Law, Economics and Organizations

This course focuses on the theory of the firm and business organizations. Starting from the theory of the firm, this course then proceeds to examine the economic theory of business organizations and it unveils their origins, historical evolution and functions in the economy.

This course brings the students to the cutting edge of research in the theory of the firm and organizations. The course starts from the theories of the firm, including the leading approach: the property-rights theory of the firm. It then proceeds to cover complementary approaches to the theory of the firm: access to productive assets, incentives for individual firm agents, knowledge management within an organization, and language. The course finally covers relational contracts: an alternative way to organize business activities that is somewhat in the middle-ground between markets and firms.