Books by Lynne Chester
The Routledge Handbook of Heterodox Economics presents a comprehensive overview of the latest wor... more The Routledge Handbook of Heterodox Economics presents a comprehensive overview of the latest work on economic theory and policy from a ‘pluralistic’ heterodox perspective.
Contributions throughout the Handbook explore different theoretical perspectives including: Marxian-radical political economics; Post Keynesian-Sraffian economics; institutionalist-evolutionary economics; feminist economics; social economics; Régulation theory; the Social Structure of Accumulation approach; and ecological economics. They explain the structural properties and dynamics of capitalism, as well as propose economic and social policies for the benefit of the majority of the population. This book aims, firstly, to provide realistic and coherent theoretical frameworks to understand the capitalist economy in a constructive and forward-looking manner. Secondly, it delineates the future directions, as well as the current state, of heterodox economics, and then provides both ‘heat and light’ on controversial issues, drawing out the commonalities and differences among different heterodox economic approaches. The volume also envisions transformative economic and social policies for the majority of the population and explains why economics is, and should be treated as, a social science.
This Handbook will be of compelling interest to those, including students, who wish to learn about alternative economic theories and policies that are rarely found in conventional economics textbooks or discussed in the mainstream media, and to critical economists and other social scientists who are concerned with analyzing pressing socio-economic issues.
Journal Articles by Lynne Chester
Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, 2020
The intensity and duration of the 2019-20 Australian bushfires were unprecedented, as were the gl... more The intensity and duration of the 2019-20 Australian bushfires were unprecedented, as were the global impacts. The area burnt was greater than the size of South Korea, or Scotland and Wales combined. These bushfires took seven months to contain or extinguish. The smoke plume, which spread around the world, was the equivalent size of the 11 largest states of the United States. Carbon dioxide emissions approached Australia’s annual total emissions. Over 90 per cent of the adult population was impacted in some way. Thirty-three people died, and nearly 450 people died from smoke affects. More than a billion animals perished.
This article contends that the story of these bushfires is much more complex than one of climate change, as posited by some. It is argued that the scale and catastrophic impact of these bushfires were caused—and exacerbated—by a conjunction of cumulative events, (in)actions and institutions. This story is a potent mix of: the problematisation of bushfires and governing; a federation of nation and local states fractured by constitutional responsibilities; the impact of neoliberal austerity policies on land management; discordant local-state policies; a long-term disregard of Indigenous fire practices; the role of community (volunteerism); the transmission of (mis)information by social and traditional media; record temperatures; national rainfall the lowest for over a century; at least a third of the continent experiencing a severe three-year drought; and more.
Economic Thought, 2019
The renowned institutionalist Geoffrey Hodgson has claimed inter alia that heterodox economics ha... more The renowned institutionalist Geoffrey Hodgson has claimed inter alia that heterodox economics has failed to define its nature and scope, does not take pluralism seriously, and lacks expertise concentration to ensure quality which means it has made limited progress and is held in variable esteem. To address these alleged problems, Hodgson proposes four alternative strategies: the creation of heterodox economics academic departments; for heterodox economists to enter non-economics academic departments; for heterodox economists to 'organise' around a successful approach with future potential; or, to encourage the study of economic institutions by other social science disciplines or by using prominent mainstream techniques and approaches. A response to these criticisms and proposed strategies is warranted for several reasons. These criticisms are not trivial and, as an assemblage the import is much greater than a singular criticism. Hodgson is very influential within the economics discipline and he reiterates, in part, past criticisms from the mainstream as well as presenting his criticisms to a wide range of audiences. These criticisms intersect with longstanding debates within heterodox economics about the role of pluralism, the definition and project of heterodox economics, its relationship to the changing form of mainstream, and the merit of synthesis or convergence of different heterodox schools of economic thought. The suitability of mainstream measures to judge heterodox economics, and the relationship of ideology and economic theory, are also raised by these criticisms as well as the feasibility of proposed strategies to support heterodox economics within the academy. It is argued that several fallacious claims lead Hodgson to misconstrue the nature and evolution of heterodox economics, and inherent flaws in each of his proposed alternative strategies will further marginalise-not advance-the project of heterodox economics.
