Transaction Cost in Organization

Unlike economists, sociologists have long been concerned with the puzzle, “Why are there so many kinds of organization?” (Hannan and Freeman, 1977, p. 936). Although numerous interesting explanations for organizational variety have resulted, the explanation favored here—namely, organizational variety arises in the service of transaction cost economizing—was not natural to and is still resisted

Transaction Cost Economics: Postscript

Schumpeter posed the question “Can capitalism survive” to which he ventured the opinion, “No. I do not think that it can” (1942, p. 61). Lack of intellectual support for—indeed, prevailing intellectual skepticism regarding—the merits of capitalist modes of organization was among the factors that led to that negative assessment (Schumpeter, 1942, chap. 13). Forty