Among the Euro-weenies
| Peter Klein |
Europeans are ignorant and stupid, says Wisconsin Law Professor Gordon Smith. (He's actually making a serious point, at least in one of his posts.) Consistent with this blog's spirit of international cooperation, I hasten to add that I neither approve nor condemn such sentiments.
(Apologies to P.J. O'Rourke for stealing his title.)
Further Thoughts on Economic Calculation
| Peter Klein |
Nicolai asks important questions about the Austrian critique of socialism. I agree that a fresh look at these issues is warranted. My $0.02:
1. Mises's understanding of economic calculation is not exclusively, or even primarily, related to socialism. It is part of Mises's general explanation of how an advanced economy — i.e., an economy with a complex structure of heterogeneous capital goods — allocates resources to their highest-valued uses.
2. Mises's work on socialism flowed from his work on money. (It’s no coincidence that the 1920 article on calculation followed the 1912 book Theory of Money and Credit.) Entrepreneurs need actual numbers, not ratios of marginal utilities, to perform cost accounting. In a non-monetary economy there can be no "calculation," which for Mises means the comparison of anticipated future receipts and present expenditures on factors.
3. The key to all this, for Mises, is his concept of the "plain state of rest" (PSR). (more…)
Ranking Mania
| Nicolai Foss |
I just received a mail from the administrators of SSRN: “SSRN is pleased to announce a new service: Top Business Schools Rankings based on downloads from SSRN's eLibrary. This list will be updated at the beginning of each month and joins the Top Law School Rankings, announced last year.”
Here is the list of US school for those who care:
SSRN TOP 20 U.S. BUSINESS SCHOOLS (BETA)
1 Harvard Business School
2 University of Chicago – Graduate School of Business
3 University of Pennsylvania – The Wharton School
4 Yale School of Management
5 New York University – Leonard N. Stern School of Business
6 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – Sloan School of Management
7 Stephen M. Ross School of Business at University of Michigan
8 Columbia University – Columbia Business School
9 Dartmouth College – Tuck School of Business
10 William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration
11 Duke University – Fuqua School of Business
12 University of Texas at Austin – Red McCombs School of Business
13 Stanford Graduate School of Business
14 University of Southern California – Marshall School of Business
15 Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management
16 Ohio State University – Fisher College of Business
17 Cornell University – Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management
18 Indiana University Bloomington – Kelley School of Business
19 University of California, Berkeley – Haas School of Business
20 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – College of Business
And here is the so-called “international list”: (more…)
What is the Austrian Critique of Socialism, Really?
| Nicolai Foss |
Any self-respecting Austrian or Austrian-influenced blog must have a discussion of the Austrian critique of socialism. So, here goes.
In conversations with Austrians and when reading articles from the Austro-revival of the last three decades, I have always been struck by the prominence that Austrians tend to give to Hayek and Mises’ critiques of socialism. One senses a feeling that this an area where Austrians made an independent, decisive, and lasting contribution, one that even mainstream economists stand ready to acknowledge. Perhaps for this reason there has been quite a lot of internal debate among Austrians about the true meaning of the Austrian critique of socialism (usually under the rubric of “calculation” (i.e., Mises) versus “knowledge” (i.e., Hayek). Most of the debate has concerned whether and to what extent Mises and Hayek’s critiques were different (and perhaps who made the most fundamental argument).
I believe, however, that it is time to change the debate to more fundamental terms and issues, specifically the meaning and validity of the Austrian arguments. (more…)
Mises on econometricians
| Peter Klein |
Nicolai and I share a great admiration for the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, whom we consider one of the towering intellects of the twentieth century. A vast collection of Mises’s published and unpublished writings is already available online. The newest addition to this collection is a set of brief notes on research topics suggested by Mises to participants in his graduate seminar at New York University during the 1950s and 1960s. The notes were carefully recorded by his students Percy and Bettina Bien Greaves.
I haven’t had a chance to read through the set carefully, but a few gems stand out, such as this one from 1956: “We need a book to stop the econometricians or we will have more econometricians than those in useful occupations.”
Update: the notes are now available in plain text.
Jane Jacobs and Economies of Diversity
| Peter Klein |
American-born Canadian writer and activist Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), Cities and the Wealth of Nations (1984), and other important works on urban issues, died last week at age 89. (Jacobs never held a university post, and the obituary writers weren't sure what to call her; the Toronto Star chose "urban philosopher," suggesting to younger readers a hip-hop artist or tagger.) Lynne Kiesling at Knowledge Problem summarizes some of the Jacobs commentary around the web. (See also this from Gene Callahan and Sandy Ikeda and this from Leonard Gilroy.)
My interest in Jacobs's work stems, in part, from a current project on the economics of clustering in agro-biotechnology. My reading of the economic geography literature suggests that it tends to overstate the advantages of localization (proximity to key suppliers or buyers, access to specialized, tacit knowledge from similar firms, etc.) while downplaying the importance of economies of urbanization or diversity, an equally important kind of agglomeration. Readers, please correct me if this impression is wrong.
