This is the second book celebrating Brian Loasby's contribution to economics by an internationally renowned group of authors including Mark Casson, G.B. Richardson, Nicolai Foss, Keith Pavitt, Martin Fransman and Richard Day. It extends Brian Loasby's work in the area of the theory of the firm and related methodological issues. This book is mainly concerned with the theory of the firm, a subject central to much of Brian Loasby's work. The authors begin by considering the existence and nature of firms and their internal and external relations, paying special attention to the themes of coordination and communication costs in a world of surprise and change. The discussion then moves on to the way in which firms use and create knowledge and capabilities, referring to questions of organization, with some detailed empirical investigation of high technology industries. The final part focuses on methodological issues including rationality, knowledge, incommensurability and equilibrium, in the context of different traditions. This book will be welcomed by microeconomists especially those interested in the theory of the firm and methodology.

Monetary Scenarios is an original synthesis of post Keynesian macroeconomic and monetary theory with the new microeconomics of the behavioural, transaction cost and public choice theorists. These theoretical ideas are integrated with recent historical and institutional material from the United Kingdom, the United States and Australasia.

This book is an integrated collection of a dozen of Peter Earl's lively and thought-provoking essays, carefully edited and updated. Theoretical topics include the prediction of corporate behaviour, the economic foundations of marketing and shopping mall design, pricing strategy and its relationship with the existence of second-hand markets, and the microfoundations of macroeconomics. Case studies include cooperation in the car industry, managerialist reforms in New Zealand and the university sector, structural change in the advertising industry and the place of G.B. Richardson and G.L.S. Shackle in the literature of economics.Information, Opportunism and Economic Coordination will be of particular interest to historians of economic thought, business economists, behavioural economists and Post Keynesians.

Herbert A. Simon has been a leading contributor to cognitive psychology, computer science, public administration, philosophy and statistics, and is the winner of the 1978 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics. As this collection demonstrates, his impact on economics has been felt in areas as diverse as the theory of the firm and economic organization, consumer behaviour, law and economics, and environmental economics. Central to his work is the notion of bounded rationality - the mismatch between human decision-making capacities and the scale of the decision problems that people face, which results in satisficing rather than optimizing behaviour - and his belief that economic research should start from the study of actual behaviour rather than being based on convenient but unrealistic assumptions. Peter Earl's choice of articles shows both the kind of economics that emerges when Simon's philosophy is followed comprehensively, and what happens when neo-classical economists partially adopt his ideas.

Microeconomics for Business and Marketing is an innovative new text for intermediate-level students of microeconomics which offers a series of alternative approaches to economic analysis."And now for something completely different". So starts the preface to Peter Earl's new book. And he is right. He has put together a superbly interesting, intellectually challenging book. It is a book that covers not only the basics of intermediate microeconomics, but also relates microeconomics both to real world business decisions and to the literature wherein the ideas developed. An intermediate micro student who masters this book will be a well trained student. Earl's book will be useful not only to intermediate students, but, perhaps even more so, to graduate students and to faculty teaching intermediate micro and managerial economics. It gives microeconomics both an intellectual context and institutional context for microeconomics. It also contains a wealth of real world examples and discussions of how microeconomic reasoning applies to business. The wealth of essays and problems in the book will be challenging to everyone. This textbook is especially relevant to students of business and commerce since it emphasises practical problem solving and helps readers develop skills in choosing appropriate theoretical 'tools' to deal with particular types of 'real world' problems. While other microeconomics texts focus on mainstream technical set pieces, this book explores, compares and contrasts the tools of both mainstream microeconomic analysis and the behavioural/new institutionalist approaches associated with recent Nobel Laureates Herbert Simon and Ronald Coase. This wider theoretical coverage enables a broader range of practical topics to be addressed, including policy implications of consumer decision processes, and the economics of corporate strategy. Key features of this book include: Worked essays and case study questions within the chapters, as well as post-mortem' reports on examination questions that have been set to classes using this material. Overview chapters on theories of decision-making and consumer choice and theories of business behaviour. Extensive coverage of the economics of uncertainty, including scenario planning, bargaining and competitive games. Emphasizes and analyses on the significance of technological change, and the variety of methods used to organize modern business activities, such as franchising, joint ventures and multinational enterprises. Microeconomics for Business and Marketing is a wide-ranging, innovative textbook which will stimulate students and teachers alike. It will be of particular relevance to students of marketing, commerce and business strategy. Specifically designed with today's larger class sizes in mind, the book encourages students to question and to develop both analytical and written skills, as well as to use economics as a tool for problem solving.

