The nine contributions in this volume attempt to demonstrate the applications of institutional theory to business history and show how the wider study of the institutional environment is inseparable from the study of business. Contributions include an evaluation of community structure and competitive advantage within the Yorkshire woolen industry; a comparative view of financial reconstruction and industrial reorganization in British and Swedish institutions during the Inter-War period; and post- war strategic capitalism in Norway. Paper edition (unseen), $19.50. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
The papers in this volume demonstrate that it can be fruitful to apply institutional theory to business history. In addition, the volume shows that the wider study of the institutional environment is inseparable from the study of business. It is clear, however, that although 'institutionalism' in business history has a long pedigree, many areas of research and potential interaction with theory remain to be explored. The extent to which this will occur inevitably depends upon the degree to which the interests of theoreticians serve the needs of historians and vice versa.
ARTICLES Introduction 1(8) MARK CASSON MARY B. ROSE Transaction Costs and the Theory of the Firm: The Scope and Limitations of the New Institutional Approach 9(17) S.R.H. JONES Complexity, Community Structure and Competitive Advantage within the Yorkshire Woollen Industry, c. 1700-1850 26(18) S.A. CAUNCE Invisible, Visible and `Direct Hands: An Institutional Interpretation of Organisational Structure and Change in British General Insurance 44(23) OLIVER M. WESTALL Consultancies, Institutions and the Diffusion of Taylorism in Britain, Germany and France, 1920s to 1950s 67(17) MATTHIAS KIPPING Financial Reconstruction and Industrial Reorganisation in Different Financial Systems: A Comparative View of British and Swedish Institutions during the Inter-War Period 84(22) HANS SJOGREN Post-War Strategic Capitalism in Norway: A Theoretical and Analytical Framework 106(22) SVERRE KNUTSEN The Politics of Protection: An Institutional Approach to Government-Industry Relations in the British and United States Cotton Industries, 1945-73 128(23) MARY B. ROSE Institutional Economics and Business History: A Way Forward? 151(26) MARK CASSON Index 177
Mark Casson, Mary B. Rose