Environmental Constraints, Commodity Mix, And Research Resource Allocation
The purpose of this paper is to show how the allocation of research resources among commodities and the effects of such allocations on the output mix depend upon (a) the initial production conditions, (b) the nature of the research production functions, (c) the nature of the demand relations for the commodity outputs, (d) relative factor endowments, and (e) the existence of different types of environmental constraints. The basic model used is a two-factor, two-product model in which certain types of technical change are introduced.
Market Integration: A Study of Sorghum Prices in Western India
This article examines the popular view in underdeveloped countries that there exist large regional price differences that are caused by speculative elements in trade. The data bearing on the prices of sorghum in a number of primary and terminal markets in India suggest that these differences are not caused by the activities of the traders. The analysis emphasizes the high degree of interdependence between wholesale markets in the process of price formation. Regional price differences often result from differences in varieties of the grain traded. Prices for the same product may differ because of transport costs. Price discrepancies of the order larger than transport costs may result from such factors as transport bottlenecks and government control on the movement of goods.
Multi-Dimensional Utility and the Index Number Problem: Jeremy Bentham, J. S. Mill, and Qualitative Hedonism
This article develops an unconventional perspective on the utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill in at least four areas. First, it is shown that both authors conceived of utility as irreducibly multi-dimensional, and that Bentham in particular was very much aware of the ambiguity that multi-dimensionality imposes upon optimal choice under the greatest happiness principle. Secondly, I argue that any attribution of intrinsic worth to any form of human behaviour violates the first principles of Bentham's and Mill's utilitarianism, and that this renders both authors immune to the claim by G. E. Moore that they committed a ‘naturalistic fallacy’. Thirdly, in light of these contentions, I find no flaw in Mill's ‘proof of utility’. Fourthly, I use the notion of intrapersonal utility weights to provide an interpretation of Mill's qualitative hedonism that is entirely consistent with his value monism.