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The Microeconomics of Conflict and Hierarchy in Capitalist Production

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  • Michael Reich
  • James Devine

Abstract

This paper develops a formal model of worker-employer relations within capitalist firms. The results illuminate the effects of property rela tions on the organization of work, the monitoring of workers, the extent of wage hierarchies and incentives and inefficiencies in such firms. A comparison model of a workers' cooperative demonstrates that the nature of the political-economic system, not just technology or information and transaction costs, affects produc tion conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Reich & James Devine, 1981. "The Microeconomics of Conflict and Hierarchy in Capitalist Production," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 12(4), pages 27-45, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:12:y:1981:i:4:p:27-45
    DOI: 10.1177/048661348101200402
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    2. Duncan, Greg J & Stafford, Frank P, 1980. "Do Union Members Receive Compensating Wage Differentials?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 355-371, June.
    3. Martin Neil Baily, 1976. "Contract Theory and the Moderation for Inflation by Recession and by Controls," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 7(3), pages 585-634.
    4. Herbert Gintis & Herbert Gintis, 1976. "The Nature of Labor Exchange and the Theory of Capitalist Production," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 8(2), pages 36-54, July.
    5. Freeman, Richard B, 1976. "Individual Mobility and Union Voice in the Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(2), pages 361-368, May.
    6. Matthew Edel, 1979. "A Note on Collective Action, Marxism, and the Prisoner’s Dilemma," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 751-761, September.
    7. Feldstein, Martin S, 1976. "Temporary Layoffs in the Theory of Unemployment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(5), pages 937-957, October.
    8. North, Douglass C, 1978. "Structure and Performance: The Task of Economic History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 963-978, September.
    9. Charles Brown, 1980. "Equalizing Differences in the Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 94(1), pages 113-134.
    10. Oliver E. Williamson & Michael L. Wachter & Jeffrey E. Harris, 1975. "Understanding the Employment Relation: The Analysis of Idiosyncratic Exchange," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 6(1), pages 250-278, Spring.
    11. George Akerlof, 1976. "The Economics of Caste and of the Rat Race and Other Woeful Tales," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 90(4), pages 599-617.
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    Cited by:

    1. Spencer, David A, 2000. "The Demise of Radical Political Economics? An Essay on the Evolution of a Theory of Capitalist Production," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 24(5), pages 543-564, September.

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