Part of the debate fueled by cryptocurrencies has revolved around the question of what we call money. This paper identifies two traditions in monetary theory that have tried to answer that question. On the one hand, the money or non-money view follows a strategy proposed by a version of philosophical essentialism, in which there is a set of defining characteristics of money that make it categorically different from other things used in transactions. On the other hand, the liquidity degree view emphasizes that the multiple objects that circulate as a means of payment differ in their degree of acceptability. Since there is no absolute standard of liquidity, a precise dividing line between money and non-money cannot be drawn. We challenge the money or non-money view, arguing that there is nothing in the nature of money that can be interpreted as a natural kind essence by which money can be categorically separated from non-money.
Contemporary discussion about the ontology of society identifies two groups of perspectives. One of them, associated with Searle, includes rules in the inventory of elements that constitute social reality. The other one, associated with Smit, Buekens, and du Plessis, claims that rules can be reduced to more fundamental units. Despite the fact that both perspectives seem equally efficient in describing institutional phenomena, we identify both flaws in the viewpoint that dismisses rules and reasons to prefer the alternative position.
In this paper we evaluate job quality in Colombia. Usually, job quality has been analyzed through synthetic indexes that summarize several aspects of the employment. However, this approach lacks of a theoretical framework supporting both the selection of variables and the weight they have in the construction of the index. Therefore, in this paper we use a different approach. We assess job quality through the impact of occupational characteristics on worker's welfare. To do this, we use consumer theory and equivalence scales. Using data from 2010 Quality of Life Survey, we found that 62.4% of the total is good quality employment. The higher job quality is concentrated in workers in the middle section of the age distribution; on the contrary, very young and very old workers exhibit lower job quality. These results constitute more evidence of the existence of a working life cycle. Additionally, male and rural employment, jobs in San Andrés, workers without college degree, workers in their own farm or in a leased one, and employees from the agricultural sector are those that present the lowest job quality. Furthermore, we found new evidence of economies of scale on consumption due to household size; this is an important strategy to overcome poverty, or to maintain or improve welfare. Finally, our findings suggest an inverse relationship between those economies of scales, the business cycle and the level of development of the countries.
En este artículo se discute la ontología de las instituciones y se critica la idea de que las instituciones están hechas únicamente de incentivos y acciones individuales. Se sostiene, además, que las instituciones no están constituidas únicamente por acciones de individuos, y que poseen una ontología propia, reglada y lingüística. Se comparan diversos enfoques sobre el tema y se presentan dos líneas de investigación sobresalientes en la literatura: el intento de construir una teoría unificada de las instituciones y una propuesta para incluir las reglas constitutivas en la teoría de juegos.
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