Skip to main content

The Economics and Sociology of Organization

Promoting a Dialogue

  • Chapter
Industries, Firms, and Jobs

Part of the book series: Springer Studies in Work and Industry ((SSWI))

Abstract

The intellectual appeal of a single, unified theory of organization notwithstanding, we are at present operating in a preunified stage of development. Even if a comprehensive, integrated theory were in prospect, which it is not, our understanding of some complex organizational phenomena might be better served by working out of several well-focused perspectives. Exposing the powers and limits of each of the leading approaches and the tensions and complementarities between them can be, and often is, a productive enterprise.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Alchian, Armen, and Harold Demsetz. 1972. “Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization.” American Economic Review 62: 777–795.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aldrich, Howard, and Robert Stern. 1983. “Resource Mobilization and the Creation of U.S. Producer Cooperatives, 1835–1935.” Economic and Social Democracy 4: 371–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, Evin, and David Schmittlein. 1984. “Integration of the Sales Force: An Empirical Examination.” Rand Journal of Economics 15: 385–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behavioral Sciences Subpanel, President’s Science Advisory Committee. 1962. Strengthening the Behavioral Sciences. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjuggren, Pev-Olof. 1985. A Transaction Cost Approach to Vertical Integration. Lund, Sweden: Lund University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, Donaldson. 1924. “Pricing Policy in Relation to Financial Control.” Management and Administration 1: 195–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandler, Alfred, Jr. 1962. Strategy and Structure. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press. (Subsequently published 1966. New York: Doubleday. )

    Google Scholar 

  • Coase, Ronald. 1972. “Industrial Organization: A Proposal for Research.” Pp. 59–73 in Policy Issues and Research Opportunities in Industrial Organization, edited by V. R. Fuchs. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coase, Ronald. 1984. “The New Institutional Economics.” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 140: 229–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Commons, John R. 1934. Institutional Economics. Madison: University of Wiscons in Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elster, Jon. 1983. Explaining Technical Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, Stanley. 1977. “Long-Term Contracting, Sticky Prices, and Monetary Policy: Comment.” Journal of Monetary Economics 3: 317–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, Milton. 1953. Essays in Positive Economics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, Lon. 1978. “The Forms and Limits of Adjudication.” Harvard Law Review 92: 353–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gauss, Christian. 1952. “Introduction” to N. Machiavelli, The Prince. New York: New American Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Georgescu-Roegen, Nicholas. 1971. The Entropy Law and Economic Process. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gouldner, Alvin. 1954. Industrial Bureaucracy. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, Mark. 1985. “Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness.” American Journal of Sociology 91: 481–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, Mark. 1986. “Labor Mobility, Internal Markets, and Job Matching.” In Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, edited by R. Robinson. Greenwich, CT: JAI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayek, Friedrich. 1967. Studies in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. London: Routledge Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Homans, George. 1958. “Social Behavior as Exchange.” American Journal of Sociology 62: 597–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joskow, Paul. 1985. “Vertical Integration and Long-Term Contracts.” Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 1: 33–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joskow, Paul. 1986. “Contract Duration and Durable Transaction Specific Investments: The Case of Coal.” Unpublished manuscript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knight, Frank. 1941. “Review of Melville J. Herskovits’ ‘Economic Anthropology.”’ Journal of Political Economy 49: 247–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, Frank. 1965. Risk, Uncertainty and Profit. New York: Harper Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koopmans, Tjalling. 1957. Three Essays on the State of Economic Science. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreps, David, and Michael Spence. 1985. “Modelling the Role of History in Industrial Organization and Competition.” Pp. 340–378 in Issues in Contemporary Microeconomics and Welfare, edited by G. Feiwel. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, Thomas. 1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindbeck, Assar. 1971. Political Economy of the New Left: An Outsider’s View. New York: Harper Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macneil, Ian. 1974. “The Many Futures of Contracts.” Southern California Law Review 72: 854–906.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mandel, Ernest. 1968. Marxist Economic Theory, rev. ed., vol. 2, translated by B. Pearce. New York: Monthly Review Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • March, James, and Herbert Simon. 1958. Organizations. New York: John Wiley Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masten, Scott. 1984. “The Organization of Production: Evidence from the Aerospace Industry.” Journal of Law and Economics 27: 403–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masten, Scott, and Keith Crocker. 1985. “Efficient Adaptation in Long-Term Contracts.” American Economic Review 75: 1083–1093.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merton, Robert. 1936. “The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action.” American Sociological Review 1: 894–904.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, Dennis. 1986. “Review of ‘The Economic Institutions of Capitalism.”’ Antitrust Bulletin 31: 827–834.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulhern, J. H. 1986. “Complexity in Long-Term Contracts: An Analysis of Natural Gas Contractual Provision.” Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 2: 105–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, Richard, and Sidney Winter. 1982. An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palay, Thomas. 1984. “Comparative Institutional Economics: The Governance of Rail Freight Contracting.” Journal of Legal Studies 13: 265–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palay, Thomas. 1985. “Avoiding Regulatory Constraints: Contracting Safeguards and the Role of Informal Agreements.” Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 1: 155–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perrow, Charles. 1975. Complex Organizations. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perrow, Charles. 1986. Complex Organizations, 3rd ed. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riordan, Michael, and Oliver Williamson. 1985. “Asset Specificity and Economic Organization.” International Journal of Industrial Organization 3: 365–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothschild-Witt, Joyce. 1979. “The Collectivist Organization: An Alternative to Rational-Bureaucratic Models.” American Sociological Review 44: 509–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, Raymond. 1985a. “Employee Ownership and Internal Governance.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 6: 217–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, Raymond. 1985b. “Reply to Williamson.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 6: 247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samuelson, Paul. 1947. Foundations of Economic Analysis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, Herbert. 1957. Models of Man. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, Herbert. 1978. “Rationality as Process and as Product of Thought.” American Economic Review 68: 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, Herbert. 1983. Reason in Human Affairs. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, Oliver. 1975. Markets and Hierarchies. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, Oliver. 1981. “The Economics of Organization: The Transaction Cost Approach.” American Journal of Sociology 87: 548–577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, Oliver. 1985a. The Economic Institutions of Capitalism. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, Oliver. 1985b. “Employee Ownership and Internal Governance: A Perspective.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 6: 243–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1988 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Williamson, O.E. (1988). The Economics and Sociology of Organization. In: Farkas, G., England, P. (eds) Industries, Firms, and Jobs. Springer Studies in Work and Industry. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3536-6_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3536-6_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-3538-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-3536-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics