Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This is the second in our series of survey articles on topics in economics. Mike Williams argues that based, as it is primarily, on neoclassical thinking, Managerial Economics has no adequate theory of production or the creation of use values. It concentrates instead on aspects of business in which exchange and market valorisation are dominant. The author argues that far from being an aid to the rational use of resources and the satisfaction of consumer wants through more efficient use-value creation, Managerial Economics is directed at the interests of the firm and its capitalist owners and management. These are treated exclusively as “market enforced value-based interests.”

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alchian A A 1950 Uncertainty, evolution and economic theory, Journal of Political Economy 58, June 1950: 211–21

Aaronovitch S 1977 P The firm and concentration, in Green F & P Nore (eds): Economics: an anti-text. London, Macmillan, 1977

Baran 1959 P Reflections on underconsumption, in Abramovitz et al (eds) The Allocation of Economic Resources, Stanford University Press, 1959: 59.

Baumol W J 1982 Contestable Markets: an uprising in the theory of industry structure, American Economic Review 72: 1–15

Butt H & B Palmer 1985 Value for Money in the Public Sector: the decision maker's guide. Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1986

Chamberlin E H (ed) 1954 Monopoly and Competition and their Regulation. London, Oxford University Press

Chiplin B & B Sturgess 1981 Economics of Advertising. Sussex, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1981 (2nd edn)

Douglas E J (1979) T Managerial Economics: analysis and strategy. New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, 1987 (3rd edn)

Freeman C 1982 The Economics of Industrial Innovation. London, Frances Pinter, 1982 (2nd edn)

10.

Gough, J & S Hill 1979 T Fundamentals of Managerial Economics. London, Macmillan, 1985

11.

Hall R E & C J Hitch 1939 Price theory and business behaviour, Oxford Economic Papers no. 2, May 1939: 12–45

12.

Haug W F 1971 P Kritik der Warenasthetik. Frankfurt am, Suhrkamp. Trans. Bock, R : Critique of Commodity Aesthetics: appearance, sexuality and advertising in capitalist society. Cambridge, Polity Press, 1986

13.

Hay D A & D J Morris 1979 Industrial Economics: theory and evidence. Oxford University Press, 1980

14.

Holloway J 1987 P The Red Rose of Nissan, Capital and Class 32, Summer 1987: 142–164

15.

Horowitz D (ed) 1968 P Marx and Modern Economics. London, McGibbon & Kee, 1968

16.

Howard M 1983 P Profits in Economic Theory. London, Macmillan, 1983

17.

Jackson P M 1982 The Political Economy of Bureaucracy. Oxford, Philip Allan, 1982

18.

Kamien M I & Schwartz N L 1982 Market Structure and Innovation. Cambridge University Press, 1984

19.

Kirzner I M 1973 Competition and Entreupreneurship. Chicago, Phoenix, 1978

20.

Lancaster K 1971 Consumer Demand: a new approach. New York, Columbia University Press, 1971

21.

Mises L 1949 Human Action. New Haven, Yale University Press

22.

Marshall G P & B J McCormick 1986 T Economics of Managerial Decision-making. New York, Basil Blackwell, 1987

23.

Marx K 1953 P Grundrisse: foundations of the critique of political economy (rough draft). London, Penguin, 1973

24.

Mixon J W, Jr. & N D Uri 1985 T Managerial Economics. New York, Macmillan, 1985

25.

Peppers L C & D G Bails 1987 T Managerial Economics: theory and applications for decision making. New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, 1987

26.

Porter M E 1985 Competitive Advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance. New York, The Free Press, 1985

27.

Redwood J & J Hatch 1982 Controlling Public Industries. Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1982

28.

Reuten G & M Williams 1989 P Value-form and the State: the tendencies of accumulation and the determination of economic policy in capitalist society. London, Routledge, 1989 (forthcoming)

29.

Robinson J 1954 P The impossibility of competition, in Chamberlin, E H (ed) 1954: 245-6

30.

Sawyer M C 1981 The Economics of Industries and Firms. London, Croom Helm, 1981

31.

Sloan P 1973 P Marx and the Orthodox Economists. Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1973

32.

Stigler G J 1947 The kinky oligopoly curve and rigid prices, Journal of Political Economy 55 1947: 432–49

33.

Sweezy P M 1939 Demand under Conditions of Oligopoly, Journal of Political Economy 47, 1939: 568–73

34.

Williams M (ed) 1988 P Value, Social Form and the State. London, Macmillan, 1988

Learning and teaching managerial economics: a critical approach

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References