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  Working Paper No. 36

  The Microeconomics of Monopoly Power

  The purpose of this paper is to outline a consistent microeconomic theory of the firm based on the concept of monopoly power. It builds on the heritage of Post Keynesian authors, Robinson, Kaldor, and Kalecki, but literally extends the theory in several directions. First, monopoly power is defined formally in terms of substitution. In this […]
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  Working Paper No. 35

  Industrial De-diversification and Its Consequences for Productivity

  Due in large part to intense takeover activity during the 1980s, the extent of American firms’ industrial diversification declined significantly during the second half of the decade. The mean number of industries in which firms operated declined 14 percent, and the fraction of single-industry firms increased 54 percent. Firms that were "born" during the period […]
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  Working Paper No. 34

  The Determinants of US Foreign Production

  Based on an analysis of industry by region data the author finds little evidence that U.S. unions have been a significant factor in the decision of U.S. firms to produce abroad. Additional evidence suggests that U.S. foreign production may have had a negligible effect on the domestic unionization rate. Corresponding with previous research, the results […]
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  Working Paper No. 33

  What Remains of the Growth Controversy?

  This essay contrasts the production function approach to Kaldor’s model of increasing returns which are demand-determined. In particular, the essay analyzes Kaldor’s three major empirical "laws", which were adopted by later economists, and the criticisms of these three "laws" by economists who used the Cobb-Douglas production function as a basis of analysis. In conclusion, the […]
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  Working Paper No. 32

  The Effects of Mergers on Prices, Costs, and Capacity Utilization in the US Air Transportation Industry, 1970–84

  We analyze the effect of mergers on various aspects of airline performance during the period 1970-84, using a panel data set constructed by Caves et al. Estimates derived from a simple "matched pairs" statistical model indicate that these mergers were associated with reductions in unit cost. The average annual rate of unit cost growth of […]
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  Working Paper No. 31

  The Changing Role of Debt in Bankruptcy

  The changing economic environment of the late 1980s has been dominated by the financial I innovations brought about by the growing demand for credit by U.S. corporations. When looking at this phenomena from a very long perspective of 50 to 60 years as some researchers have done [Taggart, 1985; Ciccolo and Baum, 1985], he rise […]
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  Working Paper No. 30

  Growth Cycles in a Discrete, Nonlinear Model

  This paper develops a discrete, nonlinear growth cycle model for a macroeconomy. The nonlinearities, which correspond to empirical relationships between profitability and capacity utilization in the postwar U.S. economy, can produce stable, periodic and chaotic behavior. These behaviors are established analytically, and further investigated through simulation. Data from the simulations are used to show that […]
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  Working Paper No. 29

  Unionization and the Incidence of Performance-based Compensation in Canada

  No further information available.
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  Working Paper No. 28

  The Covariance Transformation and the Instrumental Variables Estimator of the Fixed Effects Model

  The covariance transformation is a useful and often necessary procedure to estimate the fixed effects model. When some explanatory variables are contemporaneously correlated with the disturbance term, the covariance transformation can be used in conjunction with an instrumental variables procedure to obtain a consistent estimator. This paper describes how to correctly compute the IV estimator […]
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  Working Paper No. 27

  Money and Equilibrium

  Economic theory has undergone a very deep transformation during the last forty years. Its method and its tools of analysis have evolved dramatically. The standards by which theoretical statements are now appreciated are far more demanding, especially from a formal point of view, than was the case before World War II. Precision and logical validity […]
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  Working Paper No. 26

  Marx’s Value, Exchange, and Surplus Value Theory

  The concept of commodity society based on a specific division of labour (opposition between private and social labor) and that of surplus-value are the most prominent achievements of Marx’s intellectual efforts in dealing with the economy of capitalism. This paper attempts to evaluate the consistency of the theoretical propositions inherent in these concepts. The main […]
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  Working Paper No. 25

  Kaleckianism vs. “New” Keynesianism

  The economics of Kalecki and of the New Keynesianism exhibit remarkable parallels. The major doctrine they have in common is that of business net worth, or equity, as the major determinant of business expansion. The New Keynesians arrive at their understanding of this point by reasoning from rational behavior in the face of informational imperfections. […]