"The Nature of the Firm"

E455286

academic article economic essay work on the theory of the firm

"The Nature of the Firm" is a foundational 1937 economic essay by Ronald Coase that explains why firms exist and how transaction costs shape their size and structure.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
The Nature of the Firm	3
“The Nature of the Firm”	2
"The Nature of the Firm" canonical	1
Coasian theory of the firm	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4587064 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: "The Nature of the Firm"
Context triple: [Ronald Coase, notableWork, "The Nature of the Firm"]

A. The Theory of Corporate Finance
The Theory of Corporate Finance is a comprehensive textbook by economist Jean Tirole that systematically develops modern corporate finance theory using tools from contract theory and information economics.
B. The Theory of Industrial Organization
The Theory of Industrial Organization is a foundational economics textbook by Jean Tirole that systematically develops modern industrial organization theory using game-theoretic tools.
C. behavioral theory of the firm
The behavioral theory of the firm is an organizational and economic framework that explains how companies actually make decisions based on bounded rationality, routines, and internal politics rather than purely profit-maximizing optimization.
D. The Positive Theory of Capital
The Positive Theory of Capital is a foundational work in Austrian economics that systematically analyzes the nature of capital, interest, and time preference in the production process.
E. The Antitrust Paradox
The Antitrust Paradox is a highly influential 1978 book by legal scholar Robert Bork that reshaped U.S. antitrust law by arguing that its primary goal should be the protection of consumer welfare rather than competitors.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: "The Nature of the Firm"
Target entity description: "The Nature of the Firm" is a foundational 1937 economic essay by Ronald Coase that explains why firms exist and how transaction costs shape their size and structure.

A. The Theory of Corporate Finance
The Theory of Corporate Finance is a comprehensive textbook by economist Jean Tirole that systematically develops modern corporate finance theory using tools from contract theory and information economics.
B. The Theory of Industrial Organization
The Theory of Industrial Organization is a foundational economics textbook by Jean Tirole that systematically develops modern industrial organization theory using game-theoretic tools.
C. behavioral theory of the firm
The behavioral theory of the firm is an organizational and economic framework that explains how companies actually make decisions based on bounded rationality, routines, and internal politics rather than purely profit-maximizing optimization.
D. The Positive Theory of Capital
The Positive Theory of Capital is a foundational work in Austrian economics that systematically analyzes the nature of capital, interest, and time preference in the production process.
E. The Antitrust Paradox
The Antitrust Paradox is a highly influential 1978 book by legal scholar Robert Bork that reshaped U.S. antitrust law by arguing that its primary goal should be the protection of consumer welfare rather than competitors.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	academic article ⓘ economic essay ⓘ work on the theory of the firm ⓘ
approach	institutional analysis of markets and firms ⓘ
argues	firms arise when internal organization is less costly than market transactions ⓘ the boundary of the firm is determined where internal costs equal market transaction costs ⓘ
author	Ronald Coase ⓘ
citationStyleTitle	“The Nature of the Firm” ⓘ linked to: "The Nature of the Firm"
contributedTo	Ronald Coase receiving the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United Kingdom ⓘ
explains	how transaction costs influence the formation of firms ⓘ how transaction costs influence the internal structure of firms ⓘ how transaction costs influence the size of firms ⓘ why firms exist instead of all production being organized through markets ⓘ
field	economics ⓘ institutional economics ⓘ law and economics ⓘ
hasImpactOn	Coasean theory of the firm ⓘ development of transaction cost economics ⓘ
hasReprintIn	anthologies on the theory of the firm ⓘ various collections of Coase’s essays ⓘ
influencedField	business strategy ⓘ contract theory ⓘ corporate governance theory ⓘ industrial organization ⓘ organizational economics ⓘ
introducesConcept	transaction costs in using the price mechanism ⓘ
keyConcept	comparative costs of planning versus markets ⓘ costs of using the price mechanism ⓘ internal organization costs ⓘ market transaction costs ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
mainTopic	boundaries of the firm ⓘ existence of firms ⓘ firm size ⓘ market versus hierarchy ⓘ theory of the firm ⓘ transaction costs ⓘ
methodology	theoretical analysis ⓘ
publicationDate	November 1937 ⓘ
publicationType	journal article ⓘ
publicationYear	1937 ⓘ
publishedIn	Economica ⓘ
recognizedAs	classic in the theory of the firm ⓘ foundational work in transaction cost economics ⓘ
relatedWorkByAuthor	The Problem of Social Cost ⓘ
timePeriodDiscussed	early 20th century industrial organization ⓘ

How these facts were elicited