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Firms and the Coordination of KnowledgeSome Austrian Insights

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  • Nicolai J. Foss

Abstract

This paper argues that Austrian economics allow us to identify a number of weak spots in the modern economics of organization. Thus, neither the dispersion of tacit and subjectively knowledge in organizations, nor the entrepreneurial discovery process are comprehensively treated in this body of thought. Thinking about these issues in the context of the firm leads to a different, but perhaps complementary perspective on economic organization.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolai J. Foss, 1998. "Firms and the Coordination of KnowledgeSome Austrian Insights," DRUID Working Papers 98-19, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:aal:abbswp:98-19
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    2. Littlechild, S. C. & Owen, G., 1980. "An Austrian model of the entrepreneurial market process," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 361-379, December.
    3. Daniel Klein, 1997. "Convention, Social Order, and the Two Coordinations," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 319-335, December.
    4. Crawford, Vincent P & Haller, Hans, 1990. "Learning How to Cooperate: Optimal Play in Repeated Coordination Games," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(3), pages 571-595, May.
    5. Kirsten Foss, 1998. "Technological Interdependencies,Specialization and Coordination A Property Rights Perspective on The Nature of the Firm," DRUID Working Papers 98-10, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    6. Denzau, Arthur T & North, Douglass C, 1994. "Shared Mental Models: Ideologies and Institutions," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 3-31.
    7. Langlois, Richard N & Foss, Nicolai J, 1999. "Capabilities and Governance: The Rebirth of Production in the Theory of Economic Organization," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 201-218.
    8. Nicolai J. Foss, 1996. "Firms, Incomplete Contracts and Organizational Learning," DRUID Working Papers 96-2, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    9. Demsetz, Harold, 1988. "The Theory of the Firm Revisited," Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 141-161, Spring.
    10. Michael C. Jensen & William H. Heckling, 1995. "Specific And General Knowledge, And Organizational Structure," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 8(2), pages 4-18.
    11. Dow, Gregory K., 1990. "The organization as an adaptive network," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 159-185, October.
    12. Colin F. Camerer, 1997. "Progress in Behavioral Game Theory," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 167-188, Fall.
    13. Kreps, David M, 1996. "Markets and Hierarchies and (Mathematical) Economic Theory," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(2), pages 561-595.
    14. Foss, Nicolai Juul, 1994. "The Theory of the Firm: The Austrians as Precursors and Critics of Contemporary Theory," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 31-65.
    15. Langlois, Richard N, 1998. "Personal Capitalism as Charismatic Authority: The Organizational Economics of a Weberian Concept," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 195-213, March.
    16. Klein, Peter G, 1996. "Economic Calculation and the Limits of Organization," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 9(2), pages 3-28.
    17. Foss, Nicolai J, 1997. "On the Rationales of Corporate Headquarters," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(2), pages 313-338, March.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Nicolai J. Foss & Volker Mahnke, 1998. "Strategy Research and the Market Process Perspective," DRUID Working Papers 98-29, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    2. Dieter Ernst, 1999. "Responses to the Crisis Constraints to a Rapid Trade Adjustment in East Asia´s Electronics Industry," DRUID Working Papers 99-2, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    3. George B. Richardson, 1998. "Production, Planning and Prices," DRUID Working Papers 98-27, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    4. Mark Lorenzen, 1998. "Information Cost, Learning, and Trust Lessons from Co-operation and Higher-order Capabilities Amongst Geographically Proximate Firms," DRUID Working Papers 98-21, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    5. Volker Mahnke & John Harald Aadne, 1998. "Processes of Strategic Renewal, Competencies, and the Management of Speed," DRUID Working Papers 98-20, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    6. Kirsten Foss & Nicolai J. Foss, 1999. "Organizing Economic Experiments The Role of Firms," DRUID Working Papers 99-5, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Austrian economics; the theory of the firm; dispersed knowledge; coordination;

    JEL classification:

    • B15 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary
    • B25 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Austrian; Stockholm School
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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