Economic essays

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1753623200

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-136107

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Economic essays

Place of publication:: New York

Publisher:: Macmillan

Year of publication:: 1927

Scope:: viii, 368 S.; Ill., graph. Darst.

Digitisation:: 2021

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Monograph

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Title:: Elasticity of supply as a determinant of distribution / Paul H. Douglas

Collection:: Economics Books

ELASTICITY OF SUPPLY AS A DETERMINANT OF DISTRIBUTION 99 his increase in ability to all would (unless the group argained as a whole) therefore be in part turned against itself. ut that there are certain conditions where such an improvement in bargaining technique might result in permanent changes and indeed in some cases lead to a cumulative movement will be emonstrated by the analysis which is to follow. and he change in the supply schedules whereby less will be ffered at identical prices than before, may be expressed by (a) shifting the whole supply curve (on a double logarithmic chart) o the left but retaining the same elasticity (slope) as before, or (b) from keeping the same curve for a portion of the supply but aking it become more inelastic for other stretches. Since prices are seldom determined in the lower ranges of the curve, the differ ence between the two is difficult to distinguish in the price making egions of the curve and may for all practical purposes be dis- egarded. Whether the curve has shifted its position to the lef ut kept its same elasticity, or reduced its elasticity after startin rom the same position, the result is that less will be offered a he same price than before. he cause for this, in the case of the factor labor, may be the rganization of the men into a trade-union which will distinct] essen the fears of the workers as to what will happen if the mployers refuse to pay the wage demanded. An individual ma well be reluctant to hold out for a given wage if he is acting all alone, lest he be not employed. With scanty funds to main- tain him and with many workmen, whom he believes are read to step into his shoes, he will tend to lower the price at which he will sell his labor. But in a trade-union he has the consciousness that his fellows are pledged not to undercut the union rate for, an they, like himself, are striving. This reassurance gives hi nd others more strength to hold out. Similarly, the fact that he members of the union in various regions of the country have ubscribed to a common fund which is used for strike benefits, llows the group to contemplate more philosophically thei ossible failure to be hired. It is no longer a possible choice etween employment at the terms of the employers and no mployment at all at that trade, but between the wage the mployer offers and the benefits paid by the union. Loss o work loses, in consequence, much of its terrors. There are still, to be sure, many fears which are left: such as the fear that th

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