The Firm, the Market, and the Law
Author: Ronald H. Coase
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ISBN: 0226111016
Publisher: University of Chicago Press (February, 1990)
Sales Rank: 35,871
Average Customer Rating: 5 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Lucid essays on transaction costs and social welfare
This little book is a fantastic introduction to some of the powerful ideas introduced by Coase. Coase initiated two different ideas that today govern or inform much of the work of economists. The first was his introduction of the idea of "transaction costs", from an article suggesting an investigation into the root causes for industrial organization. The second is now known as the Coase Theorem, and stems from his insightful refutation of the Pigouvian view of social cost. There is also an article investigating the actual history of lighthouses in England, something which has usually been cited as a pure public good, and therefore requiring government provision. The history shows that most lighthouses - in some periods, all lighthouses - were privately provided. Coase's writing is lucid, his ideas profound, and his influence widespread. This collection is very important to anyone wanting to understand externalities, transaction costs, and social welfare.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Brilliant insight
Ronald Coase, though not an economist, in this book develops the rationale for the existence of firms (the reduction of transactions costs), an insight that has revolutionized the field of microeconomics since its publication (the original essay was published in the 1930s). He also touches on arguments related to monopolies (and when they should and should not be curbed by regulation). Despite the deep implications, it is written in an easily readable format.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Some of the most important ideas in economics
This collection of seven of economist Ronald Coase's essays provides important understanding of the workings of market economies, the boundary between private and public, and what determines the size and structure of a firm. Coase distinguished his work from other economists by focusing on the role of transaction costs-now a common theme in discussions of the new economy. If you read only one of the chapters, it should be "The Nature of the Firm". Here Coase provides the intellectual foundations for strategic thinking about business architectures, mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing, and collaborative commerce. Some of this work was later elaborated on by Oliver Williamson (see his 1985 book, The Economic Institutions of Capitalism.) Like Joseph Schumpeter, Ronald Coase is an economist whose works from decades ago are now more relevant than ever. While Schumpeter's phrase "creative destruction" may be more memorable, in the end it is Coase's views on transaction costs and the nature of the firm that may be the more significant (and certainly more readable). Similar Products
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