Empresas versus mercados. Un boceto para una historia de la empresa (1.a Parte)

Starting from the question about the potential contribution of entrepreneurial history to the general formation of the students of economics and business, this article contends that this contribution may be very positive, provided that an approach more analitic than merely descriptive is adopted on the teachers' side. For it, the nature of the firm and the causes and consequences of changes in her organization and size should occupy a central place in their explanations, by means of a balance between theory and history. In the first part of the article a review is provided of the theories on the nature of the firm, with special focus on the transaction costs approach, and of the American business history, devoted to the study of the enterprise in that country along the past century. In a second part, some thoughts ans suggestions are given in order to extend the same kind of analysis to other countries and periods.