Kornai János: Anti-Equilibrium. On economic systems theory and the tasks of research - Reprints of Economic Classics (Fairfield, 1991) / angol nyelven
Part III: Pressure and suction in the market
THE TENSION OF THE BUYER’S ASPIRATION 245 There are aspirations which can be fulfilled almost at the moment that they arise. If the aspiration is to drink a cup of coffee, this can be done immediately, even at night, in any coffee-bar. The purchase of a house, on the other hand, even in the case of an ample supply—involves obtaining extensive information, signing a sales contract, securing the help of a lawyer, probably obtaining a bank loan, transcribing the exchange in the land register, etc. All this may take weeks. Thus there exists a period of waiting, a delay, due to the administrative and technical conditions of sale. Definition 19.1. Let us call the necessary waiting period of buying and denote by ilj the minimum number of periods that must elapse between the initial aspiration and the first fulfilment, the contract. Let us call the limitation period of buying aspirations and denote by 0j the number of periods which must elapse before all elements belonging to set cease their original aspirations, either because the buying intention has been fulfilled or because the original aspiration has been corrected. Obviously = 0. (19.3) Definition 19.2*. The tension of buying aspirations in the market of they'th product as calculated from the initial period t0 over an arbitrary period T ($,· ^ τ S Gfi can be characterized by the following index: The degree of tension efiT), the corresponding “percentual” index: The tension formula in (19.4) and (19.5) is in harmony with the general definition of the tension of aspiration given in 12.3, of which it is a special case. What happens to the value of the index over time is presented in Figure 19.1. The single first, high column is the aspiration level: 250 units in the first quarter of 1966. The necessary waiting time, = 2 periods, means that the aspirants presenting themselves in the first quarter of 1966 will be able to begin buying in the third quarter of 1966 at the earliest. This fact accounts for the gap of one period between the first and the second column. (19.4) (19.5) T fi/(T) = £ («„- X ω,/τ)), 11 j Θ,. / e ;jf ' r=t>j