Energy Policy, 2019
This article contributes to the discussion of frameworks for conducting energy policy analysis. T... more This article contributes to the discussion of frameworks for conducting energy policy analysis. The article considers the influence of epistemic frames on energy policy decisions, and particularly the representation of energy problems, using a social constructionist approach and a case study of Australian electricity policy, the cornerstone of the nation's energy policy. Rather than contributing to the debate about the future of a country-specific electricity sector or a classification of differing conceptualisations of energy, the article focuses on 'the explanation of energy' by investigating the framing of Australian electricity policy from early 20th century Federation to the contemporary era. A six-question analytical grid is deployed to examine how debates and policies about electricity provisioning-and the 'energy problem'-have been constructed and reconstructed. The article concludes that the framing and reframing of the problem of 'energy' over time represents a key mechanism through which the state has represented, constituted and configured its role in the nation and reflects broader transformations in 'governing'.
International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education , 2017
An effective exit strategy from the ecological crisis does not lie within the broad dichotomy of ... more An effective exit strategy from the ecological crisis does not lie within the broad dichotomy of alternative policy prescriptions: those advocating the reform of capitalism using the same mechanisms which have embedded the ecological crisis (e.g., ecological economics, steady-state economics); and, those proposing a new albeit highly unlikely socioeconomic system (e.g., ecological Marxism, socialist ecology). A significant shift in our thinking is required to design a strategy directed at the interdependencies between the spheres constituting capitalist social and economic organisation and delivered by a reconceptualised form of state capitalism. Biographical notes: Lynne Chester is recognised as a Leading Australian Scholar in the empirical application of régulation theory. Her research focuses on a range of energy issues (affordability, security, markets, price formation, and the environment) and the policy responses of capitalist economies through different institutional forms. She is an author of Neoliberal Structural Change and the Electricity Sector: a Régulationist Analysis
Revue de la régulation: Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, 2016
Australia has one of the most ‘liberalised’ electricity sectors in the world. The sale of governm... more Australia has one of the most ‘liberalised’ electricity sectors in the world. The sale of government-owned electricity companies has contributed to that liberalisation and a quarter of the proceeds of one of the world’s largest privatisation programs. In 2014 the state governments of NSW and Queensland announced further electricity privatisations if re-elected. Advocates claim private ownership will mean more productive investment, lower costs leading to more efficient operations, lower prices for all consumers and better market functioning without government interference. Opponents contend that the true value of government businesses is not being realised at sale, retention can achieve returns greater than those from a sale, and that follow sale, prices will rise and jobs will be lost. This article demonstrates that the claims of either lower or higher prices, of job losses and of more efficient operations are tantamount to being myths of privatisation not borne out by reality.
Journal of Australian Political Economy, 2015
Journal of Economic Issues, XLVIII (2): 395-403, Jun 2014
IAEE Energy Forum, 2nd quarter 2014
American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 2013
Public policies have become embedded with marketbased mechanisms to radically transform essential... more Public policies have become embedded with marketbased mechanisms to radically transform essential goods and services markets. This article proposes a framework for empirical analysis of these markets. Key theoretical propositions are distilled to 12 distinctive properties of markets. These properties foreshadow a set of questions to interrogate a market's structure, operation, participants, behaviors, rules, and price setting to generate a substantive, realistic picture of outcomes. This "analytical grid" of questions is applied to four Australian essential goods and services markets. The findings unequivocally demonstrate a very different picture of markets from that promulgated by mainstream neoclassical economics and public policies.
European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, 2013
Review of Radical Political Economics, 2013
This paper argues that neoliberalism's global restructuring of electricity sectors has failed to ... more This paper argues that neoliberalism's global restructuring of electricity sectors has failed to deliver its proclaimed objectives and spawned threats to economic growth, financial market stability, environmental degradation, and society's well-being. Using the case study of Australia, the paper's régulationist analysis reveals the short-term outcomes and longer-term consequences of this restructuring, and concludes that the paradox of this structural change is the creation of inherent risks to the accumulation process.
