Fernando López Castellano

Perspectives on human and social capital theories and the role of education: An approach from Mediterranean thought

Abstract Current discussions about education suggest that a transformative pedagogy that goes beyond the acquisition of knowledge and skills is needed. However, there is no agreement as to the inputs needed for a correct development of the educational model. In this sense, we can identify the presence of two different approaches to human and social capital which embody distinct educational worldviews. On the one hand, the ‘Marketable Human Capital’ or ‘Personal Culture’ approach, and on the other hand, the ‘Non-Marketable Human Capital’ or ‘Civic Culture’ approach. The first, which is linked to mainstream economic theory, sees education as any stock of knowledge that contributes to an improvement in the productivity of the worker and individual well-being. The second, which is rooted in the Mediterranean tradition of political thought, highlights the role of civic virtues, reciprocity, and public action within the educational process and its influence on public happiness. In this article, we analyse these connections in order to introduce the eighteenth-century Mediterranean tradition of economic thought into discussions about human and social capital theories and the role of education in them. Focusing on education through these prisms, national and international agendas must be reoriented towards the integral development of people to include broader global debates.

La economía política institucional: balance y perspectivas

The recent debates on the role of institutions in development are revealing two major theoretical currents: the “New Institutional Economics” and the “Institutional Political Economy”. The New Institutional Economics, whose most notable representatives are Nobel prizes Ronald Coase, Douglass North, Oliver Williamson and Elinor Ostrom, have been thoroughly examined and analyzed. There is however in the Institutional Political Economy (IPE) an important void of academic works that analyze its roots and its main contributions. This paper tries to fill this gap in that literature. The main goal of this paper is twofold: to offer an approximation of IPE and to suggest a classification and an interpretation of institutions, incorporating the perspectives of the main figures in the field.

Instituciones y subdesarrollo: a vueltas con la divergencia

Este articulo ofrece una exposicion panoramica y actualizada de las principales aportaciones de la literatura neoinstitucionalista del crecimiento a la explicacion del “milagro europeo” y a la “divergencia” de Europa Occidental con respecto a otras regiones. Tambien recoge las argumentaciones de la nueva historiografia, que cuestionan el supuesto del desempeno excepcional de las economias europeas en los siglos previos a la Revolucion Industrial, e insisten en el caracter abrupto y tardio de la divergencia. Para enriquecer el debate sobre el desigual crecimiento economico a lo largo del tiempo y la divergencia, el articulo anade lo mas representativo del Analisis Institucional Historico y Comparativo sobre la “larga” divergencia entre Europa Occidental y Oriente Medio. El articulo concluye con una breve reflexion sobre la virtualidad de este debate para explicar las causas del desarrollo y el subdesarrollo.

Las Cortes de Cádiz y la implantación del buen orden económico (1810-1814)

This paper chronicles the attempted institutional change which took place in Spain in the period 1808-1814, exploiting the collapse of the absolute monarchy brought about by the conflict with the French Napoleonic army. The paper is structured in four sections: the first part describes the foundations of the new political order; the second part examines the transition from a “predatory” tax State to a “contractual” tax State; the third part examines the package of measures aimed at creating and consolidating new property rights and the liberalization of production activities. Finally, the reactions and resistance to organizational change are analysed. Palabras clave: cambio institucional, liberalismo, monarquía absoluta, Cortes de Cádiz, derechos de propiedad

Una tardía defensa de la reforma tributaria de 1785: las «Cartas económicas» de RaMón María Cañedo

espanolDurante los primeros anos del siglo XIX, son muchos los teoricos de relieve que defienden el sistema de contribuciones directas como el que mas armoniza con el sistema de libertad a implantar, defensa mas patente si cabe en los debates de las Cortes gaditanas. No obstante, un importante nucleo de autores niega la posibilidad de implantar un impuesto directo en sustitucion del sistema de rentas vigente. Esta corriente critica con la abolicion se inicia con Vicente Alcala Galiano, sigue su recorrido en los debates de Cortes y en las impugnaciones de Duaso, Pinilla y Plana al Decreto de 13 de septiembre de 1813, sobre Nuevo Plan de contribuciones publicas, y culmina con los escritos de Canedo, en la decada de 1820. Ramon Ma Canedo apostara por un sistema impositivo con predominio de impuestos indirectos. Apoyandose teoricamente en Smith, intentara adecuar sus principios tributarios al sistema de rentas reformado en 1785. En su opinion, el impuesto indirecto es el que mejor se adapta a las condiciones sociales y materiales de la Espana de la epoca. EnglishThe interest of the Borbonic reforming policy about the interior colonization granted -in the ancient Aragons Crown lands- many enterprises which, on the second half of the 18th Century, counted with, the model of repopulation of Sierra Morena and, from 1772, with the replacement of the Fuero Alfonsino of 1329,a privilege that allowed to get the baronal jurisdiction. That is the way togheter with repopulation thoughts, it was easy to find, in these proyects. speculative motivations or a way to get into the privileged class.