why we love economists

Michael Perelman michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Fri Nov 30 18:25:10 PST 2001


Doug, the abstract makes this article seem as if it is superior to the Joan Robinson quote that you use. The author is saying that people go into bondage because they have no alternatives. Providing alternatives can give people a choice other than bondage.

Locke advocated bondage as an alternative to being killed as a prisoner of war. Although he was also an investor in the slave trade, it seems a step above our allies.

Doug Henwood wrote:


> Journal Of Development Economics Vol. 67 (1) pp. 101-127
> Volume 67, Issue 1, 01-February-2002
> Copyright (c) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
>
> Garance Genicot, Department of Economics, University of California at
> Irvine, 3151 SSP, , Irvine, CA 92697, USA
>
> Abstract
>
> Among the oldest and most pervasive economic institutions are bonded labor
> and serfdom. While seemingly exploitative, both bonded labor and serfdom are
> often not imposed on the laborers but voluntarily chosen. It is generally
> the lack of suitable alternatives which makes workers opt for a life in
> servitude. This paper shows that the existence of these voluntary forms of
> servitude itself may restrain the laborers' opportunities so that they are
> left with no better alternative than bondage. Under these circumstances,
> government interventions banning servile institutions, by promoting the
> development of alternative options for the laborers, have the potential to
> substantially improve the condition of a large class of laborers.
>
> Keyword(s): Implicit contract; Bonded labor; Interlinkage; Credit; Coercion

--

Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael at ecst.csuchico.edu Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901



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