Markets and Multiunit Firms from an American Historical Perspective

The expansion of markets and industrialization greatly increased the benefits of specialization in the U.S. economy. However, since the benefits of specialization can only be realized through trade, specialization significantly increases the volume of market transactions in the economy. The analysis presented in this paper suggests that a better understanding of the historical changes in the nature of market transactions costs, especially those related to information, is likely to provide considerable insights on the rise of the modern business enterprise and a richer understanding of the industrial organization of the U.S. economy.

[1]  Kenneth L. Sokoloff,et al.  Was the transition from the artisanal shop to the nonmechanized factory associated with gains in efficiency?: Evidence from the U.S. Manufacturing censuses of 1820 and 1850 , 1984 .

[2]  J. Perloff,et al.  Modern Industrial Organization , 1990 .

[3]  Sukkoo Kim,et al.  Expansion of Markets and the Geographic Distribution of Economic Activities: The Trends in U. S. Regional Manufacturing Structure, 1860–1987 , 1995 .

[4]  Warren Boeker,et al.  Getting to multimarket competition: How multimarket contact affects firms' market entry decisions , 2001 .

[5]  B. Klein,et al.  The Role of Market Forces in Assuring Contractual Performance , 1981, Journal of Political Economy.

[6]  Alfred D. Chandler,et al.  The Visible Hand , 1977 .

[7]  Owen R. Phillips,et al.  Collusion in Horizontally Connected Markets: Multimarket Producers as Conduits for Learning , 2000 .

[8]  P. Nelson.  Information and Consumer Behavior , 1970, Journal of Political Economy.

[9]  Hayagreeva Rao,et al.  Caveat Emptor: The Construction of Nonprofit Consumer Watchdog Organizations1 , 1998, American Journal of Sociology.

[10]  Rolla Milton Tryon.  Household manufactures in the United States, 1640-1860 , 1917 .

[11]  W. Thorp,et al.  The Integration of Industrial Operation. , 1925 .

[12]  Ross M. Robertson,et al.  History of the American Economy , 1973 .

[13]  Ralph Merle Hower.  The history of an advertising agency , 1939 .

[14]  Sukkoo Kim.  The Rise of Multiunit Firms in U.S. Manufacturing , 1998 .

[15]  James F. Shepherd,et al.  Shipping, Maritime Trade, and the Economic Development of Colonial North America , 1972 .

[16]  Pope,et al.  The Making of Modern Advertising , 1983 .

[17]  R. S. Tedlow.  New And Improved , 1990 .

[18]  R. Vietor,et al.  Competition and Regulation: The Development of Oligopoly in the Meat Packing Industry , 1981 .

[19]  Sukkoo Kim.  Urban Development in the United States, 1690-1990 , 1999 .

[20]  G. Libecap.  The Rise of the Chicago Packers and the Origins of Meat Inspection and Antitrust , 1991 .

[21]  Douglass C. North,et al.  Measuring the Transaction Sector in the American Economy, 1870-1970 , 1986 .

[22]  R. Schmalensee.  A Model of Advertising and Product Quality , 1978, Journal of Political Economy.

[23]  George A. Akerlof.  The Market for “Lemons”: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism , 1970 .

[24]  Kenneth L. Sokoloff,et al.  Inventive Activity in Early Industrial America: Evidence From Patent Records, 1790–1846 , 1988, The Journal of Economic History.

[25]  W. Thorp,et al.  The structure of industry , 1980 .