98 ECONOMIC ESSAYS IN HONOR OF JOHN BATES CLARK 
inelastic supply curve above the point of present return and (2) a 
highly elastic supply curve below this point. 
The above conclusions may throw some light upon why the 
owners of land derive great advantages from an advance In 
industrial effectiveness, in which their factor does not increase, 
and also why they suffer most during periods of industrial retro- 
oression when their supply cannot contract. 
TV ir 
7. Elasticities of Supply in Relation to Changes in Bargaining 
Power 
Let us turn now to what the results would be if the relative 
bargaining power of any one factor were to be increased without 
any change in the effectiveness of industry as a whole. 
A. What is an Improvement in Bargaining Power? 
This forces us to a consideration of what is meant by bargain- 
ing power and what constitutes an improvement in it. There 
are three possible forms which this improvement may take, of 
which the last two are by far the most important: (1) An improve- 
ment in the technique of negotiations, such as greater knowl- 
edge of the situation and personal adroitness and shrewdness in 
driving a bargain. (2) A shifting of the supply schedule in 
some measure to the left so that at the same price a smaller 
quantity will be offered than before. (3) The introduction of at 
least a partial monopoly of supply so that a large number of 
anits will have to be accepted or rejected as a block instead of 
the atomistic competition usually posited. 
In so far as greater knowledge of the economic situation is a 
factor, this enables the final adjustment to be more closely in 
harmony with the equilibrium which the economic forces would 
tend to bring about than would otherwise be the case. Greater 
technical skill in driving a bargain would undoubtedly help 
many individuals, but it certainly would not alter the five funda- 
mental conditions outlined in the concluding paragraph of Section 
9 Tt would assist the weaker factor in securing more nearly 
what pure economic forces would tend to secure for them, but 
it would not seem that craft and bargaining ability could by 
themselves alter permanently in all circumstances the amounts 
which each would receive. Men who think that this can be 
done forget that there is a great deal of competition between 
capitalists for labor and between laborers for employment.