Journal of Economic Issues, Jun 2013
Contemporary capitalism is marked by economic, energy, and environmental crises. This article exp... more Contemporary capitalism is marked by economic, energy, and environmental crises. This article explores the interrelationships between these crises using the example of Australia, one of the world's highest per-capita carbon gas emitters. In this paper, I consider key features, impacts, and state policy responses to these three crises through the lens of Australia's institutional architecture. My finding is that the conjunction of the crises is driven by the dialectical relationship between the three spheres. I conclude that the state, by privileging policy responses to the economic crisis, is aggravating the energy and environmental crises and compounding the economic crisis.
The restructuring of electricity sectors has resulted in households paying significantly higher p... more The restructuring of electricity sectors has resulted in households paying significantly higher prices. Some European prices rose by more than 100 per cent between 2000 and 2010. NSW households experienced an 80 per cent increase during the period 2007 to 2012. Growing numbers of low-income and vulnerable households are spending higher proportions of disposable income on energy bills and, we contend, suffer deprivation and social exclusion as a result. This phenomenon, we posit, is a new form of energy poverty driven by rapidly rising electricity prices which are directly related to electricity sector restructuring. The energy-impoverished population is estimated at 150 million in Europe, and growing. Policy responses are ineffective and poorly targeted, while Australian policy makers rely on measures which significantly understate electricity price changes. This article explores the prevalence and consequences of the problem of energy poverty and outlines the extent of its occurrence in Australia, the country hailed as an exemplar of electricity sector liberalisation.
Journal of Australian Political Economy, 2011
The hegemony of neoliberalism has seen the market virtually canonised and mainstream neoclassical... more The hegemony of neoliberalism has seen the market virtually canonised and mainstream neoclassical economics successfully shaping an understanding of the market as being synonymous with the economy and capitalism more generally. But mainstream economics portrays the market as a normative ideal framed around a set of abstract assumptions incompatible with reality. This conception and assumptions have been roundly challenged. A burgeoning discourse has cogently demonstrated that real-world markets do not emerge in some vacuum, are persistently vulnerable to failure, influence the relationships of individuals, and their operation depends on highly complex non-market institutional arrangements into which they are deeply embedded (For example:
Journal of Economic Issues, Jun 2010
Neoliberalism has transformed markets supplying public goods. Analysis of five real-world Austral... more Neoliberalism has transformed markets supplying public goods. Analysis of five real-world Australian markets reveals the eligibility rules for access and ongoing participation, interaction of participants, the role of intermediaries and government, the extent of competition, complex regulatory regimes shaping and controlling these markets, and key market outcomes. Contrary to neoliberalism's free market rhetoric and the view promulgated by mainstream economics, a spectrum of market configurations and governance regimes were found along with participation being highly dependent on technology access and skills, market outcomes inconsistent with policy rhetoric, market interrelationships posing adverse cumulative impacts, and government is strongly interventionist through multiple roles.
International Journal of Green Economics, 2010
Régulation theory offers a cogent analytical framework to explain the contemporary environmental ... more Régulation theory offers a cogent analytical framework to explain the contemporary environmental challenge, capitalism's responses to environmental issues and the challenge of sustainable development to accumulation. The paper outlines the insights provided by this analytical framework and seeks to develop a régulationist approach to the ecological by building on two contributions directed at overcoming the past régulationist 'environment-deficit-syndrome'. It is contended that the economic-environment relation is not a social relation peculiar to capitalism but is given definition and form by the mode of régulation which secures accumulation. A method for empirical investigation of the economic-environment relation is proposed and it is concluded that the prospects for sustainable development are constrained to that which do not challenge accumulation. Thus, régulationist analysis can provide a more realistic picture of capitalism's challenges to be overcome to achieve the more equitable solutions sought by Green Economics to climate change, poverty and biodiversity. . Her research focuses on the application of régulation theory to energy issues and the environment, the structure and operation of actually existing markets for former public goods, the changing role of the state and varieties of capitalism.
