The Economic Theory Of Socialism And The Labour-Managed Firm

‘As a summary, extension and exposition of the calculation debate and the (neoclassical) theory of the labor-managed firm, Jossa and Cuomo’s book is very useful and should probably be in the library of any scholar interested in the topic.’
– Paul Phillips, Review of Political Economy

‘. . . this book is a comprehensive survey of the substantial literature of market socialism and the LMF. Although there are already two excellent surveys of the existing literature on LMF . . . which are more technical in nature, the limited use of technical terms in this volume makes it more appealing for the general readership.’
– Nava Kahana, International Journal of Manpower

‘The Economic Theory of Socialism and the Labour-Managed Firm is a book of high quality and is the fruit of Professor Jossa’s scientific research during the last decade.’
– Neri Salvadori, University of Pisa, Italy

‘Professor Jossa has been studying the problems of self-managed firms for years and is recognized as one of the best experts in Italy on the subject. He is deeply convinced of the superiority of the system of self-management, under both an economic and a political viewpoint . . . His works are always extremely informed, the result of extended reading and detailed analysis of the literature.’
– Augusto Graziani, Universita di Roma ‘La Sapienza’, Italy

The Economic Theory of Socialism and the Labour-Managed Firm focuses on market socialism and the relevant debate among economic theorists. It argues that market socialism is the only rational form of socialism and that market socialism with labour-managed firms is by far the best form of market socialism.

The book begins with a critical review of the contributions to the economic theory of socialism. The second part discusses the economic theory of labour-managed firms and pays particular attention to the adverse labour-supply curve, underinvestment, monitoring and the separation of ownership and control. The final chapters discuss problems such as the control of economic activity in labour-managed firms, worker motivation and incentives.

This book will be of particular use to students and academics interested in comparative economic systems and to specialists in politics and sociology with an interest in alternative forms of economic organization.