Editorial
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- Éditorial [fr]
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1This issue of the Régulation Review is devoted to further contributions to the major current research project exploring capitalism in Asia. Whilst the first collection of articles (n° 13, Spring 2013) was largely devoted to South-East Asia, this second set consists mainly of the analysis of the Far-Eastern countries, with a particular emphasis on China. Aspects of China studied include, notably, issues relative to labor and the salary ratio (Muriel Périsse on the salary ratio and Clément Séhier on the capacity of corporate social responsibility to restore the salary ratio). The other areas covered are innovation (comparison by Christian Le Bas, William Latham and Dmitry Volodin of the four main systems of innovation) and relations with a subservient neighbouring country (analysis by Elsa Lafaye de Micheaux of the special relationship, described as “precious”, between China and Malaysia). It would appear from these contributions that the development of the wage-earning population plays a key role in current trends. In his introduction to the collection Pierre Alary underlines this by comparing the institutionalist and regulationist leanings of the articles it contains in order to explore in depth the variety of forms of capitalism to be found in this region. Particular attention is given to the different ways in which labor has gained in importance. The variety of national models is in fact illustrated in parallel by the study by Hiroyasu Uemura and Shinji Tahara of Japan’s response to deindustrialization. The book by Nathalie Fau, Sirivanh Khonthapane and Christian Taillard proposes that a distinction be made between the phenomena of regionalism and regionalization, and François Bafoil points out that it is useful to see the subject thus analysed by geographers, an approach which is potentially beneficial to both economists and politicists). It is once again apparent that Chinese domination takes a heavy toll on the local communities. This being so, it is difficult to consider growth to be synonymous with development.
2The variety of national and regional trajectories is also illustrated by a cluster of articles on the automobile industry which were discussed at the GERPISA (Automobile Industry and Salary-Earners Study and Research Group) with regard to the easterly winds affecting European production. Vincent Frigant takes a comparison of France and Germany as his starting-point for a study of the extension of value chains in the East and in Central Europe which he considers may have a de-structuring effect. Nathalie Rodet-Kroichvili, Stéphane Heim and Raymond Woessner explore the territorial dimension of entities currently being recomposed with the help of cartographic research and the study of strategic diversity, notably regarding R&D. Several case studies on the extension of value chains in the East are used by Martin Krzywdzinski to study the effects of these transformations on the social compromise in Germany, and to demonstrate that their effect is not fundamentally destabilizing. The first theme discussed is the classic case of an industry in crisis in the West, but these three contributions cover many others and serve to enrichen the territorialist approach to models of production.
3The territorial dimension of economic activity is also to be observed at an infra-national level in the paper by Catherine de Géry on competition poles in France, which analyzes a new scale of regulation by studying the relation between training and employment. Jonathan Marie returns to the phenomenon of hyperinflation in Argentina and proposes a post-Keynsian interpretation which identifies the emergence of specific institutional arrangements. His work thus corresponds well to the regional thematic focus and the conceptual content covered comprehensively in the review.
4After this post-Keynesian discussion, the section of miscellaneous articles revisits Marx in relation to a number of fundamental questions of money and the theory of (Nicolas Piluso).
5The reading notes lead us, as is often the case, into widely differing domains. With their characteristic perspicacity Bernard Guerrien and Ozgur Gun have unearthed a study by Felipe and McCombie which lends weight to heterodoxy by revealing the vacuity of the aggregate production function (used in micro-economics far beyond mere neo-classical practice) and by concentrating on the question of its (so-called) empirical validity. In echo to the interview granted to us by János Kornai in the previous issue, Julien Vercueil revisits his autobiography presented by Bernard Chavance. This Autobiographie irrégulière (“Non-standard Autobiogaphy”) is a narrative which focuses on the key notions of twentieth century thought and retraces the evolution of the work of this Hungarian intellectual who was fascinated in turn by different paradigms. Gilles Rasselet proposes a critical review of a book by Paul Boccara, which seeks to represent crises, defined in terms of over-production, as the product of the over-accumulation of capital (which produces crises) followed by the devaluing of capital (which provides a means of escaping from them). The relevance of the book to recent events is evident and extremely useful.
6With reference to the book about debt edited Bernard Hours and Pepita Ould Ahmed, Tristan Dissaux underlines the potential usefulness of this theme for interdisciplinary research, notably the association of economics with anthropology, and demonstrates the immense social significance of debt. The commentary by Coline Ruwet on Services sans frontières (“Services without Borders”) by Jean-Christophe Graz and Nafi Niang demonstrates the necessity of using different heterodox approaches in order to understand a paradox, namely the fact that although tertiarization and globalization are both major features of our time, the proportion of services in overall figures for commercial transactions is not increasing. The book explains that the globalization of services is dependent on the globilization of institutions – and in particular of norms. In his commentary on the review Documentaires n° 25 which considers the question of how to “film the economy”, Thomas Lamarche also identifies here the potential for new and different means of representing the economy, notably those which appeal to the sentiments.
7Finally, we are pleased to announce that in the spirit of the internationalisation of the Régulation Review and in response to the “Piketty phenomenon”, particularly in the United States, we have translated into English the critical note written by Robert Boyer and published in the December issue (n° 14). This commentary has been widely read and quoted by French specialists and would appear to be already arousing considerable interest among English-speaking readers, if the figure of 3000 consultations of the article in 30 days is anything to go by.
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« Editorial », Revue de la régulation [En ligne], 15 | 1er semestre / Spring 2014, mis en ligne le 27 juin 2014, consulté le 17 mars 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/regulation/10810 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/regulation.10810
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