Morality, Rationality, and Efficiency: New Perspectives on Socio-Economics.

The papers contained in this volume are a disciplinary and intellectual smorgasbord. Issues discussed range across the philosophic, methodological and policy concerns of the Etzioni approach to socio-economics. The academic association of the authors include social work, sociology, psychology, political science, philosophy, and management, as well as economics. This diverse combination of issues and academic approaches results in a stimulating book.

The term "Socio-Economics" of the book's title is used to denote two separate approaches. Socio-Economics until recently denoted an approach to economics that intellectually begins with the encyclical Rerum Novarum issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. In general, the Catholic Socio-Economists reject the idea that pursuit of individual rational self interest will always result in the promotion of the good for society. Freedom, social justice and dignity are human rights to be protected and guaranteed in order for any system to have desirable outcomes. The second approach is the Etzioni approach. The Etzioni approach to socio-economics has grown out of Amitai Etzioni's book The Moral Dimension: Toward a New Economics (New York: The Free Press. 1988.). This approach endeavors to integrate "social and moral values" into the neoclassical framework of utility maximization. The primary philosophic difference between the two is that the Etzioni approach places social and moral values in the context of utility maximization, and the Catholic approach places social and moral values outside of individual utility maximization. The policy theme of the Catholic Socio-Economics approach is that of human rights being guaranteed by intervention of a polity in market operations, and the Etzioni Socio-Economics approach is of social and moral values being an integrated part of human behavior, and any institutional modifications reflecting those individual desires. The issues and topics are similar for both approaches, but the questions asked and the handling of the data is much different. A familiarity with either approach, though, is not required to read this volume. This book is an excellent first taste for those not previously exposed to the Etzioni approach, or those wishing to contrast the Etzioni and Catholic approaches to socio-economics.

Part one is a single essay, "Introduction: Toward an Agenda for Socio-Economics". Richard Coughlin provides a broad context and an order to the book and the approach by articulating the intellectual ferment of those following this approach. The four articles that are Part Two are bound together by focusing on the process of human decision-making. The consensus is that the decision-making process requires a more complex explanation than simple economic rationality. Chris de Neuburg in "Job Libido and the Culture of Unemployment: An Essay in Sociological Economics" blends economics and sociology with extraordinary clarity. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his conclusion does not detract from the craftsmanship of this essay. Robert Lane's "Money Symbolism and Economic Rationality", for an economist, is at the opposite end of the spectrum. The interpretation of sources for his economist's "neutrality of money" definition is incorrect, and runs counter the arguments in the works cited. But even conceding the definition, the evidence for the non-neutrality of money is not persuasive. If the initial definition is not taken as an absolute proposition, the list of exceptions to the definition does not disprove the proposition. Part Three ranges from the microeconomic issues to macroeconomic issues. The most intriguing essay is "The Ideological Romance of Privatization" by John D. Donahue. This essay demonstrates the strength of the approach in policy analysis, the focusing on the processes and institutions that are the consequence of a policy rather than the ideological purity of that policy. Part Four contains four essays that are challenging and interesting discussions of business ethics. Part Five explores the context of economic activity. Jerome Segal's essay "Alternative Conceptions of the Economic Realm" is an intellectually fun piece, and provides intriguing alternatives to looking at economic discourses. Part Six contains three case studies whose analysis ranges beyond the limitations of microeconomic theory. The most unique approach is taken by Susan Helper in "An Exit-Voice Analysis of Supplier Relations". Her methodology and data interpretation would be of interest to anyone in organizational behavior. The last section, Part Seven, focuses on policy analysis. Amitai Etzioni in "The Moral Dimension in Policy Analysis" summarizes his approach and places it in the context of public policy. Those unfamiliar with the Etzioni approach would find this essay an accessible initial summary of the approach.

The Etzioni essay provides a contrast with the initial essay by Coughlin and a perspective on the approach. Coughlin suggests that at present the approach does ". . . not even come close to the closed system of theoretical propositions or methodological assumptions that mark a full-blown paradigm". This position is in contrast to that expressed by Amital Etzioni that the approach is a ". . . paradigm based on a deontological ethic". This contrast can be viewed as a contradiction, or as a demonstration of the fluidity of the approach because of its relative newness. If the former view is taken, then the book is a set of essays whose only commonality is the binding of the book. If the latter interpretation is taken, then the essays are an exploration of the range of the Etzioni approach to socio-economics.