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Concentration change and the structure—performance debate: An interpretive essay
Author(s) -
Carter John R.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
managerial and decision economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.288
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1099-1468
pISSN - 0143-6570
DOI - 10.1002/mde.4090050404
Subject(s) - normative , raising (metalworking) , positive economics , resolution (logic) , epistemology , economics , sociology , philosophy , computer science , mathematics , artificial intelligence , geometry
It is demonstrated that the hypotheses and tests found in the concentration change literature fail to discriminate adequately among the competing theories. This failure is characteristic of the larger structure‐performance debate, raising the question of whether there is something in the nature of the debate which permits it to persist but never really progress. It is argued that the debate is derived in large part from differences which on one level are purely semantic but which on a deeper level concern the normative bases up on which market outcomes are interpreted. If a meaningful resolution is to be hoped for, it must be sought at much deeper levels of inquiry.