Latest Blogwatch column

 My Blogwatch column from the latest issue (Issue 70, April 2021) of the NZAE magazine Asymmetric Information.

Published!!

My latest book is finally published!! The publisher's page for the book is here.

Foundations of Organisational Economics: Histories and Theories of the Firm and Production delves into a range of key topics to do with the history of the mainstream approach to the theory of production and the theory of the firm. This includes the frameworks used to analyse production, the division of labour and its application to the firm and the development of the neoclassical model of production. The first topic explored is the change from a normative approach to a largely positive approach to the analysis of the theory of production, which occurred around the seventeenth century. The next topic is an examination of the relationship (or the lack of a relationship) between the division of labour and the theory of the firm. In the fourth chapter, the focus is on the development of the proto-neoclassical approach to production. Here, the development of the theories of monopoly, oligopoly and perfect competition are discussed, as well as the theory of input utilisation. Chapter 5 looks at Marshall’s idea of the representative firm, which was the main early neoclassical approach to the theory of industry-level production. The penultimate chapter considers the criticisms made of the neoclassical model between 1940 and 1970. This work is an illuminating reference for students and researchers of the history of economic thought, industrial organisation, microeconomic theory and organisational studies.

Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Normative versus positive analysis in the history of the theory of production 3 The division of labour and the theory of the firm 4 Proto-neoclassicals and the theory of production Appendix: a very brief history of perfect competition 5 The representative firm 6 The neoclassical model under fire 1940–1970 7 Conclusion

Latest Blogwatch column

My Blogwatch column from the latest issue (Issue 69, December 2020) of the NZAE magazine Asymmetric Information.

Latest Blogwatch column

My Blogwatch column from the latest issue (Issue 68, August 2020) of the NZAE magazine Asymmetric Information.

Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World

Thomas Sowell: Common Sense in a Senseless World traces Sowell’s journey from humble beginnings to the Hoover Institution, becoming one of our era’s most controversial economists, political philosophers, and prolific authors. Hosted by Jason Riley, a member of The Wall Street Journal editorial board, the one-hour program features insights from Sowell and interviews with his close friends and associates, revealing why the intensely private Thomas Sowell is considered by many to be “one of the greatest minds of the past half-century” and “the smartest person in the room.”

The Theory of the Firm: An Overview of the Economic Mainstream, Revised Edition

This is a revised edition of Walker (2017). New sections or subsections have been added on the X-inefficiency model, the division of labour and the firm - both pre and post-1970, ownership of the firm and the human capital based firm. Additions have been made to sections on entrepreneurship, the incomplete contracts approach to the firm, the discussion of Coase’s paper on the ‘The Nature of the Firm’, the discussion of industry-level analysis versus intra-firm analysis, reasons for ignoring firm, a small addition has been made to the Sreni material in section 2.1 and material on Commenda, Waqf and the Clan Corporation has also been added to section 2.1. Appendix 4 has been deleted.

Walker, Paul (2017). The Theory of the Firm: An overview of the economic mainstream, London: Routledge.

The Theory of the Firm: An ... by Paul Walker

The antitrust case against Google

From the Cato Daly Podcast comes this interview in which Geoffrey Manne of the International Center for Law and Economics evaluates the claims in the antitrust case against Google.