Workshop on Markets, Governance and Human Development
Jointly organised by:
Development Studies Association
(Environmental Resources and Sustainable Development Study Group,
and Development Ethics Study Group)
and
Robinson College, University of Cambridge
6-7 July 2009. Venue: Robinson College, Cambridge
Keynote speakers:
- Professor Marc Fleurbaey, CERSES, Universit Paris Descartes
- Professor Tim Jackson, University of Surrey
- Professor Alan Kirman, GREQAM, EHESS, IUF, France
- Professor Leif Wenar, Kings' College London
Papers
Some papers are drafts only and should not be cited without the permission of the authors.
- Jorge Buzaglo (Sweden): “Climate change, global ethics and the market”
- Des Gasper (Institute of Social Studies, The Hague): “Capitalism and Human Flourishing: The strange story of the bias to activity and the downgrading of work”
- Mariusz J. Golecki (Cambridge University and University of Lódz): “Is the King naked? Judicial Governance as a Response to market and state failures”
- Mark Hayes (Homerton College, Cambridge): “Human development and the reform of corporate governance: evidence from the case of Shared Interest”
- Susan Johnson (Bath University): “Polanyi and the instituted processes of markets: introducing a wellbeing perspective”
- Antonio Savoia: "INEQUALITY IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES: THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT"
- Johan F.M. Swinnen and Anneleen Vandeplas (University of Leuven): “Quality and Efficiency Premia: the Impact of Development on Contracting and Rent Distribution in Food Value Chains”
- Paul Trawick (Cranfield University): The Global Economy as a Closed System: On the Relationship between Worldview, Over-consumption and the Illusion of Creating Wealth
For Leif Wenar please see: www.cato-unbound.org/archives/may-2008/
Workshop aims:
In the current economic crisis, an important question to revisit concerns when and to what extent markets are appropriate mechanisms to deliver goods and services to consumers, satisfy their desires and also contribute to human and economic development. For some economists, it is of no doubt that a freemarket economy has overwhelmingly positive aspects and offers a wide set of opportunities to many people. However, for the critics of the free-market economy, it is often the poorest sections of the community that suffer most. Others argue that state intervention in such situations usually means that the taxpayer as well as the more prudent average saver will have to pay for the failures of rich speculators. Have we come to the end of "liberal market economy"? Can markets 'correct' themselves? Are we expecting markets to deliver services for which they are not the most appropriate institutions? Are we witnessing a period of a particular market failure, or is it a "system failure"? Do we need 'deeper' and more active governance of international and national financial systems to prevent further events like this to happen? If so, how can we achieve this?
It is clear that discussion of such questions cannot be confined to examinations within boundaries of a single discipline. A broader dialogue drawing from insights and viewpoints from different disciplines is required. Such discussion should include views on the ways markets work, the channels through which they can and do contribute to advancing human development through creation of opportunities and widening the range of functionings and capabilities.There is a need to re-examine issues related to the values and psychological mindframes underpinning markets and the power structures they produce. As Amartya Sen (2008) mentions in passing in the Martin Luther King Lecture:
There is no such thing as "the" market solution, for the market is exactly as good as the company it keeps. It is extremely important to recognise that the market economy can yield very different results, depending on governing conditions, such as the distribution of resources and opportunities to develop skill and to secure fair bases of entry into market transactions, which in turn depend on the support of public distribution of education and health care, better functioning of trade agreements, reform of patent laws and environmental regulations, the operation of credit facilities, among many other influencing factors. All these influences are open to reform and change.
Against, this background, this workshop aims to examine two sets of issues:
a. Markets and human development: Issues under this theme include, for example: what evidence is there to suggest that markets can deliver pro-poor growth and sustainable human development; how compatible are values such as "market-rationality" and human development; are markets "only" delivering efficiency at the cost of equity; are markets the main reason for current global environmental changes; should there be institutions that temper the role of markets; are there tradeoffs between developing market and social institutions (as for example, suggested by Marglin, 2006), do markets give "by nature" more power to entrepreneurs and traders than to other market participants?
b. Governance and human development: Issues under this theme include: how much governance do we need for human development; why are some societies better than other similar ones in developing institutions; what is the role of accountability in relation to agency and well-being freedoms - is accountability a prerequisite or an outcome of improved human development; can governance effectively counterbalance power relations that were established through the market, does governance work with the market or (does it need to work) against the market?
We welcome papers that explore these issues theoretically and/or empirically from within the disciplines of economics and other social sciences and philosophy. Some selected papers will be proposed for publication in special issues of international refereed journals.
Registration fee will apply to cover college accommodation and catering. Further details will be sent if paper is accepted.
Submission: Please submit extended abstracts/proposals of 1,000 - 1,500 words by 25th March 2009. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any clarifications. Abstracts should be sent to:
Dr P.B. Anand University of Bradford p.b.anand@bradford.ac.uk Dr Des Gasper Institute of Social Studies, The Hague gasper@iss.nl Dr Miriam Teschl Robinson College, Cambridge mt367@cam.ac.uk