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Division of Labor Transaction Cost, Emergence of the Firm and Firm Size

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Author Info
Yang, X.
Liu, P.W.

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Abstract

In this paper a general equilibrium model is constructed to explain the emergence of firms and change in firm size by the tradeoff between economies of specialization and transaction cost. We show that firms emerge from the development of division of labor if the transaction efficiency for labor is smaller than that for intermediate goods. Given the emergence of firms, change in the average size of firms (average employment) will depend on the change in transaction efficiency for intermediate goods relative to that for labor. If the transaction efficiency is improved in such a way that the transaction efficiency for intermediate goods becomes higher than that for labor, average employment will decrease. We present evidence showing that it is not uncommon that average employment declines as the economy develops. The general equilibrium model provides an explanation for the concurrent increase of productivity and decrease in average employment which is observed in a number of countries. Models based on economies of scale instead of economies of specialization would have yielded the opposite prediction.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Chicago - Graduate School of Business in its series Papers with number 10.

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Length: 22 pages
Date of creation: 1999
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:fth:chicbu:10

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Postal: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, H.G.B. ALEXANDER FOUNDATION GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60637 U.S.A.
Web page: http://gsb.uchicago.edu/
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Related research
Keywords: DIVISION OF LABOUR ; ENTERPRISES;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Boundaries of Public and Private Enterprise; Privatization; Contracting Out

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.:

  1. George J. Stigler, 1951. "The Division of Labor is Limited by the Extent of the Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59, pages 185. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Yang, Xiaokai & Ng, Yew-Kwang, 1995. "Theory of the firm and structure of residual rights," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 107-128, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Jones, Charles I, 1995. "R&D-Based Models of Economic Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(4), pages 759-84, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Hart, Oliver & Moore, John, 1990. "Property Rights and the Nature of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(6), pages 1119-58, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Borland, Jeff & Yang, Xiaokai, 1995. "Specialization, Product Development, Evolution of the Institution of the Firm, and Economic Growth," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 19-42, February.
  6. Aiginger, Karl, 1993. " Small Firms and the Merger Mania: Reply," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 323-30, December.
  7. Paul Milgrom and John Roberts., 1987. "Bargaining and Influence Costs and the Organization of Economic Activity," Economics Working Papers 8731, University of California at Berkeley.
  8. Lewis, Tracy R & Sappington, David E M, 1991. "Technological Change and the Boundaries of the Firm," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(4), pages 887-900, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Murakami, Naoki & Liu, Deqiang & Otsuka, Keijiro, 1996. "Market Reform, Division of Labor, and Increasing Advantage of Small-Scale Enterprises: The Case of the Machine Tool Industry in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 256-277, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Cheung, Steven N S, 1983. "The Contractual Nature of the Firm," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(1), pages 1-21, April.
  11. Kim, Sunwoong, 1989. "Labor Specialization and the Extent of the Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(3), pages 692-705, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Jones, Charles I, 1995. "Time Series Tests of Endogenous Growth Models," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 110(2), pages 495-525, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Young, Allyn A., 1928. "Increasing Returns and Economic Progress," History of Economic Thought Articles, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, vol. 38, pages 527-542. [Downloadable!]
  14. Pak-wai, Liu, 1992. "Extent of the Market, Specialization, Transaction Efficiency and Firm Size in Hong Kong," Departmental Working Papers _020, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Economics.
  15. Camacho, A., 1991. "Adaptation costs, coordination costs and optimal firm size," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 137-149, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. Ziesemer,Thomas, 2002. "Monopolistic Competition, Search Unemployment, and Macroeconomics," Research Memoranda 021, Maastricht : MERIT, Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology. [Downloadable!]
  2. Jeffrey D. Sachs & Xiaokai Yang, 1999. "Gradual Spread of Market-Led Industrialization," CID Working Papers 11, Center for International Development at Harvard University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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