Incomplete Contingent Labor Contract, Asymmetric Residual Rights and Authority, and the Theory of the Firm

In the paper the trade-offs among endogenous transaction costs caused by two-sided moral hazard, exogenous monitoring cost, and economies of specialization are specified in a Grossman, Hart and Moore (GHM) model to absorb Maskin and Tirole’s recent critique and Holmstrom and Milgrom’s criticism of the model of incomplete contract. The extended GHM model allowing incomplete contingent labor contract as well complete contingent contract of goods trade is used to explore the implications of structure of ownership and residual rights for the equilibrium network size of division of labor and productivity.theory of the firm, incomplete labor contract, asymmetric authority, two-sided moral hazard, transaction cost, asymmetric residual rights, division of labor, specialization

The Division of Labor, Investment, and Capital

This paper uses a dynamic general equilibrium model based on corner solutions to formalize the classical theory of investment and capital which considers investment to be a vehicle for developing a high level of division of labor in roundabout productive activities. If it takes time for a specialist producer of tractors to learn the right method in producing commercially viable tractors, specialization in producing tractors is infeasible in the absence of investment in terms of consumption goods which are consumed by the specialist producer of tractor before he can sell tractors. If specialized learning by doing can speed up accumulation of professional knowledge so that roundabout productive machines becomes cheap, such investment for increasing the level of division of labor in roundabout productive activities will speed up economic growth. Due to the tradeoff between economies of specialized learning by doing and transaction costs, the model can be used to investigate the effects of a change in the transaction cost coefficient, which can be affected by policy, the legal system, and urbanization, on the evolution of division of labor, on real interest rates, and on saving rate.Criticism of investment fundamentalism, criticism of technology fundamentalism, Smithian model of investment, Smithian growth mechanism, evolution in division of labor

International Trade and Income Distribution

This paper applies the inframarginal analysis, which is a combination of marginal and total cost-benefit analysis, to investigate the relationship between division of labor, the extent of the market, productivity, and inequality of income distribution. The model with transaction costs and exogenous and endogenous comparative advantages shows that as transaction conditions are improved, the general equilibrium discontinuously jumps from autarky to partial division of labor with a dual structure, then to the complete division of labor where dual structure disappears. In this process different groups of individuals with different transaction conditions get involved in a certain level of division of labor at different stages of development. As the leading group gets involved in a higher level of division of level, leaving others behind dual structure emerges and inequality increases. As latecomers catch up dual structure disappears and inequality declines. When the leader goes to an even higher level of specialization, dual structure occurs and inequality increases again. Inequality decreases again as the latecomers catch up. Hence, the equilibrium degree of inequality fluctuates in this development process. The relationship between inequality and productivity is neither monotonically positive nor monotonically negative. It might not be of inverted U-curve. The key driving force of economic development and trade is improvement in transaction conditions.Income distribution, division of labor, dual structure, economic development

Specialization, Information, and Growth: A Sequential Equilibrium Analysis

Pricing costs and information problems are introduced into a framework with consumer-producers, economies of specialization, and transaction costs to predict the endogenous and concurrent evolution in division of labor and in the information of organization acquired by society. The concurrent evolution generates endogenous growth based on the tradeoff between gains from information about the efficient pattern of division of labor, which can be acquired via experiments with various patterns of division of labor, and experimentation costs, which relate to the costs in discovering prices. The concept of Walras sequential equilibrium is developed to analyze the social learning process which is featured with uncertainties of the direction of the evolution as well as a certain trend of the evolution.Coevolution of specialization and information, adaptive decision, bounded rationality, sequential equilibrium, economic development.

Gradual Spread of Market-Led Industrialization

The paper introduces asymmetric production conditions between firms and asymmetric transaction conditions between countries into the Murphy-Shleifer-Vishny model of industrialization. It explores a general equilibrium mechanism that generates circular causation loop that each firm's profitability and its decision of involvement in a network of industrial linkages and trade flows is determined by the size of the network, while the network size is in turn determined by all firms' decisions of participation. It shows that the very function of the market is networking relevant self-interested decision makers and utilize the network effects of industrialization, though this function is not perfect. Hence, market led industrialization will gradually spread until the whole world economy is integrated in a single network of trade and industrial linkages as transaction conditions are improved. Also, this general equilibrium mechanism predicts empirical observation that temperate zone is involved in this industrialization process more early than the tropic zone because of its better climate and public health conditions. This paper devises a new approach to specifying zero profit condition for a marginal modern firm, while keeping original feedback loop between positive profit and the extent of the market of the MSV model. Hence, this new method and the trade off between economies of scale and transaction costs can be used to endogenize the number of modern sectors and increases applicability of this type of models which is featured with compatibility between economies of scale and competitive market.globalization, industrialization, market-led development

Division of Labor, Transaction Cost, Emergence of the Firm and Firm Size

In this paper a general equilibrium model is constructed to explain the emergence of firms and change in firm size by the tradeoff between economies of specialization and transaction cost. We show that firms emerge from the development of division of labor if the transaction efficiency for labor is smaller than that for intermediate goods. Given the emergence of firms, change in the average size of firms (average employment) will depend on the change in transaction efficiency for intermediate goods relative to that for labor. If the transaction efficiency is improved in such a way that the transaction efficiency for intermediate goods becomes higher than that for labor, average employment will decrease. We present evidence showing that it is not uncommon that average employment declines as the economy develops. The general equilibrium model provides an explanation for the concurrent increase of productivity and decrease in average employment which is observed in a number of countries. Models based on economies of scale instead of economies of specialization would have yielded the opposite prediction.irrelevance of size of the firm, division of labor, theory of the firm

Pattern of Trade and Economic Development in the Model of Monopolistic Competition

The paper introduces differences in production and transaction conditions between countries into the model of monopolistic competition to investigate the interplay between trade policies and development strategies. It applies inframarginal analysis, which is total benefit analysis between corner solutions in addition to marginal analysis of each corner solution, to show that as transaction conditions are improved, the general equilibrium may discontinuously jump across different patterns of trade and economic development. It compares the marginal and inframarginal comparative statics of equilibrium in the model of monopolistic competition with the core theorems in the neoclassical trade models and with conventional wisdom in development economics. It shows that as analytical framework is altered, the meanings of concepts and related empirical observations will be changed too.trade pattern, development strategy, income distribution, terms of trade

Economic Reforms and Constitutional Transition

This paper investigates the relationship between economic reforms and constitutional transition, which has been neglected by many transition economists. It is argued that assessment of reform performance might be very misleading if it is not recognized that economic reforms are just a small part of large scale of constitutional transition. Rivalry and competition between states and between political forces within each country are the driving forces for constitutional transition. We use Russia as an example of economic reforms associated with constitutional transition and China as an example of economic reforms in the absence of constitutional transition to examine features and problems in the two patterns of transition. It is concluded that under political monopoly of the ruling party, economic transition will be hijacked by state opportunism. Dual track approach to economic transition may generate very high long-term cost of constitutional transition that might well outweigh its short-term benefit of buying out the vested interests.constitutional transition, economic reform, division of labor, debate of shock therapy vs gradualism, debate of convergence vs institutional innovation