Transactions cost economics -- this will be brief after 6 hours of classes, 2 hours at the gym -- starts with Ronald Coase, who explains that firms arise to minimize the cost of negotiating via markets, say by writing a contract with specific requirements. Robertson refered to firms as islands of planning. But planning gets unwieldy if the organization gets too big, so socialism is a no-no.
Williamson was at Carnegie, where he picked up a great deal from Herbert Simon about dealing with uncertainty, but then he rejected Simon later. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
