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The Firm, the Market, and the Law

by Ronald H. Coase, Coase

4.09 · rating details · 22 ratings · 6 reviews

Few other economists have been read and cited as often as R.H. Coase has been, even though, as he admits, "most economists have a different way of looking at economic problems and do not share my conception of the nature of our subject." Coase's particular interest has been that part of economic theory that deals with firms, industries, and marketsLewis A. Kornha...more

Paperback, 226 pages

Published February 15th 1990 by University of Chicago Press

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Aug 04, 2009

Nicholas rated it

Shelves: economics, books-i-quit

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The beginning was really good and then it just became real technical and I totally lost interest.

The most important thing was the idea of transaction costs their relation to the existence of the firm. Interestingly, Coase thought that this was one of the least important parts.

On thing that I think even Coase's tcosts miss in the organization of the firm is human psychology. Fear, uncertainty, lack of leadership ability, these could all lead to the seeding of firms.
...moreThe beginning was really good and then it just became real technical and I totally lost interest.

The most important thing was the idea of transaction costs their relation to the existence of the firm. Interestingly, Coase thought that this was one of the least important parts.

On thing that I think even Coase's tcosts miss in the organization of the firm is human psychology. Fear, uncertainty, lack of leadership ability, these could all lead to the seeding of firms.

Quotes:

"A man who has nothing to worry about immediately busies himself in creating something, gets into some absorbing game, falls in love, prepares to conquer some enemy, or hunt lions or the North Pole or what not."

"Transaction costs: In order to carry out a market transaction it is necessary to discover who it is that one wishes to deal with, to inform people that one wishes to deal and on what terms, to conduct negotiations leading up to a bargain, to draw up the contract, to undertake the inspection needed to make sure that the terms of the contract are being observed, and so on. Dahlman crystallized the concept of transaction costs by describing them as "search and information costs, bargaining and decision costs, policing and enforcement costs.""

"In my article on "The Nature of the Firm" I argued that, although production could be carried out in a completely decentralized way by means of contracts between individuals, the fact that it costs something to enter into these transactions means that firms will emerge to organize what would otherwise be market transactions whenever their costs were less than the costs of carrying out the transactions through the market. The limit to the size of the firm is set where its costs of organizing a transaction become equal to the cost of carrying it out through the market. This determines what the firm buys, produces, and sells."

"If rights to perform certain actions can be bought and sold, they tend to be acquired by those for whom they are most valuable either for production or enjoyment. In this process, rights will be acquired, subdivided, and combined, so as to allow those actions to be carried out which bring about that outcome which has the greatest value on the market."(less)

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Dec 31, 2009

Max Lybbert rated it

Classic economic papers. "The Nature of the Firm" attempts to explain why people form companies. This is interesting to me because the benefits of a firm largely come from reducing certain costs, and technology has reduced some (but not all) of those costs. It's possible to make predictions about the size of firms as those costs continue to drop, and it's interesting to see those predictions come true.

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Feb 16, 2011

Ross Emmett rated it

Recommends it for: anyone interested in economics and/or the governance of firms, extermalities or social costs

Shelves: mc-241, economic-governance

Every essay is a gem. I use this as the core text in MC 241: Politics and Markets, which is an introduction to political economy or what I might prefer to call economic governance.

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Apr 17, 2008

Scott rated it

Shelves: economics, non-fiction, libertarian-must-reads

Really heavy grit...almost want to call it a textbook but can't bring myself to do so out of fear that someone might choose not to read on that basis. Oops...I think the cat just got out of the bag.

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Jun 30, 2008

Ezra Hood rated it

Shelves: law-school

this is a set of articles that made transactions costs an axiom in microeconomics.

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Sep 23, 2010

Craig J. rated it

"The Firm, the Market, and the Law by R. H. Coase (1990)"

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About Ronald H. Coase

Ronald H. Coase is the Clifton R. Musser Professor Emeritus of Economics at The University of Chicago Law School.

Ronald H. Coase’s 1937 paper “The Nature of the Firm” was to establish the field of transaction cost economics. “The Problem of Social Cost,” published in 1961, sets out what is now known as the Coase Theorem and a new field in economic research, “law and economics.”

...moreRonald H. Coase is the Clifton R. Musser Professor Emeritus of Economics at The University of Chicago Law School.

Ronald H. Coase’s 1937 paper “The Nature of the Firm” was to establish the field of transaction cost economics. “The Problem of Social Cost,” published in 1961, sets out what is now known as the Coase Theorem and a new field in economic research, “law and economics.”

After holding positions at the Dundee School of Economics and the University of Liverpool, R. H. Coase joined the faculty of the London School of Economics in 1935. He continued at the London School of Economics and was appointed Reader in Economics with special reference to public utilities in 1947.

Mr. Coase has held both a Sir Ernest Cassel Traveling Scholarship and a Rockefeller Fellowship. He has also been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California. During World War II, he served as a statistician with the Central Statistical Office of the Offices of the British War Cabinet.

In 1951 Mr. Coase migrated to the United States and held positions at the Universities of Buffalo and Virginia prior to coming to the Law School in 1964. He has taught regulated industries and economic analysis and public policy. Mr. Coase was the editor of the Journal of Law and Economics from 1964 to 1982. Among his many publications are The Firm, the Market and the Law (1988) and Essays on Economics and Economists (1994). In 1977 Mr. Coase was a Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Mr. Coase is a Fellow of the British Academy, the European Academy, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the Honour Committee of Euroscience. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Cologne, Yale University, Washington University, the University of Dundee, the University of Buckingham, Beloit College, and the University of Paris.

Coase was awarded the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1991. In 2003, Coase was the winner of The Economist Innovation Award in the category of “No Boundaries.” Coase’s current work continues to look into the complicated nature of the firm. He is also continuing his research into producer’s expectations and natural monopolies.(less)

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