Books by Andres Marroquin
"Invisible Hand: The Wealth of Adam Smith" covers the main events in the life of this brilliant t... more "Invisible Hand: The Wealth of Adam Smith" covers the main events in the life of this brilliant theorist, and explores the intellectual propositions of the founder of modern economics. A useful introductory tool for everyone interested in the history and evolution of ideas, this book shows that Smith was as much a moral philosopher as an economist. His works, "The Wealth of Nations" and "The Theory of Moral Sentiments," complement each other. Adam Smith built the basis for a sound tradition of thought that defends freedom and common sense. He explored and developed ideas that are as valid and valuable today as they were when he wrote them..
Papers by Andres Marroquin
In some developing countries the authorization of new universities is highly regulated, and even ... more In some developing countries the authorization of new universities is highly regulated, and even incumbents are part of a board that authorizes entrants. It is in the incumbents’ best
interest to reject potential competitors by setting up and enforcing entry barriers, which can have negative consequences in the industry – less competition, less access, and less
innovation, etc. In fact there are many benefits of a lax regulatory approach to higher education. This paper discusses these ideas by comparing Guatemala and Nicaragua’s higher
education industries.
Population and Development …, Jan 1, 2009
This paper uses a regression analysis to explore the cross-country variation in homicide rates fo... more This paper uses a regression analysis to explore the cross-country variation in homicide rates for a large sample of countries. It starts by identifying seven significant regional dummy variables, to which traditional socio-economic, cultural, and institutional variables are added and tested. The importance of institutions, culture, and other factors affecting homicide rates are discussed. One unexpected finding is a curious relationship between the level of education and homicide rates: while an increase in male education tends to reduce homicide rates, an increase in female education tends to increase homicides. Several possible interpretations for this phenomenon are proposed. The study points to relatively unexplored areas of research in order to better understand homicide variation around the world.
Salant (1969) complained that on many occasions he found the writing of his fellow economists “ne... more Salant (1969) complained that on many occasions he found the writing of his fellow economists “nearly incomprehensible,” and made suggestions to improve economists‟ writing skills (and, by extension, those of natural and social scientists in general). Among other things, he argued that good writers tend to use shorter words. We call this “the Salant hypothesis,” and use standard statistical techniques to test this claim by comparing the average length of words used by Nobel laureates in their banquet speeches. We find that Literature laureates tend to use shorter words than laureates in other disciplines, and the difference is statistically significant. These results support Salant‟s idea that words should be used efficiently. This includes using short words instead of longer ones whenever possible. In short, good writing is also “economical writing.”
This chapter describes the current situation of entrepreneurship in Haiti and the main obstacles ... more This chapter describes the current situation of entrepreneurship in Haiti and the main obstacles entrepreneurs face in that country. It looks at entrepreneurship from a comparative-economics perspective (stressing quantitative variables) and from an anthropological perspective (stressing qualitative research). The chapter presents some case studies from the city of Jérémie and offers policy recommendations.
Complexity sciences study the interconnection of many different elements that affect each other s... more Complexity sciences study the interconnection of many different elements that affect each other simultaneously to create emergent outcomes in the physical, biological, or social spheres. In the book "Complexity and The Art of Public Policy: Solving Society Problems From the Bottom" (2014), David Colander and Ronald Kupers propose that to face the complexity of contemporary social problems states should adopt a ``laissez-faire activism'' to facilitate the emergence of bottom-up solutions. They call this the ``complexity frame.'' My purpose in this paper is to describe and evaluate the frame and to apply it to homicidal violence to determine if we can profit from the utilisation of that approach. More specifically, I want to determine if by using the complexity frame as a guide for policy formulation we can obtain a broader landscape of solutions for violence.
We investigate the availability of price information for a common surgical procedure, a C-section... more We investigate the availability of price information for a common surgical procedure, a C-section, in the context of Guatemala. We phoned 98 hospitals and found that, for the most part, hospitals are willing to give an approximate price. The range of prices is Q. 3,000 - Q. 13,000 in Guatemala City, and Q. 2,300 - Q. 9,000 in the departments of the country. It is more difficult however to get more detailed information of prices, such as the price of different components of the procedure. There is room for a consumer to increase her welfare by “shopping around.” The industry is an example of “monopolistic competition.”
