This conceptual paper starts with a question regarding the nature of the firm: is the firm a nexus of contracts or a real entity? To answer this question, the article departs from a critique of firm contract theory that usually focuses on moral personification to propose some theoretical...

This paper intends to depart from a critique of the nexus of contracts theory of the firm endowed with its moral personification to propose some theoretical foundations of the firm as a real entity. Some old legal views of the corporation are mobilized to complete the conceptual vacuity of...

The aim of this paper is to analyse the way in which the world is divided into different 'legal traditions', in order to understand the actual establishment of a ranking of the various legal systems, as it is used as a powerful device for global governance, directed to mould policy projects of...

This volume – Predicting Crisis: Five Essays on the Mathematic Prediction of Economic and Social Crises – is the first of three sets of essays. In this first set the economic and social history of the United States is shown to be a “system of movement,” i.e. a logical and mathematic...

The study focuses on the admissibility and assessment of economic expertise in EC competition law litigation. I start by exploring the broader issues raised by the integration of economic expertise in litigation: in particular the risk of moral hazard and adverse selection because of the...

This article analyzes the meaning and role of formalism in competition law. Drawing on general legal theory and philosophy, this article conceives of formalism as decision-making constrained by rules, whereby rules exclude considerations from the decision-making process. It analyzes the degree...

Could a new “discourse theory” of the firm provide a better way than existing corporate law principles to understand the evolving nature of the firm and the role shareholders should play in corporate governance? Two recent developments provide a special urgency for considering the question....

This article deals with the contribution of organization theory to transaction cost economics from an examination of Williamson's theory of the firm. Borrowing and applying some conclusions of organization theory, Williamson rightly differs from other theories of the firm, particularly in his...

This note will argue that the interpretation of neo-classical location-production models, as a possible basis for informing us about real-world phenomena, is not as straightforward as might be supposed. The reason for this is that such models contain implicit assumptions concerning the...

This article presents an interview technique adjusted for use within a firm's environment. The Structure Laying Technique (Flick, 2009) is a powerful form of a problem-centered interview, most appropriate for revealing the implicit theories held by interviewees. The issue is that this method...