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Books > Business & Economics > Economics > Economic theory & philosophy
College cost per student has been on the rise at a pace that matches ? or exceeds ? healthcare costs. Unlike healthcare, though, teaching quality has declined, and rapidly rising costs and declining quality are not trends easily forgiven by society. The College Cost Disease addresses these problems, providing a behavioral framework for the chronic cost/quality consequences with which higher education is fraught. Providing many compelling insights into the issues plaguing higher education, Robert Martin expounds upon H.R. Bowen?s revenue theory of cost by detailing experience good theory, the principal/agent problem, and non-profit status. Reputation competition dominates higher education. Students and their parents, and public opinion in general, associate higher tuition with higher quality and greater accolades; price is used as a proxy for quality only when consumers are uncertain about quality prior to purchase. Higher education services are the most complex types of ?experience goods?; a service whose quality can only be determined after a purchase has been made. Applying formal economic theory to higher education, Robert Martin examines how and why attempts to control costs are controversial and the damaging effects these controversies have on institutions? reputations. Arguing that the college access problem cannot be solved until colleges and universities find a way to control their costs, this book brings to the fore the leading ideas that will bring about much-needed budgetary reform in higher education.Governing boards, administrators and faculty members should find much to think on and learn from here; parents, students, alumni and taxpayers will find the research and conclusions alarming, though eye-opening.
This book analyses the egalitarian foundations of equality law from a classical liberal perspective by asking two central questions: does justice ideally demand equality? Are differences in abilities among people in some sense unfair? The book examines these questions in the context of racial diversity. Racial justice as a component of social justice is often considered to be so emotionally and morally compelling that its implications for economic freedom are rarely subjected to critical scrutiny. In defending the classical ideal of formal equality in contexts of racial diversity this book questions the ethical status of egalitarian social and moral ideals. Economic Freedom and Social Justice argues that egalitarian ideals, like all subjective value judgements, must be subjected to critical intellectual inquiry rather than treated axiomatically. Drawing upon the legal framework in the UK and other common law jurisdictions, this book shows some of the ways in which egalitarian ideals, in addition to resting on false premises, are costly, harmful, and ultimately inimical to justice and liberty. The book argues that legal entitlements and policy guidelines constructed upon notions of racial equity are wrongly constituted as the main prism through which liberal market democracies govern private relationships, including the employment relationship. Written in a clear and forthright style, this book will be of interest to students and scholars in law, economics, philosophy and political economy.
This volume focuses on the theme of the dual aspects of method in the development of economic thought. It contains new papers that address methodological issues, and others that deal with the evolution of analytic techniques and the social or personal milieux in which ideas emerged and the extent to which they became part of the body of literature we call political economy.
This volume includes essays by prominent economists and psychologists working at the frontiers of economic psychology. A number of essays probe beliefs and expectations about rationality, consumer behaviour and expectations, and others assess psychological explanations of economic behaviour and the contribution of experimental economics. The book should be essential reading for both psychologists and economists with an interest in the most recent research in economic psychology.
This book argues that the coordination problem lies at the heart of Keynes's economics. It shows how Keynes's message got lost in the post-War period and develops a more fruitful extension of Keynes's ideas within a general equilibrium framework and alternative frameworks such as post Keynesian and Austrian economics. It is demonstrated that in the absence of a coordinating device like the Walrasian auctioneer or in the presence of uncertainty, coordination can no longer be superimposed. This ultimately implies that apart from some notable exceptions, the Keynesian revolution was in fact stifled at birth because the validity of the central concepts of microeconomics have never been challenged.This lively and fascinating book is likely to provoke debate amongst economists and policymakers. Its conclusions place a question mark over the development of economic theory since the Second World War.
Wicksteed's classic work, The Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution, has a central place within the development of marginal productivity theory. It claimed to explain all 'factor returns' on a unified basis and to show how 'marginal productivity factor pricing' just exhausted the total product. It is presented here with a long introduction by the editor, Ian Steedman, who provides both a careful analysis of the text and an assessment of Wicksteed's place within the development of modern economics. This important new edition will make The Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution accessible to a fresh generation of economists.
