My interest in X-Efficiency (XE) dates back to 1978. At the time, I was writing the dissertation for my Ph. D. at Washington State University. My dissertation was concerned with the role of attitudes in the school-to-work transition among young men. I was advised by Professor Millard Hastay (a member of my committee) to look at Leibenstein's "new" book, Beyond Economic Man. One of the things that caught my attention was his behavioral description of (selective) rationality. It seemed that Leibenstein' s behavioral description of a (selectively) rational individ ual was very similar to what psychologists such as Abraham Maslow were reporting as being the product of a particular motivational system. In other words, I was impressed with the idea that what Leibenstein was referring to as X-inefficiency was being discussed by psychologists as "the way it (often) is. " So from the beginning I always considered the concept ofX-(in)efficiency to be a valuable one for understanding human behavior. I have since come to believe that this is particularly true when considering behavior in non-market environments, i. e. , within the firm. Work on this book, however, can most realistically said to have started with work which I began in 1982 while I was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. Professor Leibenstein suggested that I consider how some empirical evidence which was being cited as evidence for the role of property rights might also be consistent with XE theory. (The consistency, in both directions, is considerable.

Keywords

Authors and Affiliations

San Diego State University, San Diego, USA

Roger S. Frantz

Bibliographic Information

Book Title: X-Efficiency: Theory, Evidence and Applications
Authors: Roger S. Frantz
Series Title: Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6265-8
Publisher: Springer New York, NY
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media New York 1997
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-9768-7Published: 31 May 1997
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4613-7875-4Published: 12 October 2012
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4615-6265-8Published: 06 December 2012
Series ISSN: 2730-7468
Series E-ISSN: 2730-7476
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIX, 167
Topics: Microeconomics, Industrial Organization

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Authors:

Sections

Buy it now

Buying options

Other ways to access

Table of contents (10 chapters)

Front Matter

Back Matter

About this book