The aim of this research is to study the determinants of the use of direct versus intermediated solutions on the French housing market. The theoretical perspective of perceived transaction costs provides a useful framework for understanding the existence of a specific mode of transaction in real...

This article examines the railway concessions in France in the 19th century as examples of a principal – agent relationship between the state and a contractor. I show that one of the main assumptions of the agency theory, the asymmetric information at the benefit of the agent, is not verified....

Today’s car manufacturers resort widely to subcontracting, but the origins of this practice are not recent. From the beginning of the twentieth century, the car manufacturer Louis Renault committed the production of some components to external suppliers, although the company is often presented...

This article reviews the history literature on the Champagne fairs and points to reasons why Avner Greif's (2006) model of collective responsibility and inter-city reprisals may not apply. First, with no substantial local community of merchants, mutual dissuasion could not offer credible...

Following the English example, a series of five Great Exhibitions have been held in Paris between 1855 and 1900. Unlike the British case, it was more difficult to gather financial contributions from private partners in France, so financial resources were alocated mainly by the French Government...