Knowledge that Transforms

Two approaches are used to explore the implications for environmental policy of a possible endogenous bias of technical progress for environmental degradation. Using a frontier approach of innovation-possibility and the alternative approach that is critical of innovation-possibility, the author finds that both models indicate a bias for pollution when there is no charge for environmental amenities. The result is that pollution increases faster than production. He concludes that if pollution is to be stabilized in a growing economy, the price must be positive and flexible so that it can rise in response to labor productivity and wage increases. 17 references.

Historically, there have been clear lines of demarcation between economics and anthropology. Mary Douglas, p. 781, asserts that centripetal forces attract resources towards the center of a discipline and discourage turbulence at the boundaries of a subject out of fear of losing autonomy. If she is correct, then the present division of the social sciences may not be more than a historical accident, another instance of institutional self-perpetuation. This paper is a declaration of turbulence. Building on the present trend to stretch disciplinary boundaries, it proposes a unification between economics and anthropology. As a first step, it is suggested that our disciplines could jointly work towards a general study of marriage.

A model showing technology transfer to developing countries links questions of appropriations with the socio-economic reasons for technological change. The rate at which foreign capital is used is found to be directly related to after-tax profits. If the developing country raises taxes on foreign capital, the effect is to increase the proportion of domestic capital needed and to widen the technological gap between the two countries. The analysis also shows a higher gain from new techniques with increased demand volume and suggests large developing countries with similar capital to invest are more likely to generate intermediate technologies. 8 references.

A framework of optimal pricing decisions combined with simple load management is designed for a public utility self-rationing strategy that will optimize prices under risk and improve on other schemes in the literature. This approach has the advantages of not resorting to restrictive assumptions, allows the firm to accomplish solvency without relying on additional schemes, avoids the difficulty of excess demand, and requires minimum information about consumer preferences. The authors recommend further research that includes multiple periods, analyzes more flexible and more sophisticated techniques, and that can be extended to cover peak-load pricing. 15 references. (DCK)

Backward integration is defined in order to improve the analysis of monopsony, and it is found that complete backward integration eliminates the efficiency losses from monopsonistic behavior. Expanded input employment by the integrated monopsonist results in a greater final output at lower prices for consumers. The author concludes that vertical integration by imperfectly competitive firms can be successfully modeled and analyzed if the concept of vertical integration, full and partial, is well defined and meaningful. The welfare implications of integration on all participants in the industry can be considered and the incentives to integrate can be specified and examined. 10 references.

The process of interrelating disciplines takes many forms. In some cases there is simply an analogizing or a borrowing of jargon-perhaps a mere transfer of metaphor, as when we speak of body politic. In other instances one discipline provides useful tools for the study of others; for example, physics has given economics and biology units of measurement for the study of energy. Sometimes there is an area of overlap between two fields and a hybrid discipline arises: biochemistry and biophysics are good examples. Finally we have cases in which two disciplines are really branches of a more general one. The obvious example is zoology and botany forming subdivisions of biology. In the present work I shall take the position that economics and biology do not merely share common interests; they have more than just a few lessons to learn from one another, or an interdisciplinary boundary at which common problems are dealt with. Rather, they constitute a single branch of knowledge. Just as biology deals with both plant and animal life, there should be recognized a branch of knowledge that deals with economic processes irrespective of whether they are man-made or not, concerning itself with such phenomena as competition that are common to all economies. Thus I propose that we recognize a body of knowledge called naturall economy (biology) coordinate with political economy (economics), together forming a branch of knowledge which we may call genleral