Energy and Organization - (Contributions in Economics and Economic History) by Bernard C Beaudreau (Hardcover)

About the Book

In the aftermath of the stock market crash, Irving Fisher pointed to the electrification of the U.S. industry as one of the underlying causes of the stock market boom. Earlier, in 1927, Brookings Institution economists had lamented the scant attention energy had received from economists. Today, some 60 years later, power remains the forgotten factor input. In this book, the author incorporates energy into the corpus of economic analysis. Unlike previous attempts, which were mostly theoretical, this work generates testable predictions. The result is a model of production based on the two universal factor inputs--broadly defined energy and broadly defined organization.

Once the model of production is developed, the book then tests an empirical model with data from U.S., German, and Japanese manufacturing. The results are used to reexamine the role of energy in productivity slowdown. When the empirically and theoretically correct model of production is used, the Solow residual disappears: growth in manufacturing value added is fully accounted for by growth in energy, capital, and labor.

Book Synopsis

In the aftermath of the stock market crash, Irving Fisher pointed to the electrification of the U.S. industry as one of the underlying causes of the stock market boom. Earlier, in 1927, Brookings Institution economists had lamented the scant attention energy had received from economists. Today, some 60 years later, power remains the forgotten factor input. In this book, the author incorporates energy into the corpus of economic analysis. Unlike previous attempts, which were mostly theoretical, this work generates testable predictions. The result is a model of production based on the two universal factor inputs--broadly defined energy and broadly defined organization.

Once the model of production is developed, the book then tests an empirical model with data from U.S., German, and Japanese manufacturing. The results are used to reexamine the role of energy in productivity slowdown. When the empirically and theoretically correct model of production is used, the Solow residual disappears: growth in manufacturing value added is fully accounted for by growth in energy, capital, and labor.

Review Quotes

?His theory is not generally accepted and, indeed, is widely ignored in the economic literature. If he is right, however, it could have profound implications for business management.?-Books and Articles in Brief

"His theory is not generally accepted and, indeed, is widely ignored in the economic literature. If he is right, however, it could have profound implications for business management."-Books and Articles in Brief

About the Author

BERNARD C. BEAUDREAU is Associate Professor of Economics at Université Laval in Quebec City. He is the author of Mass Production, The Stock Market Crash, and the Great Depression: The Macroeconomics of Electrification (Greenwood, 1996).