Introduction -- Normative versus positive analysis in the history of the theory of production -- The division of labour and the theory of the firm -- Proto-neoclassicals and the theory of production -- Appendix: a very brief history of perfect competition -- The representative firm -- The...

Introduction -- Normative versus positive analysis in the history of the theory of production -- The division of labour and the theory of the firm -- Proto-neoclassicals and the theory of production -- Appendix: a very brief history of perfect competition -- The representative firm -- The...

In this essay we survey the literature on the theory of privatisation. We look at two periods defined by their relationship to the theory of the firm. In the period up to 1990 the literature followed the theory of the firm in using a complete or comprehensive contracting modelling framework. By...