Demand and Exchange in Economic Analysis provides a rare combination of detailed analysis of a central area of economics with the history of economic thought. The first part of the book examines major attempts to treat mathematically the partial equilibrium concept of demand conceived as a schedule. The second part, after generalizing Cournot's model of trade in a single good, traces the general equilibrium analysis of exchange. This adds to the concept of a demand curve the fundamental interpretation of the rate of exchange, or price ratio, in terms of the amount of one good offered in return for a unit of another good. The similarity in the treatments of Mill, Whewell, Marshall and Walras is revealed along with the emphasis on multiple equilibria. Edgeworth's grand synthesis and extension of Jevons's approach to exchange is then discussed in detail. The book will be of interest to a wide range of economists interested in placing modern theory in historical perspective.
This engaging and intelligent book provides an accessible, down to earth assessment of the role of formalism and rigour in economics.Professor Mayer argues that there is room in economics for both highly formalised theory and for the less formal theory that predominates in the natural sciences. But economists generally fail to distinguish between these two types of theory. As a result, they often act as if the strength of an argument depends on the strength of its strongest link. They misallocate effort, polishing those parts of the argument that tend to be formalised, while paying insufficient attention to the others. Drawing on public choice theory, Mayer shows how this emphasis on the strongest link has distorted research particularly in new classical theory. He advocates stricter econometric testing, showing that many procedures currently used are only soft tests.
This important book explores many different aspects of the wealth creation process. It includes new essays by senior members of the economics profession focusing on aspects of competitive advantage, the environment, the integration of trade, manufacturing and services, the policies of wealth creation and economic policy. The creation of wealth lies at the heart of the economic process and is fundamental to the efficient working of the modern economy.
This important book presents new and original work at the frontiers of economics - namely the interface between artificial intelligence (AI) and neoclassical economics.Artificial Intelligence and Economic Analysis focuses on three quite distinct lines of AI orientated research in economics: applications intended to extend neoclassical theory, applications intended to undermine neoclassical theory and applications which ignore neoclassical theory in the quest for new modelling techniques and fields of analysis. The contributors - all of whom are well established in the field - seek to identify those areas where the science of artificial intelligence could enrich standard economic analysis. It includes material from mainstream economists who are willing to express their own views about the limits of mainstream economic modelling and AI based economic modelling. The book makes an important contribution to a new and exciting area of economics which holds much hope for the future.
This is the first English translation of Launhardt's Mathematische Begrundung der Volkswirtschaftslehre (1885), a major contribution to neoclassical economic theory which contains many important and original analyses. This edition will provide the basis for a re-evaluation of Launhardt's outstanding, but undervalued, contribution to economics. Taking the neoclassical emphasis on exchange as the central economic problem, Laundardt begins with a thorough treatment of the pure exchange model, then goes on to extend the treatment to the production of goods and the supply of labour, with a sophisticated general equilibrium perspective. It contains important analyses of savings and the role of capital goods, as well as an outstanding study of transport and the location of industry. Launhardt's book can, with justice, with be described as the first comprehensive treatise on welfare economics. Mathematical Principles of Economics will prove stimulating reading for economic theorists as well as those interested in the history of economics thought.
Allyn Young (1876-1929) was a deep thinker and achieved fame during his lifetime. His fame owes more to his style and influence as a teacher than his published work. His greatest fame as an author rests on a single economic paper on increasing returns and economic progress but he contributed much more as a mentor to his graduate students such as Frank Knight, Edward Chamberlin, and Lauchlin Currie at Harvard and to the undergraduate Nicholas Kaldor at the London School of Economics. He shot into international fame for his role as a member of the American delegation led by President Woodrow Wilson to negotiate peace at Paris after WWI. However, recent interest in Young is more due to his thought than to his contribution to the economics profession or public service. At the time of his death, he was working on two treatises, one on Money and the other on Economics. The one on Money was at a fairly advanced stage but no trace of either was found in his family's hasty departure from London after his untimely death. There is a general dearth of published material about Young, his thought and his life. His economic thought, apart from his views on growth theory and monetary economics, is relatively unknown. This volume offers a thematic approach to his contributions and biography.
