The Economic Nature of the Firm: A Reader - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521311403 ISBN 13: 9780521311403

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1986

Synopsis

This book brings together classic writings on the economic nature and organization of firms, including works by Ronald Coase, Oliver Williamson, and Michael Jensen and William Meckling, as well as more recent contributions by Paul Milgrom, Bengt Holmstrom, John Roberts, Oliver Hart, Luigi Zingales, and others. Part I explores the general theme of the firm's nature and place in the market economy; Part II addresses the question of which transactions are integrated under a firm's roof and what limits the growth of firms; Part III examines employer-employee relations and the motivation of labor; and Part IV studies the firm's organization from the standpoint of financing and the relationship between owners and managers. The volume also includes a consolidated bibliography of sources cited by these authors and an introductory essay by the editors that surveys the new institutional economics of the firm and issues raised in the anthology.

About this title

Review

'Over the years, this classic reader has been a terrific source for those seeking to understand the nature of the firm. The updated material in the new edition will extend this distinguished record.' Bengt Holmstrom, MIT

'For decades, economists focused on the miracle of the market to explain the productive performance of advanced economies. But both the miracles and the problems of modern economies are mostly rooted inside the firms that the system cultivates. The previous editions of the Kroszner-Putterman reader served my students well by exposing them to the deepest economic thinking about the role of the firm. This new edition has some great additions that keep this reader right up to date.' Paul Milgrom, Stanford University

Book Description

This is a book of classic and near-classic readings on issues in the theory of how firms are organized, written by economists well known in the field. The collection introduces the core literature to advanced undergraduates, graduates and scholars in allied disciplines, including law, sociology, and organization and management.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521311403
• ISBN 13: 9780521311403
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384
• Editor: Putterman Louis