In its Fourth Edition, this textbook explores how economic activity is organised from a new institutional economics perspective. Using transactions costs as a continuing theme, the book delivers the necessary skills to understand the evolution of organisational forms and the strengths and weaknesses of different varieties of private and public governance. The importance of entrepreneurship is emphasised throughout. Public policy concerning competition, regulation and the public utilities is used to illustrate the involvement of subjective judgements about transactions costs in all types of organisational choice. Key features of the Fourth Edition: ? Using impartial analysis, Martin Ricketts evaluates business enterprise through Neoclassical, Austrian and Evolutionary economics, allowing students to learn the strengths and weaknesses of each methodological perspective? Using a clear conceptual framework, the author explains principal-agent theory and the transaction cost paradigm in detail? The chapters are designed around a set of classic papers, giving students an understanding of the historical development of the discipline? Updated examples emphasise the applicability to different technological circumstances and the dynamic nature of studying economic organisation? Additional examples are included for teachers to further discussion or create extended seminar work. A key resource for advanced undergraduate courses or an excellent introductory text at graduate level, this Fourth Edition will provide students of economics, business and political economy with a greater awareness of how business enterprises operate and adapt in response to technological change and competition.

In recent years there has been a growth in work on the organization of the firm. The same period has also seen a corresponding rise in literature dealing with the organization of the multinational firm, but the two literatures have developed quite separately, even though insights from each have much to offer the other. This unique collection of essays from respected academics aims to bridge this gap, addressing questions of the theory of the firm and international business. The material is presented in three sections: * The first section deals with theoretical issues underpinning multinational enterprise. These are the issues of information, re-engineering and change management and international trade. * The second section concentrates on the inter-firm relationships of multinationals, assessing the interplay of co-operation and adversarial behaviour. * The third section deals with applications of the principles presented in the first two sections. The applications concern the defence equipment industry, the world automobile industry and corporate governance under European Union Regulations. The Organisation of the Firm is aimed at researchers and students in the field of international business, and is likely to appeal to advanced undergraduates and postgraduates, as well as academics.

Martin Ricketts, a leading scholar in this field, has selected the seminal papers from a variety of traditions that illustrate the evolution of thinking on 'the firm' over a considerable period of time. The firm as a vehicle for entrepreneurial initiative and the exercise of business judgement is contrasted throughout with the firm as a policing mechanism in response to known contractual hazards. The selection is in three volumes that cover respectively the general theoretical background; the ownership and scope of the firm - its degree of vertical and transnational integration; and agency issues relating to employee incentives and the control of managers. This authoritative collection will provide a valuable reference, of interest to students, postgraduates and professional economists seeking an overview of the subject and its evolution.

In its Fourth Edition, this textbook explores how economic activity is organised from a new institutional economics perspective. Using transactions costs as a continuing theme, the book delivers the necessary skills to understand the evolution of organisational forms and the strengths and weaknesses of different varieties of private and public governance. The importance of entrepreneurship is emphasised throughout. Public policy concerning competition, regulation and the public utilities is used to illustrate the involvement of subjective judgements about transactions costs in all types of organisational choice. Key features of the Fourth Edition: ? Using impartial analysis, Martin Ricketts evaluates business enterprise through Neoclassical, Austrian and Evolutionary economics, allowing students to learn the strengths and weaknesses of each methodological perspective? Using a clear conceptual framework, the author explains principal-agent theory and the transaction cost paradigm in detail? The chapters are designed around a set of classic papers, giving students an understanding of the historical development of the discipline? Updated examples emphasise the applicability to different technological circumstances and the dynamic nature of studying economic organisation? Additional examples are included for teachers to further discussion or create extended seminar work. A key resource for advanced undergraduate courses or an excellent introductory text at graduate level, this Fourth Edition will provide students of economics, business and political economy with a greater awareness of how business enterprises operate and adapt in response to technological change and competition.

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