In this essay, the author explores John Paul II’s thought on human work, and argues that, just as the Jesuit Henrich Pesch and members of his study group contributed directly to…
Abstract
In this essay, the author explores John Paul II’s thought on human work, and argues that, just as the Jesuit Henrich Pesch and members of his study group contributed directly to the preparation of Pius XI’s Quadragesimo Anno in 1931, Pietro Pavan helped advance John Paul II’s own thinking about man and work. Tondini draws our attention to Dignitatis Humanae from the Second Vatican Council wherein, he asserts, there is to be found a cultural harmony between Pavan and John Paul II.
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Umberto Romani and Giovanni Tondini
The aim of this article is to analyze and compare the share economy and the constitutional economy approaches. The fact that numerous world‐class multinationals have chosen to…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this article is to analyze and compare the share economy and the constitutional economy approaches. The fact that numerous world‐class multinationals have chosen to offer stock options to managers and bonus share incentives to employees denotes a realization that any improvement in the performance of an economy affected by several constraints, as is the case in the European economy, can only be achieved by assigning greater responsibility to managers and employees.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper underlines the positive and negative aspects of both approaches with a critical analysis of the theories. The authors' interest in M.L. Weizman's model of the share economy stems from this basic reflection, despite the model's excessive reliance in the capacity of the state to resolve the problems at hand using ordinary legislative instruments. J.M. Buchanan's extremely interesting and indeed fundamental considerations concerning the pressures exerted on institutions by particular or individual interests are virtually overlooked.
Findings
The weakness of the share economy approach can be effectively contrasted by integrating it with the constitutional economy approach. A substantial difference between Weitzman's and Buchanan's schemes stems from the reliance, exhibited by the former, on the institutions governing the contracts between individual players.
Originality/value
The paper focuses on the analogies between Weitzman's and Buchanan's positions in order to set up a unifying framework for the analysis of workforce and other production inputs of the economical system.
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John Paul II's views on economic systems have been construed differently by some commentators who have been seeking approval for their own views rather than searching for the…
Abstract
Purpose
John Paul II's views on economic systems have been construed differently by some commentators who have been seeking approval for their own views rather than searching for the meaning that he himself intends to convey. John Paul is labeled by many as favoring capitalism, and by others as supporting socialism. A few have been scrutinizing his statements in hopes of finding support for a “third‐way.” In this paper, John Paul is quoted at length to represent his views more accurately.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper originated in a collection of essays on the theme of John Paul II's vision of the social economy that was published by the International Journal of Social Economics in fall 1998. This author is indebted to the contributors to that collection for many insights into John Paul's vision. Eight topics are covered: consumption, distribution, capital investment, work as such, leisure, labor, development, and market economy versus command economy. This paper uses many more direct quotes than is customary in scholarly work, but there is no other way to proceed and remain faithful to John Paul's vision of the social economy.
Findings
John Paul's writings on economic affairs are significant for what they teach about the premises employed in economics. His own philosophy of the human person reinforces the four premises of personalist economics more so than the premises of the mainstream and challenges the mainstream at its foundations in the philosophy of individualism.
Research limitations/implications
John Paul speaks to a wide range of issues and questions central to economics and economic affairs. It would be presumptuous to represent this paper as a thorough examination of everything that John Paul has said, written, and means in this regard.
Practical implications
This paper attempts to highlight some of the key arguments that John Paul II has set forth on eight centrally important economic topics, comparing and contrasting his pronouncements with the views of mainstream economists on the same topics.
Originality/value
This paper draws on the insights of 20 professional colleagues specialized in range of subdisciplines in economics, holding faculty positions at major universities in the USA, Italy, and Canada, and with a strong interest in understanding the social economy. The concluding section states John Paul's vision of the social economy in terms of 13 most important arguments.