The Growth of the Firm: The Legacy of Edith Penrose

by Christos Pitelis

Overview

Edith Penrose has been one of the most significant economists of the second part of the twentieth century. Her contribution to the theory of the firm has reinvented and productively developed the classical tradition in economics, and informed the currently dominant, knowledge-based theory of the firm. This volume builds on a special issue of Contributions to Political Economy that celebrated forty years since Penrose's classic The Theory of the Growth of the Firm. It includes fifteen chapters by leading contributors on the aforementioned aspects of Penrose's work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199244164
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/23/2002
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Queen's College, Cambridge

Table of Contents

1. On the garden of Edith: some themes, C. Pitelis2. Edith Elura Tilton Penrose: life, contribution and influence, P. Penrose and C. Pitelis3. Mrs Penrose and neoclassical theory, G. B. Richardson4. The significance of Penrose's theory for the development of economics, B. J. Loasby5. Edith Penrose and economics, R. Marris6. Hercules and Penrose, N. Kay7. The growth of new ventures: analysis after Penrose, E. Garnsey8. A theory of the (growth of the) transnational firm: a Penrosean perspective, C. Pitelis9. Edith Penrose: economics and strategic management, N. J. Foss10. Edith T. Penrose and Ronald H. Coase on the nature of the firm and the nature of industry, J. T. Ravix11. Regional growth dynamics: a capabilities perspective, M. H. Best12. Mismatching by design: explaining the dynamics of innovative capabilities of the firm with a Penrosean mark, M. Turvani13. Innovation, profits, and growth: Penrose and Schumpeter, J. Cantwell14. The US industrial corporation and The Theory of the Growth of the Firm, W. Lazonick15. Management competence, firm growth and economic progress, S. Ghoshal, M. Hahn and P. Moran16. Edith's garden and a glass half full: further issues, C. PitelisIndex

Editorial Reviews

"Fifteen papers ... focus on the life, contributions, and influence of Edith Penrose; Penrose and neoclassical theory; the significance of Penrose's theory for the development of economics; a constructive critique of the Penrose picture of the firm; Penrose's analysis of the growth process of the Hercules Powder Company in 1960 and the subsequent development of the company; the growth of new ventures; a Penrosean perspective on the theory of the growth of the transnational firm; Penrose, economics, and strategic management; Penrose and Ronald H. Coase on the nature of the firm and the nature of industry; a capabilities perspective on regional growth dynamics; features that are responsible for promoting and limiting the capability of firms to innovate; Penrose and Joseph Shumpeter on innovation, profits, and growth; the U.S. industrial corporation and The Theory of the Growth of the Firm; and management competence, firm growth, and economic progress."—Journal of Economic Literature

From the Publisher