The Economics of the Business Firm: Seven Critical Commentaries

by Harold Demsetz

Overview

The essays in this volume break new ground in the theory of the business firm and its applications in economics. A leading analyst of industrial organization, Professor Demsetz critically examines current debates on the existence, definition, and organization of the firm and discusses issues related to the emerging theory of the firm. He then analyzes the relation among business ownership, wealth, and economic development. Subsequent essays offer new perspectives on competition, profit maximization and rational behavior, and shed new light on managers' compensation, antitrust policy, and the accuracy of firms' accounting data.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521588652
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/13/1996
Series:	Seven Critical Commentaries
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.91(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.59(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; First Commentary. The firm in theory: its definition and existence; Second Commentary. Agency and non-agency explanations of the firm's organization; Third Commentary. Enterprise control, wealth, and economic development; Fourth Commentary. Profit maximization and rational behavior; Fifth Commentary. The use and abuse of accounting profit data; Sixth Commentary. Management compensation and tournament theory; Seventh commentary. The intensity and dimensionality of competition; References.

Editorial Reviews

"...this is an instructive book. I benefited from reading it. Applied microeconomists and organization theorists will take delight in the insights and many will be stimulated to do follow-on research." Oliver E. Williamson, Journal of Economic Literature

"These essays are the quintessential Harold Demsetz, the defender of the market. Moreover, it is important that this position be articulated and known to all economists regardless of their own views about the efficiency of the market system. Demsetz's writing is eloquent and sharp and he takes on all sides in his defencse of the classical economic position." Morton I. Kamien, Kellogg Graduate School of Management Northwestern University

"The commentaries show the kind of insight and thoughtfulness I have come to appreciate in Harold Demsetz's work. The issues he confronts add important dimensions to our understanding." Douglass C. North, Nobel Laureate, Washington University in St. Louis

From the Publisher