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 pragmatic theory begins with clarity about the firm's purpose; asserts that knowledge-building proficiency is the primary determinant of a firm's long-term performance; stresses systems thinking; and connects firm performance to market valuation and shareholder returns via long-term, life-cycle...

This paper disentangles the theory of the firm by Jensen and Meckling (1976). Their producer theory is actually a consumer one. However, both their budget constraint and indifference curve are void. This makes their model completely empty. The corrected utility maximization model restores the...

This paper develops a new theory of agency in which agents make use of hierarchies of plans which they successively select and refine until they have plans of action that can be implemented. Each hierarchy of plans has the structure of a semilattice. This analytical decision making framework is...

This paper develops microeconomic foundations for a theory of entrepreneurship and growth, focusing on innovation and opportunity as intermediate linkages between the two. Expanding upon points of tangency between Schumpeter and Coase, the paper argues that transactions costs are the glue that...

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...

This paper studies the Grossman-Hart-Moore (GHM) "property rights" approach to the theory of the firm under alternating-owners bargaining. When managers can pursue other occupations whilst negotiating over the division of the gains from cooperation, the GHM results obtain. If taking the best...

This paper studies the Grossman-Hart-Moore (GHM) "property rights" approach to the theory of the firm under alternating-owners bargaining. When managers can pursue other occupations whilst negotiating over the division of the gains from cooperation, the GHM results obtain. If taking the best...