Purpose – This paper aims to evaluate critically the validity of rival theorisations of the hidden economy that variously read this sphere as a leftover from a previous era, a by-product of a new emergent form of capitalism, a complement to formal employment or an alternative to the formal...

The different types of estimators of rational expectations models are surveyed. A key feature is that the model's solution has to be taken into account when it is estimated. The two ways of doing this, the substitution and errors-in-variables methods, give rise to different estimators. In the...

Purpose – To explain a fiscal rule that functions in a different way from a constitutional ideal of a welfare state, as Japan's case, and to give a literary examination of that kind of thoughts in modern economics and theory of public finance. Design/methodology/approach – Compares...

Purpose – This paper suggests that an adequate understanding of the notion of the social market economy, which has become a prominent aspect of debates on the social model of the European Constitution, is to be assessed in the context of the historist tradition in German economic and social...

Purpose – The paper aims to provide an overview of the Austrian School's approaches to the social question before World War I. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a comparative study. Findings – In his contributions Friedrich von Wieser supported co-operative...

Purpose – This paper is devoted to the question of what motivates man in his pursuit of economic activities. Particular attention is given to the notion that economic activities of individuals may not be motivated by their self-interest alone. Design/methodology/approach – Using literary...