The Economics of the Firm

This book offers an introduction to the recent, rapid developments in the economic analysis of the firm. Emphasizing recent work on the concepts of agency, markets, managerial hierarachies, and corporate strategic behaviour, the contributors consider vertical integration, conglomerates, multinationals, and the relationships between prinicipals and agents. These general ideas are developed in the first half of the book, and are followed by discusssions of particular areas of firm operation.