There are so many things wrong with NC that it is pathetic. My favorite summary, which I think I mentioned before, is Lee and Keen, "The Incoherent Emperor," Review of Social Economy, June 2004.
What I did in my article was different. I took the NCs at their word, as it were, making all the simplifying assumptions they like to do. (I even have a systematic list of them in most of my articles you can see on line.) Then I showed that even under those circumstances they cannot prove that profit-seeking firms are more efficient than any other kind of organization. >I disagree with the idea that profit-seeking firms are efficient. It >doesn't even make sense in NC terms, unless by NC we mean only the >"Chicago" school. Profit-seeking companies have an incentive to dump >costs on others (externalize internal costs, pollute) and to capture >external benefits. A narrow-minded worker co-op (that acts like a >fraternity of a craft union -- or in jargon, is economistic) has a >similar problem. > >On Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 1:02 AM, Gassler Robert <[email protected]> wrote: >> The best I can do is two paragraphs: >> >> Instead of ad hoc assumptions about what the head of the organization >> maximizes, I assume utility maximization throughout. The variables in the >> utility function are different for altruistic and selfish entrepreneurs, and >> the constraints differ according to whether the organization is a >> profit-seeking firm, cooperative, bureau, or nonprofit organization. >> Profit-seeking firms run by selfish entrepreneurs are efficient in the >> purchase of inputs. So are cooperatives, and nonprofit organizations run by >> altruistic entrepreneurs. OTOH, profit-seeking firms run by altruists or >> entrepreneurs interested in quality are inefficient, as are nonprofit >> organizations run by selfish entrepreneurs. This result is what most people >> expect, but it gives the lie to the neoclassical view that only >> profit-seeking firms are efficient. >> >> >>>Gassler Robert wrote: >>>> In an almost completely obscure article, I turned neoclassical theory on >>>> its head and showed that cooperatives were at least as efficient as >>>> profit-seeking firms, nonprofit organizations, and government bureaus. >>>> >>>> The reference is: "The Economics of the Nonprofit Motive: A Suggested >>>> Formulation of Objectives and Constraints for Firms and Nonprofit >>>> Enterprises," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, Volume 8, Number 4, >>>> 1997, pp.265-280. >>> >>>the word "Interdisciplinary" is enough to turn the vast majority of >>>(orthodox) economists off. >>> >>>Robert, can you give a two-sentence summary? thanks. >>>-- >>>Jim Devine / "In an ugly and unhappy world the richest man can >>>purchase nothing but ugliness and unhappiness." -- George Bernard Shaw >>>_______________________________________________ >>>pen-l mailing list >>>[email protected] >>>https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >>> >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pen-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > > >-- >Jim Devine / "In an ugly and unhappy world the richest man can >purchase nothing but ugliness and unhappiness." -- George Bernard Shaw >_______________________________________________ >pen-l mailing list >[email protected] >https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
