Why Do Firms Exist
نویسنده
چکیده
The traditional explanation for the existence of firms in terms of transaction costs conceptualizes the firm as a problem in the context of neoclassical theory. The purpose of this paper is to consider the firm as a problem in the context of evolutionary theory. An evolutionary perspective calls for an explanation of the existence of firms in historical, rather than market, terms. The paper shows that such an historical explanation requires a reformulation of the question ‘why do firms exist’ into two more fundamental questions, and specifies the building blocks of an evolutionary theory of the firm that can answer these questions.
منابع مشابه
Revised draft
In his famous article on “The nature of the firm”, Ronald Coase (1937) sought to answer the question why firms exist, why there are many firms and not just one, why people do not work as individual producers but rather in firms. He suggested that transaction costs could explain the boundaries of the firm and that suggestion later on gave rise to an abundant literature on vertical integration. T...
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