The operations of the firm lie at the heart of studying business and business economics. This volume--the first in the new Oxford Management Readers Series--brings together the classic articles analyzing the role of firms and the relations between them, focusing particularly on the increasingly widespread idea that a firm is based on a set of internal and external contracts. The book will be an invaluable tool for teachers and students of business, economics, and management. The editors' Introduction provides an accessible overview, and Nobel prizewinner Ronald Coase contributes a foreword.

This reader brings the key articles and debates on these issues for students of business, economics and organization. The idea of the firm being based on a set of internal and external contracts is increasingly common. For many it offers more than the binary concepts of market and hierarchy. Outsourcing, subcontracting, networks and supplier relationships are all examples. This interdisciplinary Reader brings together the classic articles on these issues, and will be an invaluable tool for teachers and students of business, economic and management. The editors' Introduction provides an accessible overview, and Nobel prizewinner Ronald Coase contributes a foreword.