IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jecsur/v37y2023i2p239-270.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is socialism back? A review of contemporary economic literature

Author

Listed:
  • Emilio Carnevali
  • André Pedersen Ystehede

Abstract

The paper deals with the recent resurgence of interest in the concept of “socialism” from an economic perspective. The most significant contemporary proposals for a new model of socialism are surveyed across five major thematic areas: socialism as a voluntary endeavor and socialist ethics; socialism as a process of democratization; socialism, efficiency and profit maximization; the problem of planning and the new calculation debate; and, socialism as a means versus socialism as an end. A common framework to assess the new blueprints is constructed to identify the likely directions of the research on these themes in the near future.

Suggested Citation

  • Emilio Carnevali & André Pedersen Ystehede, 2023. "Is socialism back? A review of contemporary economic literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 239-270, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jecsur:v:37:y:2023:i:2:p:239-270
    DOI: 10.1111/joes.12488
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12488
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joes.12488?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John E. Roemer, 1994. "A Future for Socialism," Politics & Society, , vol. 22(4), pages 451-478, December.
    2. Alberto Chilosi, 2012. "Stakeholder Protection, Varieties of Capitalism, and Long-Term Unemployment," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 9(2), pages 197-228, August.
    3. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1992. "Asymmetric Information in Credit Markets and Its Implications for Macro-economics," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 44(4), pages 694-724, October.
    4. John E. Roemer, 2021. "What Is Socialism Today? Conceptions Of A Cooperative Economy," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(2), pages 571-598, May.
    5. Oskar Lange, 1937. "On the Economic Theory of Socialism: Part Two," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 4(2), pages 123-142.
    6. Chilosi, Alberto, 2002. "The economic system as an end or as a means, the socialization of consumption, and the future of socialism and capitalism," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 401-407, December.
    7. Jordan, J. S., 1982. "The competitive allocation process is informationally efficient uniquely," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-18, October.
    8. Hannes Kuch & Gottfried Schweiger, 2021. "Introduction to the special issue on market socialism," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 79(3), pages 413-418, July.
    9. Mount, Kenneth & Reiter, Stanley, 1974. "The informational size of message spaces," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 161-192, June.
    10. Marc Lavoie, 2018. "Rethinking macroeconomic theory before the next crisis," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 1-21, January.
    11. Michael Ellman, 2021. "János Kornai: economics, methodology and policy," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 45(2), pages 371-390.
    12. D. Mario Nuti, 2018. "Kornai: Shortage versus Surplus Economies," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 68(supplemen), pages 85-98, January.
    13. Maurice Dobb, 1935. "Economic Theory and Socialist Economy: A Reply," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 2(2), pages 144-151.
    14. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2021. "Socialism and Kornai’s revolutionary perspective," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 187(1), pages 37-54, April.
    15. Alberto Chilosi, 2014. "The Economic System as an End or as a Means, and the Future of Socialism: An Evolutionary Viewpoint," Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought, in: Riccardo Bellofiore & Ewa Karwowski & Jan Toporowski (ed.), Economic Crisis and Political Economy, chapter 1, pages 10-28, Palgrave Macmillan.
    16. John E Roemer, 2008. "Socialism vs Social Democracy as Income-Equalizing Institutions," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 34(1), pages 14-26, Winter.
    17. Blanchard, Olivier, 1999. "An Interview with János Kornai," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(3), pages 427-450, September.
    18. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2015. "Reconstructing Macroeconomic Theory to Manage Economic Policy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Éloi Laurent & Jacques Cacheux (ed.), Fruitful Economics, chapter 1, pages 20-56, Palgrave Macmillan.
    19. Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1994. "The Politics of Market Socialism," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 165-176, Spring.
    20. Duncan K. Foley, 2020. "Socialist alternatives to capitalism I: Marx to Hayek," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 297-311, November.
    21. Baliga, Sandeep & Maskin, Eric, 2003. "Mechanism design for the environment," Handbook of Environmental Economics, in: K. G. Mäler & J. R. Vincent (ed.), Handbook of Environmental Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 305-324, Elsevier.
    22. Makowski, Louis & Ostroy, Joseph M., 1987. "Vickrey-Clarke-Groves mechanisms and perfect competition," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 244-261, August.
    23. Thomas E. Weisskopf & Samuel Bowles & David M. Gordon, 1983. "Heart and Minds: A Social Model of U.S. Productivity Growth," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 14(2), pages 381-450.
    24. Roemer, John E., 2015. "Kantian optimization: A microfoundation for cooperation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 45-57.
    25. Ernesto Screpanti, 2011. "Freedom of Choice in the Production Sphere: The Capitalist and the Self-managed Firm," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 267-279, April.
    26. Erling Barth & Karl Ove Moene, 2016. "The Equality Multiplier: How Wage Compression And Welfare Empowerment Interact," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(5), pages 1011-1037, October.
    27. Mikami, Kazuhiko, 2003. "Market power and the form of enterprise: capitalist firms, worker-owned firms and consumer cooperatives," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 533-552, December.
    28. Levine, David I., 1991. "Cohesiveness, productivity, and wage dispersion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 237-255, March.
    29. Tiago Camarinha Lopes, 2021. "Technical or political? The socialist economic calculation debate," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 45(4), pages 787-810.
    30. Naughton, Barry J., 2018. "The Chinese Economy: Adaptation and Growth, second edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262534797, December.