This volume is part of an ongoing partnership between the Research in Management Consulting book series and the Socio-Economic Institute for Firms and Organizations (ISEOR), located in Ecully, France, on the outskirts of Lyon. The socio?economic approach to management (SEAM) provides a pathway to creating more engaged, more responsible and responsive, and more productive organizations. In many respects this volume reflects a culmination of ISEOR's work, drawing together Henri Savall and Veronique Zardet's insights and framing them in the context of strategy creation and, just as if not more important, strategy implementation. This volume casts SEAM in the context of strategy development and implementation. Reflecting on the changing nature of work and the workplace, the potential power of-and need to develop and build on-human potential has never been greater. Savall and Zardet have always thought that the Western concept of human resources was misguided, that people are not a resource to use up but rather a source of potential to invest in, develop, and nurture. People bring their potential to the organizations in which they work-and it is their choice as to whether they will apply it in their jobs. Thus, a core managerial challenge is to create an environment in which that potential can be maximized. SEAM?based strategy builds on this premise, developing an approach to economic and social performance, providing direction as to how managers can create and implement strategies that enhance organizational effectiveness and efficiency. As Savall and Zardet argue, strategic vision does not have to be limited by constraints in the external environment-companies "are not compelled to enter in a `strategic' tunnel" that mimics the competition and the market. Instead, companies can experience breakthroughs, turning constraints into opportunities by unleashing their internal energy, power, and cohesion, working and succeeding as a team. The SEAM approach to strategy is grounded in innovation and creation far more than imitation-and, as convincingly illustrated in the volume, that creativity can be self?financed through the value?added created by the elimination of organizational dysfunctions and the hidden costs they generate. The volume provides an insightful guide for enhancing economic and social performance, with a useful mixture of specific tools and techniques-grounded in a conceptual view of organizational life-interspersed throughout that illustrate how it can be done.
This book offers an assessment of theories of distribution and growth after Keynes. It presents an overview of the main contributions with a particular focus on the development of post-Keynesian/Kaleckian models.In the first part of the book, Eckhard Hein presents a comprehensive overview of the main approaches towards distribution and growth including the contributions of Harrod and Domar, old and new neoclassical theories including the fundamental capital controversy critique, the post-Keynesian contributions of Kaldor, Pasinetti, Thirlwall and Robinson, and finally the approaches by Kalecki and Steindl. In the second part of the book neo- and post-Kaleckian models are gradually developed, introducing saving from wages, international trade, technological progress, interest and credit. Issues of ?financialisation? are also explored and empirical results related to the different models are presented. This unique book is designed for courses in distribution and growth in graduate programmes or at the advanced undergraduate level. It can also be used as supplementary reading for classes in macroeconomics. The book should also be of value for researchers interested in issues of distribution and growth.
This unique troika of Handbooks provide exhaustive and indispensable coverage of the history of economic analysis. Edited by two of the foremost academics in the field, they gather together insightful and original contributions from scholars across the world. The encyclopaedic breadth and scope of the original entries will make these Handbooks an invaluable source of knowledge for all serious students and scholars of the history of economic thought. Each Handbook can be read individually and acts as a self-contained volume in its own right. They can be purchased separately or as part of a three-volume set. Volume II contains entries on the major schools of economic thought and analysis. These schools differ with regard to their 'vision' of the working of the economic system, the major forces and interactions that shape its path, and the policy recommendations proposed. At any moment of time, several such schools typically compete with one another, striving for dominance within the economic and political discourse. Contributors include: F. Allisson, R. Baranzini, M. Bellet, A.A. Belykh, C. Benassi, A. Beraud, C.B. Blankart, A. Brewer, G. Chaloupek, I. Chaplygina, S. Cook, J. Creedy, J. de Boyer des Roches, T. Demals, R.B. Emmett, G. Faccarello, C. Gehrke, G.C. Harcourt, J.E. King, H.D. Kurz, A. Lapidus, M. Lavoie, M.C. Marcuzzo, A. Molavi Vassei, P.L. Porta, A. Rosselli, M. Rutherford, N. Salvadori, B. Schefold, N.T. Skaggs, R. Solis Rosales, H.-P. Spahn, N. Thompson, H.-M. Trautwein, K. Tribe
The Economics of Restructuring and Intervention carries forward the work of Marx, Kalecki, Keynes and Kaldor in analysing questions of growth, distribution and government intervention. It will be essential reading for all those wishing to understand the massive economic and political shifts as we enter the 1990s - the globalization of markets and production, continued growth of the Third World and East European debt, the emerging digital economy. Political debates thrown up by these economic, industrial and technological developments are subject to rigorous scrutiny and critique - from the employment effects of wage cuts to the calls for 'supply side socialism'.
