The Organization of Industry

by George J. Stigler

The Organization of Industry collects essays written over two decades—pieces prepared especially for this volume, previously unpublished material, and reprinted articles drawn from numerous sources, many which include additional commentary by the author. The essays are unified by George J. Stigler's careful analysis and by his clear and witty style.

In part one, Stigler examines the nature of competition and monopoly. In part two he discusses the forces that determine the size structure of industry, including barriers to entry, economics of scale, and mergers. Part three contains articles on a wide range of topics, such as profitability, delivered price systems, block booking, the economics of information, and the kinky oligopoly demand curve and rigid price. Part four offers a discussion of antitrust policy and includes Stigler's recommendations for future policy as well as an examination of the effects of past policies.

"Stigler's writings might well be subtitled 'The Joys of Doing Economics.' He, more than any other contemporary American economist, dispels the gloom surrounding economic theory. It is impossible to confront the subject treated with such humor and verve and come away still believing that economics is the dismal science."—Shirley B. Johnson, American Scholar

Genres: Economics

346 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

George Joseph Stigler was a U.S. economist. He won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1982, and was a key leader of the Chicago School of Economics, along with his close friend Milton Friedman.

Reviews

[Marks54 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The is a second reread which I have completed over the past three weeks. There is some significant new merger and acquisition activity recently as well as some new litigation against Amazon and Google for their merger activity. This is big news and the details require some consideration about what is happening and why the government is taking action now. Fortunately Stigler’s set of articles still provides some strong statements about the reasons why any firms merge and what the various logics become the combinations entail. Of course there are specific situations, but the general arguments for and against combinations are worth looking over again and Stigler is a fine source.

This is a reread of this classic collection of 17 Stigler articles that was published in 1968. The thery of oligopoly and some related pieces are of the most importance for my immediate interests, but all of these papers are combinations of theory and empirical work that make them all of continuing relevance. The papers are also so well written that they are surprisingly accessible even today.