Abstract
The Coase Theorem is in essence an if-A-then-B statement. Previous discussions of the Theorem have mostly focused on the then-B part and examined that, given the condition of A, whether B is true or not. The present study attempts to analyze the Theorem from a different angle. In particular, we push the if-A assumption, i.e., the zero transaction costs assumption, to its logical limit, and then explore the implications. We argue that the price mechanism, which is implicitly employed as the foundational basis of the Coase Theorem, is the result of positive transaction costs. Consequently, if transaction costs are zero, then money and prices as commonly understood would not exist, and the value of production would become a vague concept without any operational content. As such, the world of zero transaction costs may be even more peculiar than Coase might have thought!
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, W. and Brock, J. W. (1993). Adam Smith Goes to Moscow: A Dialogue on Radical Reform, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Allen, D. W. (1991a). “Book Review: The Firm, the Market, and the Law.” Canadian Journal of Economics. 24, 740–743.
Allen, D. W. (1991b). “What Are Transaction Costs?” Research in Law and Economics. 14, 1–18.
Barzel, Y. (1982). “Measurement Cost and the Organization of Markets.” Journal of Law and Economics. 25, 27–48.
Buchanan, J. M. (1986). “Rights, Efficiency, and Exchange: The Irrelevance of Transactions Cost.” In J. M. Buchanan, (ed.), Liberty, Market and the State: Political Economy in the 1980s, New York: New York University Press.
Coase, R. H. (1937). “The Nature of the Firm.” Economica. 4, 386–405.
Coase, R. H. (1959). “The Federal Communications Commission.” Journal of Law and Economics. 2, 1–40.
Coase, R. H. (1960). “The Problem of Social Cost.” Journal of Law and Economics. 3, 1–44.
Coase, R. H. (1988). The Firm, the Market, and the Law, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Coase, R. H. (1992). “The Institutional Structure of Production.” American Economic Review. 82, 713–719.
Cooter, R. (1982). “The Cost of Coase.” Journal of Legal Studies. 11, 1–33.
Dahlman, C. J. (1979). “The Problem of Externality.” Journal of Law and Economics. 22, 141–162.
Economist, The. (1997). Feb. 15, Mar. 15, Jun. 7, Jul. 19, Oct. 11, Nov. 22.
Elster, J. (1984). Uysses and the Sirens: Studies in Rationality and Irrationality, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Epstein, R. A. (1993). “Holdouts, Externalities, and the Single Owner: One More Salute to Ronald Coase.” Journal of Law and Economics. 36, 553–594.
Frank, R. (1988). Passions Within Reason, New York: Norton.
Hovenkamp, H. (1992). “Rationality in Law & Economics.” George Washington Law Review. 60, 293–338.
Landes, W. M. and Posner, R. A. (1993). “The Influence of Economics on Law.” Journal of Law and Economics. 36, 153–173.
Libecap, G. D. (1989). Contracting for Property Rights, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Medema, S. G., (ed.). (1995). The Legacy of Ronald in Economic Analysis, Vermont: Edward Elgar.
North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
O'Driscoll, G. P. and Rizzo, M. J. (1996). The Economics of Time and Egnorance, 2nd edition, London and New York: Routledge.
Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Posner, R. A. (1986). Economic Analysis of Law, 3rd edition, Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
Posner, R. A. (1993a). “The New Institutional Economics Meets Law and Economics.” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics. 149, 73–87.
Posner, R. A. (1993b). “Nobel Laureate Ronald Coase and Methodology.” Journal of Economic Perspectives. 7, 195–210.
Shapiro, F. R. (1996). “The Most-Cited Law Review Articles Revisited.” Chicago-Kent Law Review. 71, 751–779.
Stigler, G. (1988). Memoirs of an Unregulated Economist, New York: Basic Books.
Stigler, G. (1989). “Two Notes on the Coase Theorem.” Yale Law Journal. 99, 631–633.
Stiglitz, J. E. (1994). Whither Socialism, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Umbeck, J. (1981). “Might Makes Rights: A Distribution of Property Rights.” Economic Inquiry. 19, 38–59.
Williamson, O. E. (1985). The Economic Institutions of Capitalism, New York: Free Press.
Williamson, O. E. (1989). “Book Review: The Firm, the Market, and the Law.” California Law Review. 77, 223–231.
Williamson, O. E. (1993). “The Evolving Science of Organization.” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics. 149, 36–63.
Williamson, O. E. (1994). “Evaluating Coase.” Journal of Economic Perspective. 8, 201–209.
Williamson, O. E. (1997). “Hierarchies, Markets and Power in the Economy: An Economic Perspective.” In Claude Menard, (ed.), Transaction Cost Economics: Recent Developments. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
Zerbe, R. O. (1980). “The Problem of Social Cost in Resprospect.” Research in Law and Economics. 2, 83–102.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hsiung, B. Sailing Towards the Brave New World of Zero Transaction Costs. European Journal of Law and Economics 8, 153–169 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008768523952
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008768523952