pn:Gibbons.2005.Four formal(izable) theories of the firm(4): adaptation theory

Gibbons.2005.Four formal(izable) theories of the firm.Journal of Economic Behavior & OrganizationVol. 58 (2005) 200–245

ssrn 2004: SSRN-id596864

(4) an “adaptation” theory,which can be discerned in informal theoretical arguments by Simon (1951), Williamson(1971, 1973, 1975, 1991), Klein and Murphy (1988, 1997), and Klein (1996, 2000a).

Simon, H., 1951. A formal theory of the employment relationship. Econometrica 19, 293–305.

Williamson, O., 1971. The vertical integration of production: market failure considerations. American EconomicReview 61, 112–123.
Williamson, O., 1973. Markets and hierarchies: some elementary considerations. American Economic Review 63,316–325.
Williamson, O., 1975. Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications. Free Press, New York, NY.
Williamson, O., 1991. Comparative economic organization: the analysis of discrete structural alternatives. AdministrativeScience Quarterly 36, 269–296.

Klein, B., Murphy, K.M., 1988. Vertical restraints as contract enforcement mechanisms. Journal of Law andEconomics 31, 265–297.
Klein, B., Murphy, K.M., 1997. Vertical integration as a self-enforcing contractual arrangement. American EconomicReview 87, 415–420.

Klein, B., 1996. Why hold-ups occur: the self-enforcing range of contractual relationships. Economic Inquiry 34,444–463.
Klein, B., 2000a. The role of incomplete contracts in self-enforcing relationships. Revue D’Economie Industrielle92, 67–80.