This paper is based on an argument proposed by Salant (1969), who complained that on many occasio... more This paper is based on an argument proposed by Salant (1969), who complained that on many occasions he found the writing of his colleagues “nearly incomprehensible,” and made suggestions to improve economists’ writing skills. Among other things, he argued that a “simple way of avoiding clumsiness is to prefer the short word to the long one and to avoid the unfamiliar word if a familiar one can be found that is equally correct, specific, and concrete” (p. 556). We call this “the Salant hypothesis,” and use ANOVA to test this hypothesis by comparing the average length of words used by Nobel laureates in their banquet speeches. We find that Literature laureates tend to use shorter words than laureates in other disciplines, and the difference is statistically significant. These results confirm Salant’s idea that words are a scarce resource and should be used efficiently. This includes using short words instead of longer ones whenever possible. In short, good writing is also “economical writing.”
The Internet, the culture of financial markets, and religion will become important components of ... more The Internet, the culture of financial markets, and religion will become important components of the research identity of economic anthropology.
La economía experimental aplica métodos de laboratorio para estudiar las interacciones de los ser... more La economía experimental aplica métodos de laboratorio para estudiar las interacciones de los seres humanos en los contextos sociales goernados por reglas explicitas o implícitas.
We built a competitive labor market from the bottom-up (a computer simulation) and our results co... more We built a competitive labor market from the bottom-up (a computer simulation) and our results conform the theoretical agreements and offers evidence for increasing minimum wage elasticity, especially in the case of subjects defined as immigrants and teenagers.
The claim is that the supply and demand of enforceable institutions in Haiti had been low, due to... more The claim is that the supply and demand of enforceable institutions in Haiti had been low, due to suboptimal strategies played by the dictators and the public/army.
In Botswana it was in the best interest of the tax authorities to charge low taxes, given the mob... more In Botswana it was in the best interest of the tax authorities to charge low taxes, given the mobility of cattle (Tiebout, 1956), this was key for the economic development in the country.
This article shares my experience in the class of institutional economics [I-E] at the undergradu... more This article shares my experience in the class of institutional economics [I-E] at the undergraduate level where I used The Fellowship of the Ring, the first book of Tolkien’s fantastic saga, as a platform to teach about economic and social institutions.
This article describes what enterprising communities are [E-C] and presents a framework of analysis.
Weber’s theory of the protestant ethic helps explain economic prosperity in some communities in L... more Weber’s theory of the protestant ethic helps explain economic prosperity in some communities in Latin America, like Almolonga in Guatemala.
Research in Economic Anthropology, Jan 1, 2010
This chapter claims that the La Chamba community in central Colombia experiences some of the char... more This chapter claims that the La Chamba community in central Colombia experiences some of the characteristics of Schumpeter’s (1949) idea of economic development.
andresmarroquin.net
The case of the Wayúu of Colombia illustrates that government offices, non-government organizatio... more The case of the Wayúu of Colombia illustrates that government offices, non-government organizations, and the Wayúu themselves adopt the strategic modification of crafts so that they can compete more favorably in the market place.
Uploads
Books by Andres Marroquin
Papers by Andres Marroquin
interest to reject potential competitors by setting up and enforcing entry barriers, which can have negative consequences in the industry – less competition, less access, and less
innovation, etc. In fact there are many benefits of a lax regulatory approach to higher education. This paper discusses these ideas by comparing Guatemala and Nicaragua’s higher
education industries.
interest to reject potential competitors by setting up and enforcing entry barriers, which can have negative consequences in the industry – less competition, less access, and less
innovation, etc. In fact there are many benefits of a lax regulatory approach to higher education. This paper discusses these ideas by comparing Guatemala and Nicaragua’s higher
education industries.