and earlier peak in this sector’s employment share. The model is extended to include a late industrialiser that acquires technology from a more…
The Conflict Theory of Inflation Revisited
This article develops ideas contained in a previous paper on conflict inflation (Rowthorn [1977]. ‘Conflict, Inflation and Money.’ Cambridge Journal of Economics 1 (3): 215–239). It begins with a summary of that paper, stressing the importance of staggered markets, conflicting aspirations and unanticipated inflation. It then examines three recent articles that share a similar perspective. In the light of this discussion, it makes some general obs…
Economics (21 works) · Political science (15 works) · Law (10 works) · Law (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Politics (7 works) · Macroeconomics (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Economic theories and models (5 works) · Economic Theory and Policy (5 works)