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'Coase vs Hayek': Economic Organization and the Knowledge Economy

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Author Info
Nicolai J. Foss

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Abstract

Many writers argue that economic organization is undergoing major transformation in the emerging knowledge economy; authority relations are withering; legal and ownership-based definitions of the boundaries of firms are becoming irrelevant and there are increasingly few constraints on the set of feasible combinations of coordination mechanisms. The present paper critically deals with these claims, beginning from the basic idea that they may be analysed as turning on the implications for the Coasian firm of the Hayekian notion that the distributed knowledge is a strong constraint on the use of planned coordination. It argues that there are efficiency reasons for the existence of authority under Hayekian distributed knowledge; that the increasing importance of knowledge in production does not render legal and ownership-based notions of the boundaries of the firm irrelevant; and that coordination mechanisms will also cluster in certain, predictable combinations in the emerging knowledge economy. Thus, Coasian firm organization is consistent with Hayekian knowledge conditions.

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Article provided by Taylor and Francis Journals in its journal International Journal of the Economics of Business.

Volume (Year): 9 (2002)
Issue (Month): 1 (February)
Pages: 9-35
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Handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:9:y:2002:i:1:p:9-35

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Related research
Keywords: The Knowledge Economy Authority Firms' Boundaries Internal Organization

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
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    Other versions:
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  32. Wernerfelt, Birger, 1997. "On the Nature and Scope of the Firm: An Adjustment-Cost Theory," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(4), pages 489-514, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Vitor Braga, 2004. "Business networking for SMEs as a means to promote regional competitiveness: A Theoretical Framework," ERSA conference papers ersa04p455, European Regional Science Association. [Downloadable!]
  2. Kirsten Foss & Nicolai J. Foss, 2003. "Authority in the Context of Distributed Knowledge," DRUID Working Papers 03-08, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies. [Downloadable!]
  3. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 2002. "The Legal Nature of the Firm and the Myth of the Firm-Market Hybrid," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 37-60, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Paul N. Gooderham & Svein Ulset, 2002. "'Beyond the M-form': Towards a Critical Test of the New Form," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 117-138, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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