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Jaroslav Vanek argues that the ecological degradation of the planet is more severe in a capitalist system than it would be in a fully democratic one. At the heart of the ecological preservation question is how the classic public goods problem can be solved, and we are skeptical that a fully democratic system could solve this problem any better than the capitalist system, particularly given that consumer demand for environmental protection appears to be income elastic and that the capitalist system can be expected to generate higher levels of societal wealth than the democratic system. While we disagree with Vanek's conclusion and with many of its underlying arguments, we agree that the ecological well-being of the planet is of great importance, that it is expected that economic activity will have ecological implications, and, therefore, that it is well worth comparing the expected ecological impacts of alternative socio-economic systems.

Continuing in the tradition of earlier volumes in the series, the 12th edition of Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory and Labor-Managed Firms interprets the themes of the series quite broadly and, consequently, the following pages traverse a highly variegated terrain. I have marked this expansive landscape with four guideposts around which our discussion is organized, namely sections on job design and organizational performance (Part I); compensation, worker attitudes, and productivity (Part II); worker cooperatives and nonprofit organizations (Part III); and free trade and the ecological effects of alternative socio-economic systems (Part IV). The following essays exhibit a diversity of topics, data sources, modes of analysis, geographic contexts, and philosophies. The contributors are similarly diverse, hailing from seven countries, with representation both inside and outside of academia. It is my hope that, in addition to contributing to our knowledge of the broad subject at hand, the articles contained in this volume will inspire productive future work on the important questions addressed herein.