Expectation, Enterprise and Profit


Book Description

Production is a complex system of interdependent activities, necessary to the system as a whole, which itself depends on the continuance of each individual activity that composes it. In such a system, resources must be committed to specific technological purposes long in advance to the ultimate sale of goods to the consumer. The success of such an enterprise system rests on the durability of the instruments it uses. These are so complex, sensitive, and powerful that their huge expense can be recovered only if they can be used for many years. Yet when the decision is made to invest in them, those years of use are in the future and the conditioning circumstances are unobservable and unknown. The firm in Western economies is the essential institutional means of confronting this problem of uncertainty, Expectation, Enterprise and Profit: The Theory of the Firm is concerned with the nature and mode of life of the firm as a means of policy formation in the face of uncertainty. This book offers a concise treatment and excellent analysis of the major concepts studied in a first course in the theory of the firm.




Expectation, Enterprise and Profit


Book Description

G.L.S. Shackle made numerous, pioneering contributions to the study of uncertainty in economic life. This volume studies the production process, where resources must be committed to specific technological purposes long in advance of the ultimate sale of goods to the consumer. The problems of such a system rest on the durability of the instruments it uses, whose huge expense can only be recouped if they can be used for many years. Yet at the time of investment, those years of use are in the future and uncertain. The firm is the essential institutional means of confronting this uncertainty. Expectation, Enterprise and Profit is concerned with the nature and mode of life of the firm as a means of policy formation in the face of uncertainty. Chapters include: The Nature and Matrix of Production, Investment and Expectation, Interdependent Decision-Making and Profit and Equilibrium.







Risk, Uncertainty and Profit


Book Description

A timeless classic of economic theory that remains fascinating and pertinent today, this is Frank Knight's famous explanation of why perfect competition cannot eliminate profits, the important differences between "risk" and "uncertainty," and the vital role of the entrepreneur in profitmaking. Based on Knight's PhD dissertation, this 1921 work, balancing theory with fact to come to stunning insights, is a distinct pleasure to read. FRANK H. KNIGHT (1885-1972) is considered by some the greatest American scholar of economics of the 20th century. An economics professor at the University of Chicago from 1927 until 1955, he was one of the founders of the Chicago school of economics, which influenced Milton Friedman and George Stigler.




Establishing the Foundation of Collaborative Networks


Book Description

This book includes a number of selected papers from the PRO-VE '07 Conference, providing a comprehensive overview of recent advances in various Collaborative Networks domains. It covers trust aspects, performance and value systems, VO breeding environments, VO creation, e-contracting, collaborative architectures and frameworks, professional virtual communities, interoperability issues, business benefits, and case studies and applications in industry and services.




Advances in Production Management Systems


Book Description

This book brings together some of the latest thinking by leading experts from around the world on integrating systems and strategies in production management and related issues that are relevant for making production into a competitive resource for the firm. This book is composed of five parts, each focused on a specific theme: Linking systems and strategies; Strategic operations management; IS/IT applications in the value chain; Modelling and simulation; Improving operations.




The Quarterly Journal of Economics


Book Description

Vols. 1-22 include the section "Recent publications upon economics".




Focus on Value


Book Description

Praise for Focus on Value "Focus on Value-with its theoretical and practical focus on economic profit fundamentals-is a modern day 'Graham and Dodd' primer on company and equity securities analysis."-Robert S. Hamada, Edward Eagle Brown Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business "Now that investors have abandoned momentum and are migrating back to fundamental investing, the market has become a more rational place. This book is a manual for serious investors who believe that identifying growing corporate earning power is the foundation of value creation. Those following its precepts should minimize risk and be rewarded over the long term."-Byron R. Wien, Chief U.S. Investment Strategist, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. "Economic profit is one of the most useful managerial tools as well as a key to understanding the valuation of companies. Focus on Value is an outstanding piece of work. It captures the full spectrum of the 'Metric Wars' without ever confusing the reader. The serious student of economic profit will be richly rewarded by reading this excellent book from cover to cover."-Mario A. Corti, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Swissair Group, Zurich "Messrs. Grant and Abate have provided an analytical tool for corporate executives and investment managers which takes the concepts of economic profit and value maximization to the next level."-Suresh Thadhani, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Alcan, Inc. "This book makes a real contribution to the most critical element in helping companies implement efficient capital resource allocation by highlighting the direct linkage between economic profit and stock price."-Jack Warner, Chairman, Kerry Inc. "The authors have put together an excellent piece of work and finally provide readers seriously interested in applying economic profit with a practical, market-oriented approach to integrate the basic building blocks of economic profit with valuation and market expectations."-David King, Director of Research, North America, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Corporate Value Consulting "In an era of following the herd toward indexation and price momentum, it is refreshing to see thinking out of the box and substantiating the tenets of an investment process that equates value with real investment opportunity."-Eric Colson, Senior Vice President, Callan Associates www.wileyfinance.com




Epistemics and Economics


Book Description

It is Shackle's view that human conduct is chosen with a view to its consequences. But these are in the future, which cannot be directly known. Expectation will confine itself to what is deemed possible, but this leaves it free to entertain widely diverse and rival hypotheses. How can such skeins of mutually conflicting ideas serve the formation of individual or institutional policy? This is the chief question this book examines.




Frugal Value


Book Description

We live in unprecedented times. Climate change and ecosystem collapse are altering our world beyond recognition, and a growing global population is exacerbating the pressure on the resources that power our economies. How should the private sector respond to the new risks and uncertainties of our Crowded Planet? Frugal Value contests the notion that companies can rise to the great challenges of our time by adopting so-called 'sustainable business' practices. Instead, the acute ecological crisis requires an all-round rethink of what business does, and how it does it. This book explores what business responsibility looks like today, and how it could be put into practice through far-reaching changes to companies, ranging from new approaches to product design and business models to reconfiguration of operations and innovative ownership structures. Frugal Value provides practitioners and scholars with the perspective and tools they need to design companies that help drive the socio-economic changes so urgently required for a sustainable and just world.