The Mechanisms of Governance / Edition 1

by Oliver E. Williamson

Overview

This book brings together in one place the work of one of our most respected economic theorists, on a field in which he has played a large part in originating: the New Institutional Economics. Transaction cost economics, which studies the governance of contractual relations, is the branch of the New Institutional Economics with which Oliver Williamson is especially associated.

Transaction cost economics takes issue with one of the fundamental building blocks in microeconomics: the theory of the firm. Whereas orthodox economics describes the firm in technological terms, as a production function, transaction cost economics describes the firm in organizational terms, as a governance structure. Alternative feasible forms of organization—firms, markets, hybrids, bureaus—are examined comparatively. The analytical action resides in the details of transactions and the mechanisms of governance.

Transaction cost economics has had a pervasive influence on current economic thought about how and why institutions function as they do, and it has become a practical framework for research in organizations by representatives of a variety of disciplines. Through a transaction cost analysis, The Mechanisms of Governance shows how and why simple contracts give way to complex contracts and internal organization as the hazards of contracting build up. That complicates the study of economic organization, but a richer and more relevant theory of organization is the result. Many testable implications and lessons for public policy accrue to this framework. Applications of both kinds are numerous and growing.

Written by one of the leading economic theorists of our time, The Mechanisms of Governance is sure to be an important work for years to come. It will be of interest to scholars and students of economics, organization, management, and law.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195078244
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/29/1996
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	9.48(w) x 6.44(h) x 1.34(d)

About the Author

Oliver E. Williamson is the Edgar F. Kaiser Professor of Business, Professor of Economics, and Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of numerous works in which law, economics, and organization are joined.

Editorial Reviews

"The Mechanisms of Governance is sure to be of interest to all who study economics, organization, management, and law. Moreover, it contains new and useful insights for any manager who wants to stay on the leading edge of economic theory."—Cal Business

"...a work of scholarship written for posterity by one of the leading social scientists of our time. [It] should achieve the status of a classic text quickly... [Williamson] provides a conceptual framework simple enough to be used and yet exact and complex enough to accommodate continuing insights into the workings of organizations."—Academy of Management Review

"Even those who have read most of it could benefit from reading it again as a whole. Williamson's accomplishments are many. He is preeminent in his field. One could almost say that he is the field."—Journal of Economic Issues

"The Mechanisms of Governance is...a valuable summing up of both an especially influential body of work and the career of a great economist."—Business History Review

From the Publisher