Adaptation, Specialization, and the Theory of the Firm - Foundations of the Resource-Based View

An up-to-date analysis of the theory of the firm, including the latest research on the resource-based view.

List of contents

Preface; Part I. Agenda: 1. Introduction; 2. Preview: small forces, high frequencies, and large firms; Part II. The Main Argument: 3. Adaptation costs in one dimension: firms, contracts, and price lists; 4. Adaptation costs in three dimensions: firms, markets, and contracts; 5. All adaptations are not the same: the scope of firms and the size of markets; 6. Resources and the scope of the firm; Part III. Implications: 7. The allocation of asset ownership; 8. Communication within and between firms; 9. The power of incentives within and between firms; 10. Decision-making in large organizations; Part IV. Empirical Tests: 11. Bargaining costs: existence and sub-additivity; 12. Adaptation frequency and the boundary of the firm; 13. Asset ownership and externalities; Part V. Foundations: 14. Endogenously incomplete contracts; 15. Multiple equilibria and firm heterogeneity; 16. On the endogenous amplification of small differences; Part VI. Postscript: 17. Summary and final reflections; Index.

About the author

Birger Wernerfelt is the J. C. Penney Professor of Management at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Summary

This book addresses the ongoing academic debate about what a 'firm' exactly is, and provides up-to-date analysis of research on the resource-based view of the firm. It offers future directions for research, and will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of management and economics alike.

Product details

• Authors: Birger Wernerfelt, Birger (Massachusetts Institute of Tec Wernerfelt, Birger (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Wernerfelt, Wernerfelt Birger
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.12.2016
• EAN: 9781107134409
• ISBN: 978-1-107-13440-9
• No. of pages: 324
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Business > Miscellaneous; BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Strategic Planning, Business & management, business strategy, Economics of industrial organisation, Microeconomics, Economics of industrial organization