Marin: a Pascalian diversion

Discussion of industrial democracy in Britain has been notably untheoretical, especially with respect to economic theory. There is economic literature on the issue, but it is very much dominated by neoclassical theories of the firm. This essay attempts to assess the arguments of that neo-classicism. Part of this involves some discussion of the basis of the hegemony of that type of economics within theories of the firm, which requires some discussion of the history of the theory of the firm. The conclusion is that whilst neo-classicism is not to be dismissed, an adequate theorisation of the economics of industrial democracy cannot be based on neo-classical premises about the structure and conduct of firms.