The Basic Model

Frank H. Stephen
Additional contact information
Frank H. Stephen: University of Strathclyde

Chapter 2 in The Economic Analysis of Producers’ Cooperatives, 1984, pp 4-25 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract In contrast to the theory of market-socialism developed by Lange (1938), the economic theory of the labour-managed firm is a relatively recent development. The first important paper on the subject was that of Benjamin Ward (1958).[1] Two factors may perhaps go a long way to explaining this. Firstly, economists concerned with the study of socialist economics were largely concerned with ‘systems’, i.e. the structure of national economy and the mechanisms by which production units could be stimulated by the planners to operate according to the preference function of the planners (i.e. the plan). Secondly, although a number of cooperative firms were established in the 19th century, relatively few have survived. It was largely as a result of one major development in this field (that of Yugoslavia) that Ward seems to have been encouraged to consider the micro-economic implications of self-management. To some extent, however, he was also concerned with ‘some Eastern European countries groping toward a less centralized form of economic organization … and some Western European socialists struggling with the implications for democracy (and efficiency) of further nationalization’ (Ward, 1958, p. 566).

Keywords: Wage Rate; Marginal Product; Marginal Revenue; Perfect Competition; Pareto Optimal Allocation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1984
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-06248-5_2

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9781349062485

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-06248-5_2

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().