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Transaction‐Cost Economics: Past, Present, and Future?

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  • Robert Gibbons

Abstract

Oliver Williamson is the founder and chief developer of transaction‐cost economics (TCE). In this brief essay, on the occasion of his Nobel Memorial Prize, I offer a partial discussion of Williamson's contributions by first summarizing some of the accomplishments of TCE‐past and then sketching some of the opportunities for TCE‐future. Most of the topics in both sections (TCE‐past and TCE‐future) start with a quotation from Williamson's early work that I think still speaks volumes today. That is, while fellow travelers and successors have acted on one set of Williamson's insights, helping to produce the accomplishments of TCE‐past, another collection of Williamson's insights has gone relatively unremarked, creating some of the opportunities for TCE‐future.

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  • Robert Gibbons, 2010. "Transaction‐Cost Economics: Past, Present, and Future?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 112(2), pages 263-288, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:112:y:2010:i:2:p:263-288
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9442.2010.01609.x
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