The interest function approach

Summary This article reviews Frans van Winden's Ph.D. dissertation,On the Interaction between State and Private Sector: A Study in Political Economics, State University Leyden, 1981, viii+319 pages. The proclaimed objective of the book is to present a nonnormative, theoretical analysis of the interaction between state and private sector in a capitalist economy. Review of the analysis leads us to conclude that the objective is not met. I would like to thank Jean Paelinck and Rick van der Ploeg for their suggestions, and also Bernard van Praag for his apparent interest in the matter. I am particularly indebted to Professor F.A.A.M. van Winden who kindly provided extensive comments on the first draft of this review. Sloan Foundation and Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Pure Research (Z.W.O.) grants through New York and Erasmus Universities, respectively, are gratefully acknowledged.