Besides classic works on economies of urbanization by Jacobs, Rosenberg (1963), and Henderson (1988), I like this paper by Pierre Desrochers, and this one by Desrochers and Frederic Sautet.
New Foss-Foss-Klein working paper
| Peter Klein |
A new item has just been added to our working papers page, “Original and Derived Judgment: An Entrepreneurial Theory of Economic Organization,” by Kirsten Foss, Nicolai J. Foss, and Peter G. Klein. This is an early draft, and comments are most welcome. Here’s the abstract: (more…)
Can Kogut Do It? The New European Management Review
| Nicolai Foss |
The only-two-years-old European Management Review has just changed its editorship. The main change is that Bruce Kogut has taken over as new editor. In his editorial statement he proclaims that "The European Management Review has the ambition of being the journal of first choice for scholars interested in the theory and empirical study of management."
Kogut goes on to mention established top-journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly and Academy of Management Journal — without, however, directly implying that these are the direct competitors. It is clear that Kogut wants to position the EMR as an "ideas journal." How then does it differ from the intended competition? (more…)
Copenhagen Conference on Strategic Management 2006
| Nicolai Foss |
In addition to being a Professor at the Copenhagen Business School, I am also the Director of CBS' Center for Strategic Management and Globalization. The Center arranges the Copenhagen Conference on Strategic Management 2006 on 12-14 December. These dates should be particularly convenient for those who cannot make the Strategic Management Society conference in Vienna about 1½ month earlier, for example because of teaching commitments.
The first CCSM was held last year and was a great success. We want to make the CCSM 2006 into an even bigger success. Among the confirmed speakers are Jay Barney, Rich Makadok, and Rich Bettis.
Here is the conference homepage. Submit a paper!!
orgtheory.net
| Peter Klein |
Our initial post below noted the dearth of good management blogs. A happy exception is orgtheory.net, written by Brayden King and Teppo Felin, both of Brigham Young University. (King teaches sociology, while Felin teaches organizational leadership and strategy at the Marriott School.) Their masthead promises coverage of "all things organizational," and they deliver so far, writing on organization theory, strategy, human resource management, scientific method, and more. We look forward to learning from them as we populate the blogosphere together.
Is Economics Losing Its Spine?
| Nicolai Foss |
The critique of economics from sociologists, so-called “heterodox” economists, management scholars, etc. used to be that it was too “rigid,” because of a too heavy commitment to fundamental principles, such as strong interpretations of individual rationality (maximization), equilibrium, and so on. As a result, the critics maintained, the central insights of disciplines such as sociology, psychology and anthropology were not only at variance with economics but also much more realistic, applicable, etc. Attempts to apply maximization, stable preferences and equilibrium to neighbouring disciplines only led to disciplinary bastardization in which the essential ideas of these neighbouring disciplines got lost. And so on.
While this kind of critique continues to be made, of course, I believe that the basis for making it is becoming increasingly weak. (more…)
Professors Are From Mars, Students From Venus
| Peter Klein |
My department recently hosted a workshop at which faculty and undergraduate students could exchange suggestions for improving the classroom experience. Many of the students' requests were reasonable ("start and end class on time"; "give regular feedback on student performance"; "don't assign readings that won't be used"), some weren't ("realize that we get bored easily and need to be entertained"). Faculty requested things like "come to class prepared"; "take advantage of office hours"; and "put care into your writing and speaking."
My favorite faculty comment, however, was this: "Please don't send me email saying, 'I won't be in class Tuesday; will I miss anything?'"
Journal of Institutional Economics
| Peter Klein |
Geoff Hogdson's Journal of Institutional Economics has released its second issue (April 2006). Articles that look particularly interesting include "The turn in economics: neoclassical dominance to mainstream pluralism?" by John B. Davis and "The rhetoric of Oliver Williamson's transaction cost economics" by Huascar F. Pessali. The issue also includes a 1929 essay by Werner Sombart. (I realize publication lags in economics are getting longer and longer, but this is ridiculous!)
A Lachmanian Approach to Entrepreneurship
| Peter Klein |
My colleagues Todd Chiles, Allen Bluedorn, and Vishal Gupta have posted an updated version of their forthcoming Organization Studies paper, "Beyond Creative Destruction and Entrepreneurial Discovery: A Radical Austrian Approach to Entrepreneurship." The paper introduces entrepreneurship scholars to the idiosyncratic Austrian economist Ludwig Lachmann, presenting Lachmann's approach as an alternative to those of Schumpeter and Kirzner.
Getting Old?
| Nicolai Foss |
I got back a review report today. Among many thoughtful observations, the report noted about the paper: “It lacks the fresh originality of the early Foss papers.”
Welcome!
Organizations and Markets is now up and running. Welcome to all readers. (Hopefully the plural is appropriate.)
We started this blog for two reasons. First, while there are many excellent blogs on economics, law, and public policy, there are relatively few on organization, strategy, and management, our main areas of research. Organizations and Markets hopes to help fill this gap. Second, we think we have a unique and interesting perspective on many of these issues, and we thought it would be fun to share this perspective with the world. (If the latter reason sounds immodest, well, what did you expect from a public blog?)
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