Description
Book SynopsisThis comprehensive and groundbreaking
Handbook integrates economic and organization theories to help elucidate the design and evolution of economic organization.
Economic organization is regarded both as a subject of inquiry and as an emerging disciplinary field in its own right, integrating insights from economics, organization theory, strategy and management, economic sociology and cognitive psychology. The contributors, who share this integrated approach, are distinguished scholars at the productive peak in their fields. Each original, state-of-the art chapter not only addresses foundational issues, but also identifies key issues for future research.
This original and wide-ranging Handbook will be a useful and thought-provoking read for academics, students and researchers in the fields of organization, management and economics.
Contributors: N. Argyres, M.M. Blair, G. Bonifati, R.M. Burton, M.G. Colombo, L. Feng, N.J. Foss, B.S. Frey, V.P. Goldberg, A. Grandori, G. Hendrikse, J.-F. Hennart, G.M. Hodgson, A. Holl, B.E. Kaufman, P.G. Klein, P.H. Kriss, K.R. Lakhani, J.-E. Lane, R. Leoni, H. Lifshitz-Assaf, S. Lindenberg, J.T. Mahoney, S.E. Masten, B. Obel, M. Osterloh, U. Pagano, J. Pencavel, P. Puranam, R. Rama, M. Raveendran, C. Rossi-Lamastra, L. Sacconi, R. Sanchez, M.L. Tushman, M. Villani, M. Warglien, R. Weber, J. Windsperger, T.R. Zenger
Trade Review’This excellent volume brings together some of the most interesting writings on economic organization. It covers a vast range of topics that fall under the heading of economic organization, and most if not all aspects of a variety of organizational economics and organization theories are presented. Interestingly, this book also extends beyond the more traditional approaches informed by economics and organization theory as it broadens the horizon of the field by including relevant contributions from economic sociology, cognitive psychology, law, and strategic management. Given its breadth and depth, this volume will become one of the standard reference books that will inspire both theoretical and empirical research.’ -- John Hagedoorn, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
‘This important new Handbook of Economic Organization
is a highly successful attempt to integrate economic and organization theory. Anna Grandori, who is herself a leading scholar located at the boundaries of economics and organization theory, is to be congratulated on doing a superb job bringing together such a high profile group of internationally acknowledged scholars. Each of the essays in the book are original and contribute to demonstrating the valuable insights that economics can make to our understanding of organization and organizational design. Anna Grandori’s introductory and concluding chapters are not only excellent audits of the current state of our knowledge in this field but they also give a strong sense of direction for the possible futures of the discipline. Anna Grandori is not afraid to face head on some of the more philosophical issues relating to “organization” as an object of study and is to be commended for doing so. The economics of organization is a new, exciting and developing field and the essays in this book will help to shape the research agenda that will take this emergent discipline to its next stage.’ -- Peter M. Jackson, University of Leicester, UK
‘This sweeping, comprehensive volume is a signal effort in building bridges between economics and organization theory. With a stellar cast of contributors, it will both inspire and provoke scholars with its grand amibitions, and generate considerable attention and debate. A remarkable effort by Anna Grandori.’ -- Walter W. Powell, Stanford University, US
’Anna Grandori has astutely organized the commissioned chapters of an intellectually diverse set of scholars into an absolutely outstanding contribution that both defines the current state of organizational economics and points the perceptive reader toward an exciting intellectual future. From traditional research areas to the newest topics of interest, the chapters chart the current boundaries of the field. The chapters are filled with gems of insight across several distinct levels of analysis, whether it is a discussion of organizational design, or psychological economics or innovation or the organization as language, the discussions are contemporary, comprehensive and challenging. No serious scholar of organizational economics should be without this book.’ -- Richard N. Osborn, Wayne State University, US
Table of ContentsContents: INTRODUCTION Economic Organization as an Object of Study and as an Emerging Disciplinary Field Anna Grandori PART I: THE MICRO-FOUNDATIONS OF ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION: EXTENDING BEHAVIORAL ASSUMPTIONS ON KNOWLEDGE, INTEREST, AND RATIONALITY 1. Models of Rationality in Economic Organization: ‘Economic’, ‘Experiential’ and ‘Epistemic’ Anna Grandori 2. Motivation Governance Margit Osterloh and Bruno S. Frey 3. Cognition and Governance: Why Incentives Have to Take a Back Seat Siegwart Lindenberg 4. Knowledge Governance: Meaning, Origins and Implications Nicolai J. Foss PART II: THE CONSTITUTION OF ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION BETWEEN INTERACTING AND CONTRACTING 5. Contracts: Coordination Across Firm Boundaries Victor P. Goldberg 6. The Enterprise as Community: Firms, Towns, and Universities Scott E. Masten 7. Ethics, Economic Organization and the Social Contract Lorenzo Sacconi 8. Language and Economic Organization Massimo Warglien PART III: THE SHAPING OF ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION BETWEEN DESIGN AND EVOLUTION 9. Organizational Adaptation and Evolution: Darwinism versus Lamarckism? Geoffrey M. Hodgson 10. Exaptation and Innovation Processes: Theory and Models Giovanni Bonifati and Marco Villani 11. Interdependence and Organization Design Phanish Puranam and Merlo Raveendran 12. Dynamics of Organizational Structure Nick Argyres and Todd R. Zenger 13. Design Rules for Dynamic Organization Design: The Contribution of Computational Modeling Richard M. Burton and Børge Obel 14. Organizational Formation and Change: Lessons from Economic Laboratory Experiments Peter H. Kriss and Roberto Weber PART IV: HUMAN RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION BETWEEN ASSETS AND ACTORS 15. Human Capital and Property Rights Anna Grandori 16. The Economic Organization of Employment: Systems in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations Bruce E. Kaufman 17. Organization of Work Practices and Productivity: An Assessment of Research on World-class Manufacturing Riccardo Leoni PART V: TECHNICAL ASSETS AND ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION BETWEEN DETERMINANTS AND OPPORTUNITIES 18. Technical Assets and Property Rights Ugo Pagano 19. Open Innovation and Organizational Boundaries: Task Decomposition, Knowledge Distribution and the Locus of Innovation Karim R. Lakhani, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf and Michael L. Tushman 20. Modularity and Economic Organization: Concepts, Theory, Observations, and Predictions Ron Sanchez and Joseph T. Mahoney 21. The Organizational Design of High-tech Start-ups: State of the Art and Directions for Future Research Massimo G. Colombo and Cristina Rossi-Lamastra PART VI: FORMS OF ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION BETWEEN DISCRETE ALTERNATIVES AND COMBINATIVE CONFIGURATIONS 22. Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Governance and Economic Organization Nicolai J. Foss and Peter G. Klein 23. The Four Functions of Corporate Personhood Margaret M. Blair 24. Worker Cooperatives and Democratic Governance John Pencavel 25. Internal and External Hybrids and the Nature of Joint Ventures Jean-François Hennart 26. Interfirm Cooperatives George Hendrikse and Li Feng 27. The Governance of Franchising Networks Josef Windsperger 28. Subcontracting Relationships Ruth Rama and Adelheid Holl 29. Public Economic Organization Jan-Erik Lane CONCLUSIONS Integrating Economic and Organization Theory: Products, Problems and Prospects Anna Grandori Index