Energy Policy, 2010
Twenty-first century access to energy sources depends on a complex system of global markets, vast... more Twenty-first century access to energy sources depends on a complex system of global markets, vast cross-border infrastructure networks, a small group of primary energy suppliers, and interdependencies with financial markets and technology. This is the context in which energy security has risen high on the policy agenda of governments around the world and the term 'energy security' has quietly slipped into the energy lexicon. The limited discourse about the nature of the term or its underlying assumptions has been totally eclipsed by an almost overwhelming focus on securing supplies of primary energy sources and geopolitics. An examination of explicit and inferred definitions finds that the concept of energy security is inherently slippery because it is polysemic in nature, capable of holding multiple dimensions and taking on different specificities depending on the country (or continent), timeframe or energy source to which it is applied. This 'slipperiness' poses analytical, prediction and policy difficulties but if explicitly recognised through definitional clarity, new levels of understanding will enrich the policy debate to deal with obstacles impacting on the constantly evolving nature of energy security.
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Books by Lynne Chester
Contributions throughout the Handbook explore different theoretical perspectives including: Marxian-radical political economics; Post Keynesian-Sraffian economics; institutionalist-evolutionary economics; feminist economics; social economics; Régulation theory; the Social Structure of Accumulation approach; and ecological economics. They explain the structural properties and dynamics of capitalism, as well as propose economic and social policies for the benefit of the majority of the population. This book aims, firstly, to provide realistic and coherent theoretical frameworks to understand the capitalist economy in a constructive and forward-looking manner. Secondly, it delineates the future directions, as well as the current state, of heterodox economics, and then provides both ‘heat and light’ on controversial issues, drawing out the commonalities and differences among different heterodox economic approaches. The volume also envisions transformative economic and social policies for the majority of the population and explains why economics is, and should be treated as, a social science.
This Handbook will be of compelling interest to those, including students, who wish to learn about alternative economic theories and policies that are rarely found in conventional economics textbooks or discussed in the mainstream media, and to critical economists and other social scientists who are concerned with analyzing pressing socio-economic issues.
Journal Articles by Lynne Chester
This article contends that the story of these bushfires is much more complex than one of climate change, as posited by some. It is argued that the scale and catastrophic impact of these bushfires were caused—and exacerbated—by a conjunction of cumulative events, (in)actions and institutions. This story is a potent mix of: the problematisation of bushfires and governing; a federation of nation and local states fractured by constitutional responsibilities; the impact of neoliberal austerity policies on land management; discordant local-state policies; a long-term disregard of Indigenous fire practices; the role of community (volunteerism); the transmission of (mis)information by social and traditional media; record temperatures; national rainfall the lowest for over a century; at least a third of the continent experiencing a severe three-year drought; and more.
Contributions throughout the Handbook explore different theoretical perspectives including: Marxian-radical political economics; Post Keynesian-Sraffian economics; institutionalist-evolutionary economics; feminist economics; social economics; Régulation theory; the Social Structure of Accumulation approach; and ecological economics. They explain the structural properties and dynamics of capitalism, as well as propose economic and social policies for the benefit of the majority of the population. This book aims, firstly, to provide realistic and coherent theoretical frameworks to understand the capitalist economy in a constructive and forward-looking manner. Secondly, it delineates the future directions, as well as the current state, of heterodox economics, and then provides both ‘heat and light’ on controversial issues, drawing out the commonalities and differences among different heterodox economic approaches. The volume also envisions transformative economic and social policies for the majority of the population and explains why economics is, and should be treated as, a social science.
This Handbook will be of compelling interest to those, including students, who wish to learn about alternative economic theories and policies that are rarely found in conventional economics textbooks or discussed in the mainstream media, and to critical economists and other social scientists who are concerned with analyzing pressing socio-economic issues.
This article contends that the story of these bushfires is much more complex than one of climate change, as posited by some. It is argued that the scale and catastrophic impact of these bushfires were caused—and exacerbated—by a conjunction of cumulative events, (in)actions and institutions. This story is a potent mix of: the problematisation of bushfires and governing; a federation of nation and local states fractured by constitutional responsibilities; the impact of neoliberal austerity policies on land management; discordant local-state policies; a long-term disregard of Indigenous fire practices; the role of community (volunteerism); the transmission of (mis)information by social and traditional media; record temperatures; national rainfall the lowest for over a century; at least a third of the continent experiencing a severe three-year drought; and more.