Diffusion and scale dynamics: A case study

This paper examines the relationship between the diffusion of a major process innovation, oxygen steel-making, and the growth of plant sizes. As in some previous studies, a step-wise pattern of scale increases is observed; however, there is no stable correlation of these increases to cumulative capacity expansion, maximum plant sizes appear to have stabilized, and plants of widely dispersed capacities continued to be built as oxygen steel-making became the dominant technique, world-wide. Factors responsible for scale increase are analyzed; steadily growing equipment size, the addition of equipment to existing plants, and a wide range of minor innovations and adaptations have contributed to growth in plant capacities; in most instances, scale-up continued after the beginning of operations. It is concluded that the frequently-used concept of an optimal, or maximum feasible, plant scale remains ambiguous without reference to the specific technical and economic conditions of production systems, and that plant-size increases are fully dependent on continuing technological effort.     

Nimmt die Kapitalintensität monoton mit dem Lohn-Zinsverhältnis zu?

Ohne ZusammenfassungMit 3 Textabbildungen     

Addictive buying in West Germany: An empirical study

Subsequent to a previous article in JCP (Scherhorn, 1990) outlining a theoretical approach to addictive buying, the authors report on the results of their empirical study of addictive buyers in West Germany. The study indicates that addictive buying is clearly one kind of addiction which may be substituted by other addictions, may take the place of another addiction, or even alternate with other forms of addiction. At the same time, there is substantial evidence that there are special key experiences to which the propensity to addictive buying can be traced. Addictive buyers have been subjected to a specific form of distortion of autonomy: They have felt that for parents, relatives, or neighbours, material goods (money, property, consumer goods) seemed to be more relevant and more important than they themselves. Thus, they have acquired a strong predisposition for using consumer goods as a favourite means of compensating for the lack of self-esteem from which they suffer. This predisposition, however, is reinforced by the fact that consumption and buying increasingly take on the role of a socially favoured means of compensation.     

Nach der Krise: Wirksame Regelungen auf dem Finanzmarkt?

Schon w?hrend der Krise hat auf allen politischen Ebenen eine lebhafte Diskussion über eine bessere Finanzmarktregulierung eingesetzt. Einig war man sich nur in wenigen Bereichen. Und von der Umsetzung etwaiger Reformen ist die Politik noch weit entfernt. Allerdings ist auch fraglich, ob die Ansatzpunkte überhaupt richtig gew?hlt sind.     

How social and human capital influence opportunity recognition and resource mobilization in India's handloom industry

Small-scale firms in rural areas play an extremely important role in the development of any country, and especially in developing countries. To understand entrepreneurs who operate in a low-technology industry, we rely on the network perspective on entrepreneurship. In this paper, we investigate how the social and human capital of entrepreneurs (in this case master weavers in the handloom industry) influence their ability to recognize opportunities and mobilize resources. In addition to examining the direct effects, we also explore the possibilities of social capital mediating between human capital, on the one hand, and opportunity recognition and resource mobilization on the other. This paper adds to existing literature in two ways: firstly, we expand the social capital paradigm by including different cultural settings and links to existing studies regarding small enterprises. Secondly, we provide additional evidence to the ongoing debate as to what constitutes a ‘good network’.     

Die Entstehung von Verbraucherproblemen im Spannungsfeld von Konsum und Arbeit

Zusammenfassung In einem Referat auf der zehnten Jahrestagung der Association for Consumer Research, die im Oktober 1979 in San Francisco stattfand, hat der Verfasser drei Thesen über Verbraucherprobleme, Verbraucherpolitik und Verbraucherforschung vorgetragen (Scherhorn, 1980). Im folgenden Beitrag legt er die drei Thesen in deutscher Sprache und in etwas erweiterter Fassung vor. Sie sind auf die eingangs kurz referierte Auffassung gegründet, daß die Bedürfnisse der Konsumenten nicht durch Güter, sondern durch Tätigkeiten befriedigt werden, und zwar durch produzierende Tätigkeiten ebenso wie durch konsumierende. Erste These: Den Verbraucherproblemen wird man nicht gerecht, wenn man sie allein aus dem Kauf und dem Gebrauch von Konsumgütern ableitet. Vorgeschlagen wird, die Anlässe für Verbraucherprobleme in den Beziehungen zwischen dem Konsumsektor und dem Produktionssektor zu suchen. Zweite These: Allgemein gesprochen kann man die Aufgabe der Verbraucherpolitik darin sehen, den Verbrauchern Risiken bewußt und Kosten tragbar zu machen. Diese Aufgabe stellt sich im gesamten Bereich der Beziehungen zwischen den beiden Sektoren, nicht nur in dem der Verbraucherpolitik derzeit zugewiesenen Arbeitsgebiet. Dritte These: Daß die politikorientierte Verbraucherforschung die Beziehungen zwischen Konsum und Arbeit zu ihrem Gegenstand machen sollte, wird von vielen empfunden. In der sektoralen Analyse der Verbraucherprobleme liegt eine Chance, zu operationalisierbaren Aussagen über das verbraucherpolitisch Relevante an den Beziehungen zwischen Konsum und Arbeit zu kommen.

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The origin of consumer problems

A slightly shorter English version of this paper was presented at the tenth annual conference of the Association for Consumer Research in San Francisco (Scherhorn, 1980). The theory of consumer behaviour can be traced back to the recognition that it is not consumer goods but consumer activities that yield utility. Some of these activities are connected with the buying and using of consumer goods, others are not. The author's approach encompasses the entire field of activities in what he calls the consumption sector of the economy, and the relations of these activities to those of the production sector. These relations may be substitutional, complementary, or reciprocal. Proceeding from this view the author outlines three propositions on consumer problems, consumer policy, and consumer research. First, he argues that consumer problems are viewed too narrowly if the concept is used only with regard to the buying and using of consumer goods. More generally, the sources of consumer problems can be seen as certain disturbances of the relations between the consumption and the production sectors. Four sources of consumer problems are discussed: adaptation of consumer behaviour to producer interests by keeping from the consumption sector certain means of maintaining the consumer interest; displacement of consumer activities which cannot be omitted without negative consequences for consumers themselves; assimilation of consumer behaviour to the kind of activity men are trained to adopt in the production sector; discrimination of consumer activities compared to activities in the production sector. In his second proposition the author describes the aims of consumer policy as the decreasing of consumer costs and the increasing of the awareness of consumer risks. He maintains that these aims should be extended to all sources of consumer problems rather than be restricted to the problems resulting from adaptation. Thirdly, the analysis of complementary relations between the consumption sector and the production sector may provide consumer research with a guideline for the inquiry into the connections between consumption and work which are of special importance in the explanation of consumer problems.

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Gerhard Scherhorn ist Professor für Konsumtheorie und Verbraucherpolitik an der Universität Hohenheim, D-7000 Stuttgart 70, Postfach 106.