The economics of the satisfaction of needs
This paper is a proposal for the development of an econ­ omics that would be based on satisfaction of the unvarying and universal human needs and not of desires or wants, which are easily manipulable and change, not only from one society to another, but also from one individual to another and even for the same individual at different moments of his or her life. This economics would deal with the production, distribu tion, and use or consumption of all those entities goods, services, relations, self-expressions - that satisfy human needs. It is suggested that in order to achieve stability in social and economic growth, all needs should be simultaneously satisfied, not only the so-called basic needs - food, shelter, clothing, health care, and education. It is claimed that tech­ nological development is making this proposal possible, parti­ cularly because the satisfaction of most of the psychological and sociocultural needs relies mainly on gratuitous relations
Product-Service Systems - From Customer Needs to Requirements in Early Development Phases
Framed by Product-Service Systems (PSS), this paper discuss how needs and requirements are applied in early phases. In product development literature these and closely related terms are mixed, and a focus on gathering customer information about goods and their use guides the development team. This theoretical study highlights that lifecycle commitments such as PSS insist on the generation of a broader information basis. The application of a divergent view on goods, their use and the customers is likely to provide such information basis. The discussion provides a proposal of a simple model to set needs and requirements in relation.
Complexity, Network-Decisions And Alternative Risk Premia: Some New Theories Of Structural Change And Portfolio Decisions.
Structural Change is the basis for many decisions such as government fiscal and monetary policies, government interventions, corporate-expenditure decisions, corporate strategic decisions, portfolio management decisions in finance; household allocation decisions, etc.. Structural change in industries and national economies is increasingly more difficult to detect partly because of the growth and dominance of Complex Systems and “Networks” in modern industries and economies – such Networks and Complex Systems include GVCs (global value chains), retail store networks; franchising networks; internet networks; services networks; credit-chains in industries; online social networks; etc.. The relationship between Complexity and Structural Change is well established in the physics, applied math and economic dynamics literatures. Traditional definitions and modeling of structural change have erroneously focused on changes in labor, technological progress, market share, and or capital – which are grossly inadequate in the new economy and post- global financial crisis (as confirmed by changes in the global retailing and housing industries and other industries). Also the modeling of structural change seems to be constrained by the availability of data, and often omits the relationship between structural change on one hand, and globalization, financial stability and international financial contagion. This article: i) introduces the Operations Strategy Model of structural change, explains how it differs from the Lewis Model of Structural Change; and explains the often omitted relationship between operations strategy (of companies and government agencies) and structural change; ii) introduces other new Complexity-based models/theories of Structural Change in industries; iii) reviews the relationships among Operations Research, Complexity and Structural Change; iv) explains the symbiotic relationship between structural change on one hand, and economic growth, financial stability, financial contagion and globalization; v) discusses the significant gap between academic research and practice and explains some issues and factors that should be considered in the development and testing of structural change models; vi) explains how alternative risk premia can be generated from new models of Structural Change.