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
TENSION The other counterbalancing factor is the conscience of both managers and lower rank personnel. Most people like to work honestly; they are ashamed of turning out faulty products. For engineers technical development is a natural ambition. Managers find queuing embarassing and strive to bring the composition of production into harmony with demand. The two factors are interrelated. Moral and material incentives appeal, first of all and in many cases most successfully to the conscience of workers and employees. In connection with suction we have emphasized the positive counterbalances to the basic detrimental effects on the output of the system. In connection with pressure, on the other hand, we must discuss the negative counterbalances to the basic favourable effect. The competition of sellers for the buyer brings abut not only new products but also numerous undesirable aspects of the competitive struggle: greedy speculation, ruthlessness to competitors, cheating the buyer, a flow of false and wasteful advertisement. 21.8. Tension The positive and negative effects also depend on the strength of the pressure or suction in the market. So far we have considered only the sign of the disequilibrium; are the sellers or the buyers predominant? However, the degree of predominance is not immaterial. Let us consider first the case of pressure. The concept of tension of aspiration is based on the difference between the seller’s aspiration and actual sales.11 As a first approximation we may say that pressure on the market will be the greater, the greater the seller’s aspiration tension. The phenomenon is analogous to the operation of a hydroelectric power plant; the water is able to perform work because there are two water levels differing from each other; the hydro-electric generators are driven by the water rushing down from the higher level to the lower one. The greater the difference between the two levels, the larger the generators the water can drive and the greater the amount of current that can be generated. True, there is a tendency for the water to reach a state of equilibrium where the two water levels are equalized in accordance with the law of communicating vessels. However, should this state be attained, although a fine state of equilibrium would be brought about, the production of current would cease altogether. The water is 11 See the general definition of tension of aspiration 12.3, as well as its specification for the tension of selling and buying aspirations in Chapter 19.