The economics of consumer-managed firms /
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
[College Station, Tex.] :
Philip,
1978.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Link to ProQuest copy Link to OAKTrust copy |
| Abstract: | This dissertation is concerned with identifying and delineating the organizational form, behavior and goals of a firm, owned and operated by its customers. The term consumer-managed firm, as used in this dissertation, defines a production unit in which all consumers, and only the consumers, participate in the management function. The goal of the firm is to achieve the greatest satisfaction possible for the individual consumers by the appropriate selection of the variables under the firm's control. Agricultural marketing and purchasing cooperatives, grocery cooperatives, mutual insurance companies, municipal utilities, and member-owned clubs are examples of consumer-managed firms. The analysis first concentrates on a single-period model of the consumer-managed firm in long-run equilibrium. Here, the desired levels of all the factors of production are hired by the firm and optimal output and membership size are selected. Next, the analysis considers circumstances that may exist among a firm's customers or in its product's market that are fertile for the formation of a consumer-managed firm. Finally, the dissertation considers instances where the durable capital employed by the firm is purchased and owned by the members rather than hired as in the earlier analysis. Here, the emphasis is on identifying those means of financing the acquisition of capital that result in an optimal level of capital being acquired with the least amount of friction between the members of a consumer-managed firm.. |
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| Item Description: | "Major subject: Economics." Vita. |
| Physical Description: | ix, 151 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-150). |