Vanek's theory of labor-managed market economies

Extract

The capitalist market economy has been not only a notoriously bad export article to developing countries, but even in the advanced economies dissatisfaction is growing. The Soviet-type of command economy never having been a realistic alternative for Western societies, labor representatives and businessmen alike are now concerned with “adjusting the system” in order to improve working conditions and human relationships on the job to reduce the ever costlier labor disputes and social unrests which we are able to witness. Sofar adjustment has been taking the direction of “job enrichment” without, however, leading to striking, or permanently granted, successes. A real alternative, requiring fundamental departures from the capitalist model is offered by labor-management or, as expressed more appropriatly in the French terminology, “autogestion”. If it is recognized, as probably most economists would be ready to do, that the pivotal two, but not unrelated, causes of the socioeconomic malaise are, on the one hand, the increasing concentration of power, letting competitive forces only play at the margins of capitalist society, and, on the other hand, the increasing alienation of the working man from the decisions about, and the product of, his activity, then labor-management suggests almost itself. Furthermore, in the Western world where, apparently, we are strongly committed to democratic principles, simple logic would lead us to request that these principles be applied consistently and should not, therefore, stop at factory gates.