Thorstein Veblen or Nonparametric Econometrics

Thorstein Veblen: Theorist of the Leisure Class

Author: John Patrick Patrick Diggins

Fired by Stanford and the University of Chicago but recommended by his peers to the presidency of the American Economic Association, Thorstein Veblen remains a baffling figure in American intellectual history. In part because he was an eccentric who shunned publicity, he has also been one of our most neglected. Veblen is known to the general public only as coiner of the term "conspicuous consumption," and to scholars primarily as one of many social critics of the reform-minded Progressive Era. This important critical biography--originally published as The Bard of Savagery and now appearing in paperback for the first time--attempts both to unravel the riddles that surround his reputation and to assess his varied and important contributions to modern social theory.

What People Are Saying

John Kenneth Galbraith
A most important, incisive, and readable study of Thorstein Veblen.

Table of Contents:

	Preface: Social Theory and the Anthropological Imperative
	Introduction to the Paperback Edition
	List of Abbreviations
Pt. 1	The Milieu and the Man	1
Ch. 1	Veblen's America	3
Ch. 2	Enter Veblen: "Disturber of the Intellectual Peace"	14
Ch. 3	The Social Scientist as "Stranger"	31
Pt. 2	Theory and History	41
Ch. 4	Economics and the Dilemma of Value Theory	43
Ch. 5	Marx, Veblen, and the "Riddle" of Alienation	59
Ch. 6	Reification, Animism, Emulation: The Cultural Hegemony of Capitalism	83
Ch. 7	Veblen, Weber, and the "Spirit of Capitalism"	111
Pt. 3	Inside the Whale	137
Ch. 8	The Barbarian Status of Women	139
Ch. 9	The Tribes of Academe	167
Ch. 10	America and the World	184
Ch. 11	Disciples and Dissenters: Veblen's Legacy in American Thought and Social Action	208
Ch. 12	Conclusion: Whither Capitalism?	225
	Notes	231
	Index	253

See also: From Pirates to Drug Lords or Studying Organization

Nonparametric Econometrics: Theory & Practice

Author: Qi Li

Until now, students and researchers in nonparametric and semiparametric statistics and econometrics have had to turn to the latest journal articles to keep pace with these emerging methods of economic analysis. Nonparametric Econometrics fills a major gap by gathering together the most up-to-date theory and techniques and presenting them in a remarkably straightforward and accessible format. The empirical tests, data, and exercises included in this textbook help make it the ideal introduction for graduate students and an indispensable resource for researchers.

Nonparametric and semiparametric methods have attracted a great deal of attention from statisticians in recent decades. While the majority of existing books on the subject operate from the presumption that the underlying data is strictly continuous in nature, more often than not social scientists deal with categorical data--nominal and ordinal--in applied settings. The conventional nonparametric approach to dealing with the presence of discrete variables is acknowledged to be unsatisfactory.

This book is tailored to the needs of applied econometricians and social scientists. Qi Li and Jeffrey Racine emphasize nonparametric techniques suited to the rich array of data types--continuous, nominal, and ordinal--within one coherent framework. They also emphasize the properties of nonparametric estimators in the presence of potentially irrelevant variables.

Nonparametric Econometrics covers all the material necessary to understand and apply nonparametric methods for real-world problems.