Co‐operation: The Proper Study of Economics

Abstract

Argues for a reorientation of economic theory around the concept of co‐operative production. Suggests that by definition, co‐operative production exists when different people take different, complementary roles in production. Argues that, while the proposed reorientation has clear roots in the ideas of Adam Smith, it also synthesizes several other key insights of the classical economists, and at the same time leads, by implication, both to the major topics of neoclassical economics and to some important topics of modern applied economics that are often treated in an ad hoc fashion, such as economies of agglomeration, dualism in development and X‐inefficiency.

Citation

McCain, R.A. (1993), "Co‐operation: The Proper Study of Economics", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 20 No. 10, pp. 55-78. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068299310045406