Description
Book SynopsisThe investor-owned corporation is the conventional form for structuring large-scale enterprise in market economies, but it is not the only one. In The Ownership of Enterprise, Henry Hansmann explains why different industries and different national economies exhibit different patterns of ownership forms.
Trade ReviewIn this book Hansmann considers a wide range of different kinds of organizations that are "owned" in different ways...This is a book that both economists, and scholars of organizations more broadly, should find interesting, informative, and provocative. I found it first-rate. -- R. R. Nelson * Journal of Economics *
[A] fascinating study [which] offer[s] useful insights into why organisations adopt different ownership and control structures...Three broad categories of firms are analysed- producer-owned, customer-owned and non-profit and mutual firms. A series of historical case studies of the development of different industries in which these ownership structures are common, including those of banking and insurance, are then presented. -- Ruben Lee * London Financial News *
In this remarkable book, Henry Hansmann asks why investor ownership is the dominant but by no means universal form of ownership. His answers provide a masterly demonstration of comparative organizational analysis...A brief review cannot do full justice to the richness, power, and range of Hansmann's analysis. Scattered throughout are little gems of insight, such as his explanations for why there is not cooperative ownership of utilities in urban areas as there is in many rural areas...for why country clubs are member-owned rather than investor-owned...and for why charities and listener-supported public radio stations are run on a non-profit basis...[This book] is a substantial contribution to organizational sociology. -- William Finlay * Contemporary Sociology *
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction PART 1: A Theory of Enterprise Ownership 1. An Analytic Framework 2. The Costs of Contracting 3. The Costs of Ownership PART 2: Producer-Owned Enterprise 4. Invertor-Owned Firms 5. The Benefits and Costs of Employee Ownership 6. Governing Employee-Owned Firms 7. Agricultural and Other Producer Cooperatives PART 3: Customer-Owned Enterprise 8. Retail, Wholesale, and Supply Firms 9. Utilities 10. Clubs and Other Associative Organizations 11. Housing PART 4: Nonprofit and Mutual Enterprise 12. Nonprofit Firms 13. Banks 14. Insurance Companies Conclusion Notes Sources Index
