Thorstein Veblen's Theories of Governmental Failure: The Critic of Capitalism and Democracy Neglected Some Useful Insights, Hindsight Shows

A bstract . In T he T heory of B usiness E nterprise , Thorstein Veblen introduced a general theory of governmental failure in constitutional democracies based on the common man's delusion that policies benefiting businessmen also benefited him. This general theory runs consistently through Veblen's later works and was developed more fully in T he V ested I nterests and the C ommon M an . But other elements of an economic theory of government introduced in T he T heory of B usiness E nterprise were less durable. A briefly sketched economic theory of political parties was never mentioned again in any of Veblen's subsequent writings. A concept of governmental officials pursuing their own self interest did reappear in Veblen's wartime works, but was completely missing in A bsentee O wnership . The concept of a Leviathan-type government which pursued policies detrimental to the interests of both the common man and businessmen was repudiated in T he N ature of P eace . The conditions for its existence had been eroded by the influence of modern industrial technology on military operations     

Growth versus retrenchment strategies in marketing. The Australian experience

This study is based on a cross-sectional survey of 211 top level managers whose organizations have operations in Western Australia. Utilizing a custom model of competitive strategy developed from the organizational theory and policy, regression analysis is used to evaluate the influence of the external business environment upon growth/expansion and retrenchment strategies as well as corporate performance. Significant relationships are discussed along with their implications for the analysis of competitive and marketing strategy. Directions for future research efforts are also provided.     

Consumers’ Appreciation of Regional Certification Labels: A Pan‐European Study

Successful regional products, such as Florida oranges, Idaho potatoes and Parma ham, often have to compete against products passing themselves off as the authentic product using the exact same name. This unfair competition misleads consumers, discourages small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) from marketing products based on their region of origin, and may end up hurting rural economies. To protect consumers, and support SMEs and rural economies, many countries around the world have introduced regulations enabling SMEs to legally protect the names of their regional products. The success of these regulations largely depends on consumers’ appreciation of regional certification labels that inform consumers that the name of the regional product is protected and that it denotes the authentic product. To gain an understanding about consumers’ appreciation of regional certification labels, this paper investigates consumers’ image of these labels and proposes a model that relates this image to consumers’ willingness to buy and pay for protected regional products. The model is tested based on Regulation No. 2081/92 that was introduced by the EEC allowing European SMEs to protect their regional products and market their products with a protected‐designation‐of‐origin (PDO) label. Structural equation modelling results suggest that consumers’ image of regional certification labels consists of a quality warranty dimension and an economic support dimension, which positively relate to consumers’ willingness to buy and pay for the protected regional product. Protecting regional products and marketing them with regional certification labels may be beneficial for SMEs producing and marketing regional products. Policy and managerial implications are discussed.     

The empirical determination of technology and expectations: A simplified procedure

This paper makes three principal contributions to the growing body of empirically oriented research on dynamic factor demand systems that are based on the adjustment cost model of the firm. First, a simplified procedure is described for deriving demand and supply functions which are amenable to empirical estimation and which are consistent with intertemporal expected profit maximization and a general expectations formation process for future prices. Second, it is pointed out that estimation of a complete system of demand and supply functions permits the empirical identification of both the firm's technology and its expectations formation process. Finally, the procedure is applied to aggregate annual U.S. manufacturing data for the 1947-1977 period and the consistency of the data with the theoretical framework is investigated.     

The computer imperative

“The Computer Imperative” has been defined as the necessity for the administrator to specify his goals, objectives, criteria, standards, rules, etc., in very explicit and operational terms as he seeks to devise a better management system, especially if computers will be used to implement portions of the system. It is essential that educational leaders be able to tell system designers and computer technologists what they want, and to do this they must know at least the rudiments of what is technically possible. Otherwise, the administrator in some sense is at the mercy of the technologist. Studying an administrative system as essentially an information system provides a useful model. To define who originates, processes, uses, or needs information is to describe much of the actual operation of administration. In a manual system, many rules and procedures can be left undefined, and intuition and experience can substitute effectively for logical precision. As computers are programed to assume certain basic transactional functions, the administrator must bear in mind that computers do only what they are told. It is therefore critically important to be able to describe what we want. Much of the “threat” of automation can be attributed to uneasy or uncomfortable recognition of this “imperative”.     

SIMULATION MODELS FOR THE SPECIFICATION OF FARM INVESTMENT PLANS

The implicit assumption of the methods currently advocated for the appraisal of investment plans on farms is that the main task is to choose the “best” course of action given a number of alternatives. The specification of these alternatives is a difficult task since there are many ways of performing farm operations because of the heterogeneity of fixed capital. It is proposed in this paper that investment opportunities may become more apparent by building simulation models of existing farming systems. Such models, it is claimed, should assist in identifying points where improvements can be made. The process of harvesting grain on U.K. farms is used to illustrate the suggestion. Some problems of using the simulation technique are also discussed.