Microeconomics for Business and Marketing is an innovative new text for intermediate-level students of microeconomics which offers a series of alternative approaches to economic analysis."And now for something completely different". So starts the preface to Peter Earl's new book. And he is right. He has put together a superbly interesting, intellectually challenging book. It is a book that covers not only the basics of intermediate microeconomics, but also relates microeconomics both to real world business decisions and to the literature wherein the ideas developed. An intermediate micro student who masters this book will be a well trained student. Earl's book will be useful not only to intermediate students, but, perhaps even more so, to graduate students and to faculty teaching intermediate micro and managerial economics. It gives microeconomics both an intellectual context and institutional context for microeconomics. It also contains a wealth of real world examples and discussions of how microeconomic reasoning applies to business. The wealth of essays and problems in the book will be challenging to everyone. This textbook is especially relevant to students of business and commerce since it emphasises practical problem solving and helps readers develop skills in choosing appropriate theoretical 'tools' to deal with particular types of 'real world' problems. While other microeconomics texts focus on mainstream technical set pieces, this book explores, compares and contrasts the tools of both mainstream microeconomic analysis and the behavioural/new institutionalist approaches associated with recent Nobel Laureates Herbert Simon and Ronald Coase. This wider theoretical coverage enables a broader range of practical topics to be addressed, including policy implications of consumer decision processes, and the economics of corporate strategy. Key features of this book include: Worked essays and case study questions within the chapters, as well as post-mortem' reports on examination questions that have been set to classes using this material. Overview chapters on theories of decision-making and consumer choice and theories of business behaviour. Extensive coverage of the economics of uncertainty, including scenario planning, bargaining and competitive games. Emphasizes and analyses on the significance of technological change, and the variety of methods used to organize modern business activities, such as franchising, joint ventures and multinational enterprises. Microeconomics for Business and Marketing is a wide-ranging, innovative textbook which will stimulate students and teachers alike. It will be of particular relevance to students of marketing, commerce and business strategy. Specifically designed with today's larger class sizes in mind, the book encourages students to question and to develop both analytical and written skills, as well as to use economics as a tool for problem solving.

P.W.S. Andrews was a pioneer of fieldwork-based analysis of the behaviour of firms and of the normal cost/mark-up approach to pricing in oligopolistic markets, as well as a significant participant in debates about competition policy during the 1950s and 1960s. This important book includes essays and papers which are central to an understanding of Andrews's work. The Economics of Competitive Enterprise commences with an example of his case study work and continues with chapters on costs and price setting, theories of the firm and competitive analysis, investment behaviour and aspects of competition in retail trade as well as essays on the methodology of industrial economics. Including previously unpublished material, such as a critique of the development of price theory and significant correspondence between Andrews and other leading economists, this volume offers a remarkable insight into the process of economic discourse since 1945. In addition to a full bibliography, the book also includes an extensive introductory essay by Frederic Lee as well as an epilogue by Peter Earl on the legacy of Andrews's industrial economics. This book will be of interest to a wide range of readers in economics departments and business schools, including microeconomic analysts, industrial economists, historians of economic thought and marketing theorists.

Behavioural Economics is a relatively new school of economic thought and can encompass a number of strands such as 'new institutional/transaction cost economics', economic psychology and psychological economics, consumer behaviour and decision theory. The papers presented here reveal something of the development, philosophy and range of applicability of behavioural economics.

This major reference book provides an authoritative analysis and survey of consumer research and economic psychology. It provides an international, in-depth overview of the present state of knowledge and theory which will be indispensable to students, researchers and practitioners. The Companion presents over 100 specially commissioned entries on important topics in consumer research and economic psychology from behaviourism and brand loyalty to trust and the psychology of tourism. Leading scholars in the fields provide stimulating insights into the area as well as summarising existing knowledge. Readers will find entries both on new topics that have rarely been considered in the framework of consumer research or economic psychology and on topics that have long been considered important in these disciplines. The book will ably meet the needs of undergraduate and graduate students in business administration, economics, marketing and psychology, as well as informing researchers and practitioners in those disciplines.

