The study of bureaucracy must include certain key questions: what are bureaucrats and bureaucracies; why do they exist and what are their functions; how do they behave; how much power do they possess; what is their impact on efficiency and production; and how do they affect society?
This book contains analyses of all these issues, done by a variety of economists of differing backgrounds, approaches and opinions, broadly categorized under the labels Neoclassical, Institutionalist, and Marxist, although there are overlaps and correspondences that cross ideological and/or paradigmal...

Coordination is extremely important in economic, political, and social life. The concept of economic equilibrium is based on the coordination of producers and consumers in buying and selling. This book reviews the topic of coordination from an economic, theoretical standpoint. The aim of this volume is twofold: first, the book contributes to the ongoing research on the economics of coordination; and second, it disseminates results and encourages interest in the topic. The volume contains original research on coordination including general game-theoretic questions, particular coordination...

Divergence: A Source of Creative Thinking The outstanding job accomplished by Bernard, Gary, and Gilles is really praiseworthy: not only did they succeed in completing within a remark ably short span of time the editing of the contributions to the conference that marked the 20th Anniversary of the European Institute for Ad vanced Studies in Management; they have also managed to elicit numerous insightful comments from a host of dashing young scholars as well as from the fortunate few established authorities whose findings have long be come leading articles in the best academic journals, who...

This book explores siting dilemmas - situations in which an "authority" (e.g., Congress, a consortium of utilities) deems it in the best interest of society to build a facility such as an incinerator, but opponents living near the proposed site thwart the plan. Facility developers typically attribute local opposition to selfishness or radically inaccurate views of the risks posed by the facility. We examine the validity of these conclusions by looking in depth at the psychological response that arises when residents are faced with the prospect of living near waste disposal facilities. The...

Over the past two decades we have witnessed something of a revolution in the natural sciences as thermodynamic thinking evolved from an equilibrium, or 'classical', perspective, to a nonequilibrium, or 'self organisational' one. In this transition, thermodynamics has been applied in new ways and in new fields of inquiry. Chemical and biological (evolutionary) processes have been analysed, increasingly, in non equilibrium thermodynamical terms. Economics has, since the late 19th century, relied heavily upon metaphors and analogies derived from the natural sciences - mechanical analogies cast...

Physical Design for Multichip Modules collects together a large body of important research work that has been conducted in recent years in the area of Multichip Module (MCM) design. The material consists of a survey of published results as well as original work by the authors. All major aspects of MCM physical design are discussed, including interconnect analysis and modeling, system partitioning and placement, and multilayer routing. For readers unfamiliar with MCMs, this book presents an overview of the different MCM technologies available today. An in-depth discussion of various...

What is the role of economic theory? Is there any common ground among economists of different schools concerning the role or roles to be played by theory? These were the basic questions in my mind when I undertook to edit a book on the subject. I thought it might prove insightful to exam- ine the views of distinguished economists of very different persuasions and perspectives on the discipline in general. Accordingly, I invited economists from many of the major schools or groups in contemporary economics to contribute essays. Some were uninterested; some were too busy; but many were more than...

Imperfections and Behavior in Economic Organizations analyzes the organization of economic decision making in a contemporary setting. The contributors focus on two important aspects of this analysis. First, they address the issue of imperfect or incomplete information and communication in economic organizations and consider imperfections arising from the interaction of the market organization with its environment. Second, the issue of cooperation in a competitive environment is thoroughly analyzed and alternative social trade organizations are designed to dissipate the allocation...

Policy scientists have long been concerned with understanding the basic tools, or instruments, that governments can use to accomplish their goals. The initial interest in inductively developing comprehensive lists of generic instruments for policy analysis soon gave way to efforts to discover more parsimonious, but still useful, specifications of the elementary components out of which instruments can be assembled. Moving from a generic instrument to a fully specified policy alternative, however, requires the designer to go much beyond the elementary components. Rather than directly specifying...

xiii We have almost the cheapest letter price in the OEeD. We've quadrupled the retail outlets where you can buy stamps, but closed three quarters of our Post Offices. On time delivery is better than 97%. The workforce has been reduced by 40%, with a 25% increase in volumes over the period. Real unit costs, measured by total real expenditure divided by total volumes, have been reduced by over 20%. What do these results and achievements mean for policy setters around the world? In particular, do these results for New Zealand Post prove that it is a commercial business, and what are the lessons...