This textbook builds a bridge between the economic principles which form the basis of most introductory textbooks and the issues that students see discussed incessantly in the media. Contemporary Issues in Applied Economics shows how even the most elementary economic analysis can shed new light on some of the principal economic problems which face the world today. Although aimed primarily at first year economics students, it will also be of interest to those studying related subjects which require a background knowledge of economics. The lively subject matter coupled with the non-technical nature of the approach means that the book will be of interest not only to economics students but also to non-specialists wishing to keep well informed about current issues of economic policy.
Rethinking Economics is a major contribution to the reconstruction of an economic theory appropriate to the 21st century.Just as major changes are occurring in the world economy, economics itself is on the brink of change. Orthodox economics is now widely criticized for its sterility and its limited applicability to real-world economic problems. Standard theoretical tools such as general equilibrium theory are now regarded, even by their leading practitioners, as highly limited and problematic. New ideas from chaos theory, evolutionary modelling and institutional theory point to new, non-reductionist approaches in which there are units of analysis other than the atomistic individual. This work addresses core economic concepts, such as individual choice, prices, markets, production, industries, technology, innovation and economic growth in the light of these developments. This unique, up-to-date volume makes a seminal contribution at the frontiers of economic theory.
Patrick Minford has been a close adviser to Mrs Thatcher during the last decade. He has made an important contribution to the ideas of Thatcherism and Britain's monetarist/supply side programme in the 1980s.This book brings together, for the first time, essays written as a contribution to the supply side revolution in Britain. Some focus on monetary and fiscal policy, while others deal with the principles and mechanisms for supply side reform. Taken together, they represent an invaluable source book and reference point on the political philosophy and economic strategy of the Thatcher era. The essays were all written for a wide audience and will be essential reading for both economists and non-economists alike.
Herbert Giersch's contribution to economics has ranged widely over international economics, European integration and the economics of entrepreneurship. This book presents in one volume a selection of some of his most important essays and papers. It encompasses the gradual evolution of his work from its beginnings to his most recent contributions to the debate on the future of the European Economic Community. It contains some of his most significant work during the last 30 years and includes material that is not widely available. It will be an essential reference point for all economists concerned with entrepreneurship, the world economy and Europe.
Patrick Minford has been a close adviser to Mrs Thatcher during the last decade. He has made an important contribution to the ideas of Thatcherism and Britain's monetarist/supply side programme in the 1980s.This book brings together, for the first time, essays written as a contribution to the supply side revolution in Britain. Some focus on monetary and fiscal policy, while others deal with the principles and mechanisms for supply side reform. Taken together, they represent an invaluable source book and reference point on the political philosophy and economic strategy of the Thatcher era. The essays were all written for a wide audience and will be essential reading for both economists and non-economists alike.
Economic theorists and finance practitioners alike turn to the seminal work of Wallace E. Oates for a systematic statement of the economic principles of fiscal federalism. In this book, Professor Oates provides an overview of fiscal federalism and analyses specific problems in a selection of his most important articles and papers. This collection includes many pieces which are not readily accessible.The papers in this volume constitute a basic reference for current discussion of the evolution both of national fiscal systems and of the fiscal structure of the European Community and other supranational organizations. The range of approaches and quality of argument will ensure that the book becomes a central reference point for the continued discussion of this important topic.
This is a major contribution to post-Keynesian thought. With studies of the key pioneers - Keynes himself, Kalecki, Kahn, Goodwin, Kaldor, Joan Robinson, Sraffa and Pasinetti - G. C. Harcourt emphasizes their positive contributions to theories of distribution, pricing, accumulation, endogenous money and growth. The propositions of earlier chapters are brought together in an integrated narrative and interpretation of the major episodes in advanced capitalist economics in the post-war period, leading to a discussion of the relevance of post-Keynesian ideas to both our understanding of economics and to policy-making. The appendices include biographical sketches of the pioneers and analysis of the conceptual core of their discontent with orthodox theories. Drawing on the author's experience of teaching and researching over fifty years, this book will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students interested in alternative approaches to theoretical, applied and policy issues in economics, as well as to teachers and researchers in economics. |
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