Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm

9781848446489 Edward Elgar Publishing

Edited by the late Michael Dietrich, former Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Sheffield, UK and Jackie Krafft, C

Publication Date: 2012 ISBN: 978 1 84844 648 9 Extent: 608 pp

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This unique Handbook explores both the economics of the firm and the theory of the firm, two areas which are traditionally treated separately in the literature. On the one hand, the former refers to the structure, organization and boundaries of the firm, while the latter is devoted to the analysis of behaviours and strategies in particular market contexts. The novel concept underpinning this authoritative volume is that these two areas closely interact, and that a framework must be articulated in order to illustrate how linkages can be created.

This interpretative framework is comprehensively developed in the editors’ introduction, and the expert contributors – more than fifty academics of renowned authority – further elaborate on the linkages in the seven comprehensive sections that follow, encompassing: background; equilibrium and new institutional theories; the multinational firm; dynamic approaches to the firm; modern issues; firms’ strategies; and economic policy and the firm.

Bridging economics and theory of the firm, and providing both technical and institutional perspectives on real corporations, this path-breaking Handbook will prove an invaluable resource for academics, researchers and students in the fields of economics, heterodox economics, business and management, and industrial organization.

Contributors

Contributors: Z.J. Acs, M. Aglietta, C. Antonelli, M.C. Becker, M. Bellandi, M.H. Best, H. Bo, J.J. Bouma, H. Bouthinon-Dumas, T. Buchmann, R. Carter, M. Casson, C. Cézanne, M. Cloodt, A. Coad, A. Colombelli, A. Correljé, L. De Propris, M. Dietrich, C. Driver, S.P. Dunn, P.E. Earl, N.J. Foss, M. Fransman, J.-L. Gaffard, J. Groenewegen, S. Guillou, J. Hagedoorn, G. Hanappi, G.M. Hodgson, W. Hölzl, G. Ietto-Gillies, A. Jolink, T. Knudsen, J. Krafft, W. Lazonick, S. Lechevalier, B.J. Loasby, F. Marty, L. Nesta, E. Niesten, B. Nooteboom, U. Pagano, P.P. Patrucco, A. Pyka, F. Quatraro, J.-L. Ravix, A. Rebérioux, A. Reinstaller, E. Salies, P.P. Saviotti, N. Stieglitz, M. Teubal, S. Toms, N. Wadeson, O. Weinstein, J.F. Wilson

Contents

Contents:

Preface

PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. The Economics and Theory of the Firm
Michael Dietrich and Jackie Krafft

PART II: BACKGROUND
2. The Obscure Firm in the Wealth of Nations
Michael H. Best

3. Marx
Ugo Pagano

4. Alfred Marshall and the Marshallian Theory of the Firm
Jacques-Laurent Ravix

5. Veblen, Commons and the Theory of the Firm
Geoffrey M. Hodgson

6. Schumpeter
Gerhard Hanappi

7. Berle and Means
Cécile Cézanne

8. John Kenneth Galbraith and the Theory of the Firm
Stephen P. Dunn

9. Managerial Theories: Baumol and Marris
Olivier Weinstein

10. Behavioural Theory
Peter E. Earl

PART III: EQUILIBRIUM AND NEW INSTITUTIONAL THEORIES
11. Agency Theory, Corporate Governance and Finance
Hong Bo and Ciaran Driver

12. Hybrid Governance
Albert Jolink and Eva Niesten

13. Transaction Cost Empirical Work
Richard Carter

PART IV: THE MULTINATIONAL FIRM
14. The Multinational Firm: Characteristics, Activities and Explanations in Historical Context
Grazia Ietto-Gillies

15. Internationalization Theory
Mark Casson and Nigel Wadeson

16. The Japanese Firm: From the Analysis of a Model to the Understanding of its Increasing Heterogeneity
Sébastien Lechevalier

17. The European Firm
Alessandra Colombelli and Francesco Quatraro

PART V: DYNAMIC APPROACHES TO THE FIRM
18. Edith Penrose and George Richardson
Brian J. Loasby

19. Nelson and Winter Revisited
Markus C. Becker and Thorbjørn Knudsen

20. Modern Resource-based Theory(ies)
Nicolai J. Foss and Nils Stieglitz

21. Cognitive Theory of the Firm: A Pragmatic Perspective
Bart Nooteboom

PART VI: MODERN ISSUES
22. Revisiting Chandler on the Theory of the Firm
Steven Toms and John F. Wilson

23. Financialization and the Firm
Michel Aglietta and Antoine Rebérioux

24. Firm Growth: Empirical Analysis
Alex Coad and Werner Hölzl

25. Corporate Governance, Innovative Enterprise, and Executive Pay
William Lazonick

26. Innovative Platforms, Complexity and the Knowledge-Intensive Firm
Pier Paolo Patrucco

27. Small Firms and Industrial Districts
Marco Bellandi and Lisa De Propris

PART VII: FIRM STRATEGIES
28. Mergers and Acquisitions and Firm Performance
Myriam Cloodt and John Hagedoorn

29. R&D and the Firm
Pier Paolo Saviotti

30. Creating Novelty through Vertical Relationships between Groups of Complementary Players
Martin Fransman

31. Product Innovation when Consumers have Switching Costs
Evens Salies

32. Modularity and its Implications for the Theory of the Firm
Andreas Reinstaller

33. Innovation Networks
Tobias Buchmann and Andreas Pyka

PART VIII: ECONOMIC POLICY AND THE FIRM
34. Cartel and Monopoly Policy
Hugues Bouthinon-Dumas and Frédéric Marty

35. R&D and Industrial Policy: Policies to Coordinate Investments in Research under Radical Uncertainty
Jean-Luc Gaffard, Sarah Guillou and Lionel Nesta

36. Public Policy in an Entrepreneurial Society
Zoltan J. Acs

37. The Regulated Firm in Liberalized Network Industries
Aad Correljé, John Groenewegen and Jan Jaap Bouma

38. From the Corporation to Venture Capitalism: New Surrogate Markets for Knowledge and Innovation-led Economic Growth
Cristiano Antonelli and Morris Teubal

Index