Frederic L. Pryor

New Trends in U.S. Industrial Concentration

Using weighted concentration ratios for the entire economy, I argue that industrial concentration decreased in the U.S. from 1960 to the early1980s and then began to increase. This rise in the last two decades of the 20th century offsets any counteracting affectsstemming from the growth of use of information technology in production or from imports and appears due primarily to the impact of the merger wave starting in the mid 1980s. I also considerbriefly the relationship between increasing market concentrationand a change in market competition,taking into account the expansion of e-commerce.

The Islamic Economic System

Abstract The Islamic economic system is a theoretical construct of an industrial economy whose members follow the Islamic faith. This essay surveys the elements of such a system, as presented in a series of recent books on Islamic economics. Particular attention is paid to the injunction against interest payments and to the requirement of paying a wealth tax with regard to aggregate saving.

The Red and the Green: The Rise and Fall of Collectivized Agriculture in Marxist Regimes

Reorganizing the agricultural sector into large-scale state and collective farms was the most radical transformation of economic institutions implemented by Marxist governments. Frederic Pryor provides perspective on this experiment by comparing in a systematic fashion the changes in the organization of agriculture in all of the worlds Marxist nations. This approach intends to provide a clearer understanding of the major lines of agricultural policy and organization in these nations and insight into the reasons underlying the variations among them.

Dimensions of the Worldwide Merger Boom

Drawing from a commercial database seldom used by economists, this note provides aggregate statistics for four dimensions of the worldwide explosion of industrial mergers: the overall volume, the median and average size of mergers, sectoral composition of mergers, and the countries where these mergers are occurring. The final section focuses on three important implications of this merger activity, the changing size of enterprises; the degree to which such mergers are occurring in the same four-digit industries; and the probability that these merger activities will bring about a permanent change in the market structure.

Quantitative Notes on the Extent of Governmental Regulations in Various OECD Nations

This essay attempts a quantitative evaluation of the extent of governmental regulation of industry in 21 OECD nations, using several business surveys as a data base. Employing this experimental measure, the essay then explores quantitatively three questions: Is government ownership complementary or a substitute to regulation? What are the determinants of the extent of government regulation? And what is the relationship between governmental effectiveness and the extent of governmental regulation.

On the geography of hate

Abstract Where do hate groups flourish? We address this question by examining characteristics of the communities where these groups are located. Our findings suggest that economic or sociological explanations for the existence of hate groups in an area are far less important than adventitious circumstances due to history and particular conditions.

The Myth of Reciprocity

In anthropology, the concept of reciprocity has received great analytic stress. In part, this is because many analysts have placed a high ethical value on reciprocity, and have felt it worthwhile to study this phenomenon. In part, this is because reciprocity has been tied to certain notions about social stability. For instance, Marcel Mauss (1925) argued that various types of reciprocal exchange serve not only as a cohesive force internally, but also as a substitute or a replacement for war externally. Curiously, most anthropological analyses of reciprocity have focused on rather vague ethnographic impressions, rather than any type of quantitative evidence (a major exception is Henry, 1951). And few of the theoretical discussions about reciprocity have been accompanied by empirical evidence which permits any type of rigorous hypothesis testing. In this essay we hope to take steps in remedying this situation.

On induced economic change in precapitalist societies

Abstract This essay explores a number of properties of a general growth model of induced economic change in precapitalist societies which incorporates both the insights of Ester Boserup and Thomas Malthus. Responses to diminishing returns include changes in work intensity and population growth. Some important variants of the model are also examined which focus on the transfer of production to non-producers and on alternative processes by which change is induced. The results are used to generate some parameters influencing the political stability of non-working elites; to criticize some previous, less general, growth models; and to suggest some fruitful lines fot future empirical research on economic development in the long run.

Culture and Economic Systems

Applying a cluster analysis to the results of the World Value Study, this article shows that the OECD nations have five distinct patterns of cultural characteristics. Moreover, these five cultural systems are almost the same as a classification of economic systems that have been derived from a cluster analysis of their economic institutions. A comparison of the cultural characteristics of East and West Germany suggests that the economic system has relatively little influence on the cultural systems. Instead, in a democracy, where the economic system is not imposed by force, the cultural characteristics are more likely to determine the economic system, rather than the reverse.

Will Most of Us be Working for Giant Enterprises by 2028

Various economic theories yield quite opposite predictions about the changing size of enterprises and establishments. This essay explores trends in the size distribution of productive units for a period of more than three decades, showing according to most measurements that both types of units show a decline at least since the early 1980s, contrary to conventional expectations. The rising number of establishments per enterprise has also leveled off in recent years. Even while the share of the labor force in foreign branches of the largest enterprises has been rising, the absolute size of these enterprises has been declining. For the world as a whole, however, enterprise size has been dramatically increasing and the difference in trends in the U.S. and other industrial nations remains a puzzle.