From the early 1980s to the late 1990s overall productivity rates did not reflect the rising investment in information and computer technology (ICT). This paradox, the productivity paradox, which was widely discussed among economists may well turn out to be mainly a mirage once the assumption is excluded that investment has a short-run effect on productivity. The apparent productivity paradox seems to be rooted in an ICT infrastructure that is inadequate and in an increase in income disparities that thwart the realization of economies of scale.

I analyze cryptocurrency ecosystems with Elinor Ostrom's meta-framework for self-governance. I conclude that Bitcoin falls short in its self-governing ambitions, while cryptocurrency software protocols and blockchain technologies have potentialities within "permissioned" peer-to-peer private or hybrid networks. However, regulation and supervision by trusted third parties are required.

Services are crucial for the functioning of a society and an economy. Nonetheless, they have not been given the attention they deserve and remain poorly understood by the economics profession. In many studies services are taken to be technologically sluggish or stagnant, and this then, is regarded as an explanation for their rising share in overall employment. The fact that due to the new information technologies, labor productivity in services has been perceptively increasing is not adequately reflected and acknowledged in economic statistics. This article discusses some aspects relating to changes in labor productivity with special reference to services. It describes the product of services from the final consumers’ point of view, as well as from the point of view of producers and analyzes the effect of services on process and product innovation. Attention is directed to the problem of measuring productivity in services and to some explanations for their rising share in GNP and employment in OECD countries. The conclusions suggest that changes in income, and in consumer behavior, affect the share of services and influence the growth of productivity in service industries.

Since the early 1980s, Dutch productivity rates have been driven by a shift from traditional mass production firms to lean production. It slightly counteracted the generally acknowledged procyclical productivity rates; instead of working less hard during the recession of the 1980s and 1990s, employed labor had to work harder. Because the combination of mass and craft production makes lean production very demanding on employees, it appears to be more stressful than production in a traditional firm. This possibly influenced the rise of disability in the 1980s and 1990s, when almost one-third of disabilities were due to``mental disorders''.

Abstract:This article aims to address the lack of transaction costs economics (TCE) studies in health economics. It provides a content analysis of ObamaCare and 25 lawsuits that challenge the 2010 reform. It shows that the cultural environment determines the strength of features of governance structures and in line with this the strength of their instruments. Following Williamson's TCE model of governance structures, the zero transaction costs criterion is supplanted by the remediableness criterion. Assuming that ObamaCare might be ruled to be constitutional, the regulation of healthcare is found to be a comparative efficient governance structure in addressing adverse selection. However, the TCE analysis also reveals that ObamaCare itself is subject to some flaws in efficiency and effectiveness, namely: unbalanced adaptation mechanisms, unbalanced incentives and weak enforcement devices.