IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/new/wpaper/1718.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Inequality as Lack of Co-operation in Economic Thought

Author

Listed:
  • Monica Hernandez

    (Department of Economics, New School for Social Research)

Abstract

This study is about the notion of co-operation by economic thinkers of the 19th century in the United Kingdom. It presents a comparison and contrast of their ideas as well as an analysis of the relationship between co-operation and economic and social inequality. Two approaches of such relationship are identified. First, an economic-centered view, found in Charles Babbage and William Stanley Jevons, where the benefits of co-operation are linked to profit sharing, the increase of productivity and the expansion of the economic system. Second, Robert Owen’s and John Stuart Mill’s ideas on co-operation, even though with different implications, are mainly socially-oriented. Here, it is possible to see a broader social concern that led them to suggest reforms that could have implications in terms of social (e.g., education and gender), and not only economic inequality. Marx’s analysis of co-operation does not belong to any of these approaches. In his view, under capitalism, the effect of some forms of co-operation may generate or reinforce inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Monica Hernandez, 2017. "Inequality as Lack of Co-operation in Economic Thought," Working Papers 1718, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2017.
    • Handle: RePEc:new:wpaper:1718
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.economicpolicyresearch.org/econ/2017/NSSR_WP_182017.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2017
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barry Clark & John Elliott, 2001. "John Stuart Mill's Theory Of Justice," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(4), pages 467-490.
    2. Bruno Tinel, 2013. "Why and How Do Capitalists Divide Labour? From Marglin and Back again through Babbage and Marx," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 254-272, April.
    3. Bruno Tinel, 2013. "Why and how do capitalists divide labor? From Marglin and back again through Babbage and Marx," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-00763837, HAL.
    4. Rudi Verburg, 2006. "John Stuart Mill's Political Economy: Educational Means to Moral Progress," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 64(2), pages 225-246.
    5. Estrella Trincado & Manuel Santos-Redondo, 2014. "Bentham and Owen on entrepreneurship and social reform," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 252-277, April.
    6. Frank Geary & Renee Prendergast, 2008. "Philosophers and practical men: Charles Babbage, Irish merchants and the economics of information," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 571-594.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hupfel, Simon, 2022. "The Economists and The Combination Laws: A Reappraisal," SocArXiv uvfqa, Center for Open Science.
    2. Fotea Oana-Maria, 2015. "Exploring the Value of Social Entrepreneurship Seen as Economic and Social Innovation Driver in the Private Sector," Marketing of Scientific and Research Organizations, Sciendo, vol. 17(3), pages 23-36, September.
    3. Clifford Thies, 2017. "Not So Great Utopias," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 32(Spring 20), pages 63-76.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Co-operation; inequality; Robert Owen; Charles Babbage; William Stanley Jevons; John Stuart Mill; Karl Marx; profit sharing; co-operatives; associations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B1 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925
    • B19 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Other
    • B3 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals
    • B30 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - General
    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • J52 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation
    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • J54 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Producer Cooperatives; Labor Managed Firms

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:new:wpaper:1718. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mark Setterfield (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/denewus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.