The Transaction Cost Economics Project
Transaction cost economics has and continues to be a fruitful area of research. There
is still much to be done in the field with past research being used in conjunction with
the vast number of contractual phenomena that have yet to be investigated in transaction
cost economics terms. New challenges are posed by the need to move beyond the design of
new contractual instruments (such as financial derivatives) to include an examination of
the lurking hazards that attend contract implementation. Edited by a leading authority in
the field, this important collection brings together Professor Williamson's key papers on
transaction cost economics. It will be of benefit to academics, scholars and practitioners
with an interest in this progressive subject. 'As recognized by the Economics Sciences
Prize Committee in awarding the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, Oliver Williamson
altered irreversibly the way we approach and analyze organization. But such is the depth
of Williamson insights that often his contributions can only be fully appreciated in the
context of real world organizational phenomena. It is thus not uncommon that, after
struggling with some particularly thorny problem of economic organization, I will discover
on rereading a familiar piece that Williamson had anticipated and already addressed the
subject of my efforts.
This collection contains the articles and chapters to which I most frequently return
and provides the essential readings for anyone seriously interested in the science of
organization.' - Scott Masten, University of Michigan, US 'The presence of transaction
costs greatly modifies the traditional picture of the allocation of resources through the
market. It gives rise to many phenomena inexplicable in the simple market view and to
problems of government policy. Oliver Williamson has been a leading figure in this
analysis. His interpretations of corporate governance and of the complementarity between
internal controls and the market have been the most profound in the literature. It is good
that his leading essays are now available in collected form.' - Kenneth J. Arrow, Stanford
University, US 'Oliver Williamson's contributions to economics are certainly among the
most important of past several decades, and their importance will be increasingly
recognized as economists come to grips with all that he has accomplished.
This collection provides an unparalleled view of those contributions, and it belongs on
the bookshelf of everyone who wants to understand complex economic transactions.' - David
Kreps, Stanford University, US 'This book provides a terrific opportunity to have a
collection of Oliver Williamson's best papers on transaction cost economics all in one
convenient volume.' - Paul L. Joskow, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and MIT, US 'Williamson's
work on transaction cost economics has shaped the thinking of all social scientists about
organizations and institutions. This volume reprints many of his seminal papers on the
subject, and is valuable both as commemoration and for reference.' - Avinash Dixit,
Princeton University, US
Contents: Acknowledgements Introduction Oliver Williamson
PART I THEORY AND CONCEPTS 1. O.E. Williamson (2001), 'Hierarchies and Markets' 2.
Oliver E. Williamson (1971), 'The Vertical Integration of Production: Market Failure
Considerations' 3. Oliver E. Williamson (1979), 'Transaction-Cost Economics: The
Governance of Contractual Relations' 4. Oliver E. Williamson (1983), 'Credible
Commitments: Using Hostages to Support Exchange' 5. Oliver E. Williamson (1991),
'Comparative Economic Organization: The Analysis of Discrete Structural Alternatives' 6.
Oliver E. Williamson (1985), 'The Limits of Firms: Incentive and Bureaucratic Features' 7.
Oliver E. Williamson (1991), 'Strategizing, Economizing, and Economic Organization'
PART II PUBLIC POLICY 8. Oliver E. Williamson (1976), 'Franchise Bidding for Natural
Monopolies - in General and with Respect to CATV' 9. Oliver E. Williamson (2009), 'Opening
the Black Box of Firm and Market Organization: Antitrust' 10. Oliver E. Williamson (1988),
'Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance' 11. Oliver E. Williamson (2008), 'Corporate
Boards of Directors: In Principle and in Practice'
PART III INTERDISCIPINARY SOCIAL SCIENCE 12. Oliver E. Williamson (1993), 'Transaction
Cost Economics and Organization Theory' 13. Oliver E. Williamson (1993), 'Calculativeness,
Trust, and Economic Organization' 14. Oliver E. Williamson (2005), 'Why Law, Economics,
and Organization?'
PART IV PERSPECTIVES 15. Oliver E. Williamson (2009), 'Pragmatic Methodology: A Sketch,
with Applications to Transaction Cost Economics' 16. Oliver E. Williamson (2010),
'Transaction Cost Economics: The Natural Progression'
444 pages, Paperback