Andrew Hindmoor

The Importance of Being Trusted: Transaction Costs and Policy Network Theory

Transaction cost economics is used to defend and develop policy network theory. Networks, like markets and hierarchies, are a form of governance structure. As one form of network, policy communities develop and survive because they reduce transaction costs that would otherwise threaten the exchange of resources between government and pressure groups. Policy communities alter outcomes and should be an important part of the explanation of public policy. Whilst of general relevance, the argument is illustrated with particular reference to the frequently hostile but ultimately successful negotiations between the British Medical Association and the Ministry of Health prior to the creation of the National Health Service in 1948.

Free Riding off Capitalism: Entrepreneurship and the Mondragon Experiment

As the deficiencies of central planning have become more obvious, shares in market socialism have risen. Whilst accepting the case for competitive markets, market socialists question the desirability of and the need for capitalist forms of private property and share a commitment to more inclusive forms of ownership. Whilst this leaves open the question of precisely what form of ownership is appropriate, many have advocated the use of labour co-operatives in which (i) only those who work for a firm are entitled to a share of its ownership, (ii) all those who work for a firm are entitled to a share of its ownership, and in which consequently (iii) profits and (iv) decision making are shared.