Abstract
Considering that businesses face bankruptcy when their aggregate costs exceed their revenues, the cancellation of the largest production cost item—wages and salaries—in an employee-managed firm system is an effective safeguard against bankruptcy. For this and other reasons, the author argues that risks of insolvency are unlikely to scare democratic firms into accepting the capitalistic logic of cut-throat competition.
Highlights
As is well known, in capital-managed businesses employees are paid on a monthly basis and their wage and salary claims are accorded priority treatment over those of capital providers
Considering that businesses face bankruptcy when their aggregate costs exceed their revenues, it is clear that the cancellation of the largest production cost item—wages and salaries—in an employee-managed firm system is an effective safeguard against bankruptcy
As is well known, when Bernstein theorised his revisionist approach, he started out from the assumption that the main obstacle to the establishment of a socialist system was not the need to help the proletariat seize power, but the difficulties attending any attempt to rapidly organise production in line with the criteria of a planned economy. No such problems would arise during the transition from capitalism to self-management socialism, which can be implemented in successive steps and without any appreciable organisational requirements
Summary
In capital-managed businesses employees are paid on a monthly basis and their wage and salary claims are accorded priority treatment over those of capital providers. Cut-throat competition is a distinctive characteristic of capitalistic, rather than self-managed firm systems.3 This conclusion is in full accord with Petrović’s argument that the production mode as system of producer cooperatives helps overcome both “the division of society into ‘quarrelling’ spheres” and “the domination of the economy over other spheres” [1]; in other words, that it puts an end to the war between “quarrelling spheres” within a class society.. As is well known, when Bernstein theorised his revisionist approach, he started out from the assumption that the main obstacle to the establishment of a socialist system was not the need to help the proletariat seize power, but the difficulties attending any attempt to rapidly organise production in line with the criteria of a planned economy No such problems would arise during the transition from capitalism to self-management socialism, which can be implemented in successive steps and without any appreciable organisational requirements. Is the transition to socialism of worker-managed firms a realistic prospect? Amartya Sen has argued that pessimism about the ability of society to ensure
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
