Activity analysis is extended into consumption theory. It is assumed that goods possess, or give rise to, multiple characteristics in fixed proportions and that it is these characteristics, not goods themselves, on which the consumer’s preferences are exercised.

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A New Approach to Consumer Theory

This article presents a theory of how different types of discrepancies between self-state representations are related to different kinds of emotional vulnerabilities. One domain of the self (actual; ideal; ought) and one standpoint on the self (own; significant other) constitute each type of self-state representation. It is proposed that different types of self-discrepancies represent different types of negative psychological situations that are associated with different kinds of discomfort. Discrepancies between the actual/own self-state (i.e., the self-concept) and ideal self-states (i.e., representations of an individual's beliefs about his or her own or a sitmifieant other's hopes, wishes, or aspirations for the individual) signify the absence of positive outcomes, which is associated with dejection-related emotions (e.g., disappointment, dissatisfaction, sadness). In contrast, discrepancies between the actual/own self-state and ought self-states (i.e., representations of an individual's beliefs about his or her own or a significant other's beliefs about the individual's duties, responsibilities, or obligations) signify the presence of negative outcomes, which is associated with agitation-related emotions (e.g., fear, threat, restlessness). Differences in both the relative magnitude and the accessibility of individuals' available types of self-discrepancies are predicted to be related to differences in the kinds of discomfort people are likely to experience. Correlational and experimental evidence supports the predictions of the model. Differences between self-discrepancy theory and (a) other theories of incompatible self-beliefs and (b) actual self negativity (e.g., low self-esteem) are discussed.

http://persweb.wabash.edu/facstaff/hortonr/articles%20for%20class/Higgins.pdf

Self-discrepancy: a theory relating self and affect.

Studies the impact of competitive import licenses on the economy. Value of rents associated with import licenses; Relationship between welfare cost of quantitative restrictions and tariff equivalents; Impact of wage legislation on equilibrium levels of unemployment. (Из Ebsco)

The Political Economy of the Rent-Seeking Society

People approach pleasure and avoid pain. To discover the true nature of approach-avoidance motivation, psychologists need to move beyond this hedonic principle to the principles that underlie the different ways that it operates. One such principle is regulatory focus, which distinguishes self-regulation with a promotion focus (accomplishments and aspirations) from self-regulation with a prevention focus (safety and responsibilities). This principle is used to reconsider the fundamental nature of approach-avoidance, expectancy-value relations, and emotional and evaluative sensitivities. Both types of regulatory focus are applied to phenomena that have been treated in terms of either promotion (e.g., well-being) or prevention (e.g., cognitive dissonance). Then, regulatory focus is distinguished from regulatory anticipation and regulatory reference, 2 other principles underlying the different ways that people approach pleasure and avoid pain.

/pdf/beyond-pleasure-and-pain-15he2ycgoe.pdf

Beyond pleasure and pain.

To understand biology at the system level, we must examine the structure and dynamics of cellular and organismal function, rather than the characteristics of isolated parts of a cell or organism. Properties of systems, such as robustness, emerge as central issues, and understanding these properties may have an impact on the future of medicine. However, many breakthroughs in experimental devices, advanced software, and analytical methods are required before the achievements of systems biology can live up to their much-touted potential.

/pdf/systems-biology-a-brief-overview-2mpd3iyqgx.pdf

Systems biology: a brief overview.

Cybernetics: Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine

During recent years the proposition first advanced by Bickerdike, that a country can improve its welfare as compared with the free trade position by imposing a tariff on imports, has achieved general recognition in the literature of international trade theory. There is still, however, some confusion over what happens if other countries retaliate by imposing tariffs in their turn. Although Kaldor1 in his classic revival of the Bickerdike proposition, referred explicitly to the possibility that a country might gain by imposing a tariff even if other countries retaliated—a possibility which is also indicated by considerations of general monopoly theory—the possibility is often overlooked: it being assumed, and argued against the “optimum tariff” theorem, that once retaliation occurs all parties are bound to lose as compared with the free trade position. The locus classicus of this error (and some others) is probably Professor Scitovszky’s analysis of retaliation in his “Reconsideration of the Theory of Tariffs.”2

Optimum Tariffs and Retaliation

The Monetary approach to the balance of payments

The theory of income distribution

My purpose in this paper is to outline a new approach to the theory of the balance of payments and of balance-of-payments adjustment (including devaluation and revaluation) that has been emerging in recent years from several sources. Concretely, this new approach is found in the change in policy orientation adopted by the British government under pressure from the International Monetary Fund after the devaluation of 1967 failed to produce the expected improvement in the British balance of payments. The theoretical basis for the new orientation can be traced back to the work of the Dutch economist J. J. Koopmans. The new approach is also evident in the theoretical work of my colleagues at the University of Chicago, and R. A. Mundell and his students, although it is only fair to note that economists elsewhere have been working along similar lines. The essence of this new approach is to put at the forefront of analysis the monetary rather than the relative price aspects of international adjustment.

Harry G. Johnson

Papers

Cybernetics: Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine

Optimum Tariffs and Retaliation

The Monetary approach to the balance of payments

The theory of income distribution

The Monetary Approach to Balance-of-Payments Theory