Devine made one of the most thorough descriptions of a future post-capitalistic economy which is based upon social ownership of the means of production by those affected by the use of it.
Another key aspect of Devine’s work has been a close reading of the notorious economic calculation debate[2] and later attempts to offer a response to the objections by the Austrian school of economic theory.
Similarly, Devine's work on the subject of industrial planning has largely constituted an extended critique of the Austrian theory of entrepreneurship.
In this vein, Devine has argued that "a major weakness in the modern Austrian School's emphasis on the need for tacit knowledge to be socially mobilised by entrepreneurs participating in the market process is that participation is restricted to those with access to capital, thus ignoring the tacit knowledge of the majority of people".
He and collaborators Fikret Adaman and Begum Ozkaynak are particularly notable for their elaboration of a visionary socialist model that they call participatory planning.