The close relation between organization theory and Oliver Williamson transaction cost economics: A theory of the firm perspective

Extended Abstract: 453 words The work of the 2009 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Oliver Williamson, on the economic institutions of capitalism – the governance structures of capitalism – has been largely responsible for renewing the debate on the nature and efficiency of firms. Since his 1975 book ‘Markets and Hierarchies, Antitrust and Analysis Implications’, numerous papers have shown the considerable importance of transaction cost economics in many research areas as the nature of the firm, vertical integration or hybrid forms (e.g. Ménard 2005). Nevertheless, one aspect of the global analysis of Williamson’s work has been often ignored in the theoretical debates on the firm, namely the references Williamson makes to organization theory. As Williamson himself notes, his project is to build an interdisciplinary framework, which combines economics, law, and organization theory (Williamson 1996, 2005). It is important to remind that the field of the organization theory is mainly at the intersection of economics, sociology and management and analyzes the firm – in an unorthodox view – as an organizational system composed of different individuals (or groups) acting in a collective way. More exactly, in a 1993 paper titled ‘Transaction Cost Economic