Managerial Economics [antikvár]

The purpose of this book is to show how economic analysis can be used in formulating business policies. It is therefore a departure from the main stream of economic writings on the theory of the firm, much of which is too simple in its assumptions and too complicated in its logical development to be managerially useful. The big gap between the problems of logic that intrigue economic theorists and the problems of policy that plague practical management needs to be bridged in order to give executives access to the practical contributions that economic thinking can make to top-management policies. In developing an economic approach to executive decisions, this book draws upon economic analysis for the concepts of demand, cost, profit, competition, and so on, that are appropriate for the decision, and it draws upon modern methods of econometrics and markét research for getting estimates of the relevant concept. For certain problems it was necessary to develop somé extensions and reformulations of economic theory, in the light of what a businessman knows or can reasonably expect to guess. Although the book is preoccupied with concepts rather than detailed techniques of estimation, it concentrates on those concepts that can be measured and applied to management problems. The book does not attempt to cover all aspects of either management or economics: it deals only with those phases of enterprise economics that strike me as particularly useful to the management of a large industrial corporation. Most of the analysis is an outgrowth of my consulting work, and I have learned much from my clients and from my consulting associates. My greatest debt is to Stephen Taylor of Joel Dean Associates. He has been of major assistance at every stage of this undertaking: hammering out the ideas, criticizing, editing, and re-writing my drafts, revising galleys, and preparing exhibits. Philip Brooks, another associate, developed many of the ideas in the course of our work for clients. He alsó suggested important improvements in the chapters on "Profits," "Costs," "Advertising," and "Capital Budgeting." Melvin de Chazeau, of Cornell University, read the entire manuscript with discernment and made many helpful suggestions. James Bonbright and Carl Shoup of Columbia University have heartened and helped me throughout this undertaking; Dávid Blank and Sámuel Richmond have alsó been vii