The paper deals with development of a general theory of the firm. It discusses the demand for such a theory, reviews existing approaches to its generalization, and offers a new variant of general theory of the firm based on the contract theory. The theory is based on minimization of...

The paper studies through the lens of the economic theory of the firm the development of two managerial disciplines: supply chain management and relationship marketing. The author demonstrates which ideas have been borrowed by these disciplines from the economic theory of the firm, and in what...

The paper considers the approaches to the theory of the firm developed by strategic management scholars: positioning theory, resource-based view, dynamic capabilities approach, knowledge-based view, strategic theory of the firm, as well as open innovations theory. The author shows how the ideas...

In a modern economy, much of the allocation of financial and non-financial resources are mediated by organizations. This essay points to three general features of this mediating role of organizations in the resource allocation process. One line of argument relates to the distinct opportunities...

The phenomenon of academic spin-offs (ASOs) has been widely studied in recent times. Scholars have mainly concentrated on identifying the factors that favours the phenomenon and the incentive alignments of the parties involved in the process. These works tend to remain static in nature by solely...

In this paper we present the main developments of the theories of the firm rooted in Coase's [Coase, R.H., 1937. The nature of the firm. Economica, New Series 4, 386-405] seminal article.We show that the two important topics of the nature and boundaries of the firm, as well as the internal...

I analyse firms organisational choices when they face uncertainty about institutional conditions in foreign locations with heterogeneous final good producers and incomplete contracts. As firms learn about the conditions abroad, the increasing offshoring activity increases competition in the...

This chapter identifies the limitations of what may commonly be accepted as “Best Practices” in Corporate Governance. Directors commonly obtain funds from venture capitalists and bankers by transferring to them some or all of their absolute powers that can corrupt themselves and their...

We survey the resource-based view in strategic management, focusing on its roots in economics. We organize our discussion in terms of the Gavetti and Levinthal distinction between a “high church” and a “low church” resource-based view, and argue that these hitherto rather separate...

This article describes the benefits and pitfalls of starting a firm with an entrepreneurial team, drawing on a longitudinal empirical analysis of the life course of 90 team start-ups and 1196 solo start-ups in the Netherlands. In the first three years of their existence, team start-ups perform...