This book is unique among modern contributions to behavioral economics in presenting a grand synthesis between the kind of behavioral economics popularized by Richard Thaler, earlier approaches such as those of the 1978 Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon, evolutionary psychology, and evolutionary economics from Veblen and Marshall through to neo-Schumpeterian thinking. The synthesis employs a complex adaptive systems approach to how people think, the lifestyles they build, and how new production technologies and products are gradually adopted and produce changes. Using a huge range of examples, it takes behavioral economics from its recent focus on 'nudging' consumers, to the behavior of firms and other organizations, the challenges of achieving structural change and transitioning to environmentally sustainable lifestyles, and instability of the financial system. This book will be of great interest to academics and graduate students who seek a broader view of what behavioral economics is and what it might become.

This book is unique among modern contributions to behavioral economics in presenting a grand synthesis between the kind of behavioral economics popularized by Richard Thaler, earlier approaches such as those of the 1978 Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon, evolutionary psychology, and evolutionary economics from Veblen and Marshall through to neo-Schumpeterian thinking. The synthesis employs a complex adaptive systems approach to how people think, the lifestyles they build, and how new production technologies and products are gradually adopted and produce changes. Using a huge range of examples, it takes behavioral economics from its recent focus on 'nudging' consumers, to the behavior of firms and other organizations, the challenges of achieving structural change and transitioning to environmentally sustainable lifestyles, and instability of the financial system. This book will be of great interest to academics and graduate students who seek a broader view of what behavioral economics is and what it might become.

This book presents critical surveys of literature from behavioural and evolutionary economics, management, marketing and business history and offers new empirical evidence involving both case studies and behavioural research. Particular attention is given to transaction cost and resource-based perspectives on business organization. The book concludes by discussing the emerging 'growth of knowledge' and 'management without trade-offs' approaches to the firm.Taken together, the inter-related chapters in this book make a significant contribution by promoting and assisting research and teaching on how managers cope with competitive pressures in the present climate of rapid technological change, shifting patterns of corporate alliances, continual restructuring and re-ranking of relative competitive strengths, and rising environmental expectations. Management, Marketing and the Competitive Process will be particularly useful for courses on business strategy, managerial and industrial economics, and marketing.

This major reference book provides an authoritative analysis and survey of consumer research and economic psychology. It provides an international, in-depth overview of the present state of knowledge and theory which will be indispensable to students, researchers and practitioners. The Companion presents over 100 specially commissioned entries on important topics in consumer research and economic psychology from behaviourism and brand loyalty to trust and the psychology of tourism. Leading scholars in the fields provide stimulating insights into the area as well as summarising existing knowledge. Readers will find entries both on new topics that have rarely been considered in the framework of consumer research or economic psychology and on topics that have long been considered important in these disciplines. The book will ably meet the needs of undergraduate and graduate students in business administration, economics, marketing and psychology, as well as informing researchers and practitioners in those disciplines.

This is the first of two books in honour of Brian Loasby which simultaneously pay tribute to the contributions he has made to economics and extend the realm of Loasby-inspired economics. The book includes new contributions from an internationally acclaimed group of authors including Israel Kirzner, Peter Swann, Giovanni Dosi, Peter Groenewegen, Richard Langlois and Don Lamberton. Together, they draw on and extend Brian Loasby's work in developing and applying theories of organization and knowledge. The book opens with an introduction to Brian Loasby's career, influences and research. This is followed by an examination of issues raised by the analysis of markets and entrepreneurial behaviour, focusing on Marshallian and Austrian approaches. In the middle of the volume the human action theme is maintained but the focus is shifted onto the dynamics of consumer demand. The final group of chapters apply a history of economic thought perspective to problems of information and knowledge, and aspects of scale and internal organization. Economic Organization and Economic Knowledge will be welcomed by those economists working in the areas of microeconomics particularly markets, innovation, the theory of the firm, consumption, information and knowledge and competition.