    31. Samuel Bowles, 1998. "Endogenous Preferences: The Cultural Consequences of Markets and Other Economic Institutions," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 75-111, March.
    32. Kornai, Janos, 1992. "The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287766.
    33. Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis, 1994. "Credit Market Imperfections And The Incidence Of Worker-Owned Firms," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 209-223, October.
    34. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    35. Peter J. Hammond, 1979. "Straightforward Individual Incentive Compatibility in Large Economies," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 46(2), pages 263-282.
    36. Peter Murrell, 1983. "Did the theory of market socialism answer the challenge of Ludwig von Mises? A reinterpretation of the socialist controversy," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 92-105, Spring.
    37. Imanol Basterretxea & John Storey, 2018. "Do Employee†Owned Firms Produce More Positive Employee Behavioural Outcomes? If Not Why Not? A British†Spanish Comparative Analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(2), pages 292-319, June.
    38. Joseph E Stiglitz, 2018. "Where modern macroeconomics went wrong," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 34(1-2), pages 70-106.
    39. Helen McCabe, 2021. "John Stuart Mill: market socialist?," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 79(3), pages 506-527, July.
    40. Olivier Blanchard, 2018. "On the future of macroeconomic models," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 34(1-2), pages 43-54.
    41. Eric Maskin, 2015. "Friedrich von Hayek and mechanism design," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 28(3), pages 247-252, September.
    42. Adaman, Fikret & Devine, Pat, 1996. "The Economic Calculation Debate: Lessons for Socialists," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 20(5), pages 523-537, September.
    43. Atkinson, Anthony B., 2015. "Inequality: what can be done?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101810, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    44. Mihnea Tudoreanu & David M. Kotz, 2020. "Stable Jobs or iPhones? The Dilemma of Innovation in Socialism," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 642-649, December.
    45. Dean, Andrés, 2019. "Do successful worker-managed firms degenerate?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 317-329.
    46. Giacomo Corneo, 2019. "Some institutional design for shareholder socialism," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 77(1), pages 33-55, January.
    47. McGaughey, Ewan, 2016. "The codetermination bargains: the history of German corporate and labour law," LawArXiv 3pyku, Center for Open Science.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Haichao Yu & Shangze Dai & Haiqian Ke, 2024. "Industrial collaborative agglomeration and green economic efficiency—Based on the intermediary effect of technical change," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), June.
    2. Carnevali, Emilio & Sommacal, Matteo, 2023. "On the Takeover Mechanism in Market Socialism," MPRA Paper 117919, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jonathan F. Cogliano & Roberto Veneziani & Naoki Yoshihara, 2022. "Computational methods and classical‐Marxian economics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 310-349, April.
    2. Jael, Paul, 2015. "Socialist Calculation and Market Socialism," MPRA Paper 64255, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Eric S. Maskin, 2008. "Mechanism Design: How to Implement Social Goals," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(3), pages 567-576, June.
    4. Eric Maskin, 2015. "Friedrich von Hayek and mechanism design," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 28(3), pages 247-252, September.
    5. Luigi Bonatti & Andrea Fracasso & Roberto Tamborini, 2021. "Unconventional Policy Instruments and Transmission Channels:A State-Contingent Toolbox for the ECB," DEM Working Papers 2021/05, Department of Economics and Management.
    6. Lopes, Tiago Camarinha, 2022. "Humans, technology and control: An essay based on the metalanguage of economic calculation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 631-642.
    7. Calsamiglia, Xavier & Kirman, Alan, 1993. "A Unique Informationally Efficient and Decentralized Mechanism with Fair Outcomes," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(5), pages 1147-1172, September.
    8. Emre Örün, 2020. "Theoritical Seekings in Macroeconomics," Istanbul Journal of Economics-Istanbul Iktisat Dergisi, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 70(2), pages 451-477, December.
    9. Jael, Paul, 2018. "Calcul socialiste et socialisme de marché [Socialist Calculation and Market Socialism]," MPRA Paper 89521, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Dow,Gregory K., 2019. "The Labor-Managed Firm," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107589650, January.
    11. Federico Guglielmo Morelli & Michael Benzaquen & Marco Tarzia & Jean-Philippe Bouchaud, 2020. "Confidence collapse in a multihousehold, self-reflexive DSGE model," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(17), pages 9244-9249, April.
    12. Valpy FitzGerald & Derya Krolzig, 2004. "Modelling the demand for emerging market assets," Money Macro and Finance (MMF) Research Group Conference 2003 29, Money Macro and Finance Research Group.
    13. Lawrence Christiano & Daisuke Ikeda, 2011. "Government Policy, Credit Markets and Economic Activity," NBER Working Papers 17142, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Tian, Guoqiang, 2004. "On the Informational Requirements of Decentralized Pareto-Satisfactory Mechanisms in Economies with Increasing Returns," MPRA Paper 41226, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Oct 2006.
    15. Lu Hong & Scott Page, 1994. "Reducing informational costs in endowment mechanisms," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 1(1), pages 103-117, December.
    16. Valpy FitzGerald & Derya Krolzig, 2003. "Modeling the Demand for Emerging Market Assets," OFRC Working Papers Series 2003fe10, Oxford Financial Research Centre.
    17. Enzo Dia, 2004. "Monopolistic Pricing in the Banking Industry: a Dynamic Portfolio Model," Finance 0411025, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2021. "Introduction: a special issue in honoring Janos Kornai," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 187(1), pages 1-13, April.
    19. Laurence Kranich, 2022. "Affective social policy," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(2), pages 362-379, April.
    20. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2022. "In Janos Kornai’s memory," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 190(3), pages 265-271, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jecsur:v:37:y:2023:i:2:p:239-270. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0950-0804 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.