IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/17989.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The history of transaction cost economics and its recent developments

Author

Listed:
  • Lukasz, Hardt

Abstract

The emergence of transaction cost economics (TCE) in the early 1970s with Oliver Williamson’s successful reconciliation of the so called neoclassical approach with Herbert Simon’s organizational theory can be considered an important part of the first cognitive turn in economics. The development of TCE until the late 1980s was particularly marked by treating the firm as an avoider of negative frictions, i.e., of transaction costs. However, since the 1990s TCE has been enriched by various approaches stressing the role of the firm in creating positive value, e.g., the literature on modularity. Hence, a second cognitive turn has taken place: the firm is no longer only seen as an avoider of negative costs but also as a creator of positive knowledge.

Suggested Citation

  • Lukasz, Hardt, 2009. "The history of transaction cost economics and its recent developments," MPRA Paper 17989, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:17989
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/17989/1/MPRA_paper_17989.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williamson, Oliver E, 1973. "Markets and Hierarchies: Some Elementary Considerations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(2), pages 316-325, May.
    2. Richard N. Langlois, 2002. "Modularity in Technology and Organization," Chapters, in: Nicolai J. Foss & Peter G. Klein (ed.), Entrepreneurship and the Firm, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Williamson, Oliver E, 1971. "The Vertical Integration of Production: Market Failure Considerations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 112-123, May.
    4. Klaes, Matthias, 2000. "The History of the Concept of Transaction Costs: Neglected Aspects," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 191-216, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    RePEc Biblio mentions

    As found on the RePEc Biblio, the curated bibliography for Economics:
    1. > Microeconomics > Transaction Cost Economics

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Blessing Atwine & Ibrahim Mike Okumu & John Bosco Nnyanzi, 2023. "What drives the dynamics of employment growth in firms? Evidence from East Africa," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, December.
    2. Frolov, Daniil, 2019. "From transaction costs to transaction value: Overcoming the Coase-Williamson paradigm," MPRA Paper 95959, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Rafał Matera & Janusz Skodlarski, 2024. "The contribution of the history of economic thought and economic history to the development of economics in the Third Polish Republic. A concise overview of academic centres, research output, and inte," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 2, pages 155-177.
    4. Panova, Anna A. (Панова, Анна), 2018. "Transaction Cost Theory: Origin and Development [Теория Трансакционнных Издержек: Логика Возникновения И Развития]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 4, pages 90-107, August.
    5. Duarte N. Leite & Sandra T. Silva & Oscar Afonso, 2014. "Institutions, Economics And The Development Quest," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 491-515, July.
    6. Shandana Shoaib & Bahaudin G. Mujtaba, 2018. "Perverse Incentives and Peccable Behavior in Professionals - A Qualitative Study of the Faculty," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 441-459, December.
    7. Illo Victor Uchechukwu & Benedict Anayochukwu Ozurumba & Chijindu Promise Ubah & Benedicta Uche Dike, 2023. "Determinants of Conformance to Requirements in Procurement by Nigerian Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in Post-Procurement Reform Periods in Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(10), pages 1028-1046, October.
    8. Lukasz Hardt, 2011. "An inquiry into the explanatory virtues of transaction cost economics," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 120-147, November.
    9. Marta Gancarczyk, 2015. "Proces wzrostu przedsiębiorstwa w świetle podejścia zasobowego i teorii kosztów transakcyjnych," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 5, pages 5-31.
    10. Lukasz SATOLA & Tomasz WOJEWODZIC & Wojciech SROKA, 2018. "Barriers to exit encountered by small farms in light of the theory of new institutional economics," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 64(6), pages 277-290.
    11. Herbert Hovenkamp, 2011. "Coasean markets," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 63-90, February.
    12. Khatua, Apalak, 2023. "Why is diversification not dead? Evidence from family business groups during economic reforms in India," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2).
    13. Nguyen Hung Anh & Wolfgang Bokelmann, 2019. "Determinants of Smallholders’ Market Preferences: The Case of Sustainable Certified Coffee Farmers in Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Max Zongyuan Shang & Ken McEwan, 2021. "The make‐or‐buy decision of feed on livestock farms: Evidence from Ontario swine farms," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 69(3), pages 353-368, September.
    2. Heloïse Berkowitz & Marcelo Bucheli & Hervé Dumez, 2017. "Collectively Designing CSR Through Meta-Organizations: A Case Study of the Oil and Gas Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(4), pages 753-769, July.
    3. Heindl, Peter, 2012. "Transaction costs and tradable permits: Empirical evidence from the EU emissions trading scheme," ZEW Discussion Papers 12-021, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    4. Kaouthar Lajili & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2006. "Revisiting agency and transaction costs theory predictions on vertical financial ownership and contracting: electronic integration as an organizational form choice," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(7), pages 573-586.
    5. Simshauser, Paul & Tian, Yuan & Whish-Wilson, Patrick, 2015. "Vertical integration in energy-only electricity markets," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 35-56.
    6. Mari Makkonen, Mats Nilsson and Satu Viljainen, 2015. "All quiet on the western front? Transmission capacity development in the Nordic electricity market," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    7. Mie Augier, 2010. "Cyert, March, and the Carnegie School," Chapters, in: Peter G. Klein & Michael E. Sykuta (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Transaction Cost Economics, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. F. Andrew Hanssen & James W. Meehan Jr & Thomas J. Miceli, 2016. "Explaining Changes in Organizational Form," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 17(6), pages 523-557, August.
    9. Miguel Espinosa, 2021. "Labor Boundaries and Skills: The Case of Lobbyists," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(3), pages 1586-1607, March.
    10. Jean‐Philippe Platteau, 1989. "Penetration of Capitalism and Persistence of Small‐scale Organizational Forms in Third World Fisheries," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 20(4), pages 621-651, October.
    11. Yu, Zhen & Li, Yuankun & Ouyang, Ziyi, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty, hold-up risk and vertical integration: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    12. Patrick Gianfaldoni, 2019. "Économie sociale d'entreprise versus Économie sociale politique : Un cheminement théorique," Post-Print hal-03555831, HAL.
    13. Lajili, Kaouthar & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2005. "Revisiting Agency and Transaction Costs Theory Predictions on Vertical Financial Ownership and Contracting: Electronic Integration as an Organizational Form Choice," Working Papers 05-0106, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    14. Gibbons, Robert, 2005. "Four forma(lizable) theories of the firm?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 200-245, October.
    15. Massimiliano Vatiero, 2018. "Smart contracts and transaction costs," Discussion Papers 2018/238, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    16. Will, Matthias Georg, 2011. "Change Management und nicht-monetäre Vergütungen: Wie der organisatorische Wandel das Mitarbeiterverhalten beeinflusst," Discussion Papers 2011-18, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Chair of Economic Ethics.
    17. Robert Gibbons, 2010. "Transaction‐Cost Economics: Past, Present, and Future?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 112(2), pages 263-288, June.
    18. Steven G. Medema, 2020. "The Coase Theorem at Sixty," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(4), pages 1045-1128, December.
    19. Ahluwalia, Saurabh & Mahto, Raj V. & Guerrero, Maribel, 2020. "Blockchain technology and startup financing: A transaction cost economics perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    20. Todorova, Tamara, 2022. "Оливър Уилямсън: Новатор На 20 Век И Основател На Новата Институционална Икономика [Oliver Williamson: an innovator of the 20th century and founder of the new institutional economics]," MPRA Paper 121077, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    transaction cost economics; Oliver Williamson; theory of the firm; modularity literature; cognitive turn;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • B21 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Microeconomics
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:17989. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.