In this overview we give a short survey of the way in which the theory of the firm has been formulated within the `mainstream' of economics, both `past' and `present'. One aim is to give an outline of the historical developments that led to the contemporary theories. As to a breakpoint between...

This paper looks at the influence (or lack of influence) that ideas to do with the division of labour have had on the mainstream economic theory of the firm. The notion of the division of labour goes back, at least, to ancient India, the ancient Greeks and the ancient Chinese but it took two...

The major additions to the revised edition include new sections or subsections on X-inefficiency, the division of labour and the firm -- both pre and post-1970, not-for-profit firms, cooperatives, mutuals, an outline of Arnold Plant's paper, ``Centralize or Decentralize?'', a discussion of the...

This survey gives an overview of the theory of the firm as it is formulated within the contemporary 'mainstream' of economics. Two groupings of theories are briefly discussed: principal-agent and incomplete contract models. Next, three of the most recent contributions regarding firms are...

This is a revised edition of Walker (2017). New sections or subsections have been added on the X-inefficiency model, the division of labour and the firm - both pre and post-1970, ownership of the firm and the human capital based firm. Additions have been made to sections on entrepreneurship, the...