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This book draws on the analytical framework of New Institutional Economics (NIE) to critically examine the role which law and the legal system play in economic development. Analytical concepts from NIE are used to assess policies which have been supported by multilateral development organisations including securing private property rights, reform of the legal system and financial development. The importance of culture in shaping the legal environment, which in turn influences financial sector development, is also assessed using Oliver Williamson’s ‘levels of social analysis’ framework.
Firms are a ubiquitous feature of the economic landscape, with much of the activity undertaken within an economy taking place within their boundaries. Given the size of the contribution made by firms to economic activity, employment and growth, having a theoretical understanding of the nature and structure of firms is crucial for understanding how an economy functions. The Theory of the Firm firstly offers a brief overview of the past, consisting of a concise discussion of the classical view of production, followed by an outline of the development of the neoclassical - or ‘textbook’ - approach to firm level production. Secondly, the ‘present’ of the theory of the firm is discussed in...
Foundations of Organisational Economics: Histories and Theories of the Firm and Production delves into a range of key topics to do with the history of the mainstream approach to the theory of production and the theory of the firm. This includes the frameworks used to analyse production, the division of labour and its application to the firm and the development of the neoclassical model of production. The first topic explored is the change from a normative approach to a largely positive approach to the analysis of the theory of production, which occurred around the seventeenth century. The next topic is an examination of the relationship (or the lack of a relationship) between the division of...
This is a revised edition by David Herbert Donald of his former professor J. G. Randall’s book The Civil War and Reconstruction, which was originally published in 1937 and had long been regarded as “the standard work in its field”, serving as a useful basic Civil War reference tool for general readers and textbook for college classes. This Second Edition retains many of the original chapters, “such as those treating border-state problems, non-military developments during the war, intellectual tendencies, anti-war efforts, religious and educational movements, and propaganda methods [...] bearing evidence of Mr. Randall’s thoroughgoing exploration of the manuscripts and archives,” whilst it expands considerably on other original chapters, such as those relating to the Confederacy. Still other portions have been entirely recast or rewritten, such as the pre-war period chapters and Reconstruction chapters, reflecting factual updates since Randall’s original publication. A must-read for all Civil War students and scholars.
This textbook demonstrates how economic tools can be used to examine the question of how and why legal norms can effectively guide human action, situating the study of both private and public law within the framework of institutional economics
The rise of agrarian capitalism in Britain is usually told as a story about markets, land, and wages. This study reveals that it was also about books, knowledge and expertise, challenging the dominant narrative of an agricultural 'enlightenment' and showing how farming books appropriated traditional knowledge in pre-industrial Britain.
The theory of the firm did not exist, in any serious manner, until around 1970. Only then did the current theory of the firm literature begin to emerge, based largely upon the work of Ronald Coase and to a lesser degree Frank Knight. It was work by Armen Alchian, Robert Crawford, Harold Demsetz, Michael Jensen, Benjamin Klein, William Meckling and Oliver Williamson, among others, that drove the upswing in interest in the firm among mainstream economists. This accessible book provides a valuable overview of the ‘prehistory’ of the firm. Spanning an impressive timeline, it delves into Antiquity, the Medieval era, the pre-classical economics period and the 19th and 20th centuries. Next, the book traces the theoretical contributions from pre-classical, classical and neoclassical economics. It will be illuminating reading for students and researchers of the history of economic thought, industrial organization, microeconomic theory and business history.
Throughout the world, the Anglo-American model of corporate governance tends to prevail – but no two countries are identical. Governance outcomes in developing and emerging economies often deviate from what theory predicts, due to a wide range of factors. Using insights from New Institutional Economics, Corporate Governance in Developing and Emerging Markets aims to explain the different issues and cultural and legal factors at play, and put forward an alternative governance framework for these economies. Structured in three parts, this text investigates different models of corporate governance; it explores the realities of corporate governance in ten nations, including the ‘BRICS’ (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and ‘MINT’ (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) countries; and then considers corporate governance reform. This interdisciplinary text will be a valuable tool for students of corporate governance across Business, Economics and Law; and an equally useful resource for anyone working in or carrying out research in this area.
This book uses economic theory to argue that worker-controlled firms are rare due to market failures rather than inherent organizational defects. The book will be of interest to scholarly researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates in economics, especially in industrial organization, labor economics, comparative economics, organizational economics, and finance.