Gindis, David (2020) On the origins, meaning and influence of Jensen and Meckling’s definition of the firm. Oxford Economic Papers, 72 (4). pp. 966-984. doi:10.1093/oep/gpaa012 ISSN 0030-7653.
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Abstract
Jensen and Meckling’s 1976 definition of the firm as a legal fiction which serves as a nexus for contracts between individuals sits well with the Coasean narrative on the firm while at the same time being at odds with it. Available interviews with Jensen shed little light on the origins and meaning of this unusual definition. The article shows how the definition captured, and was a response to, the American socio-political context of the early and mid-1970s, and traces how Jensen and Meckling employed it once they themselves became immersed in the public debate about corporate responsibility and regulation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It also considers Jensen and Meckling’s place in the literature on the economics of corporate law developed mostly in the 1980s.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HF Commerce K Law [Moys] > KB General and Comparative Law |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law |
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Corporation law, Corporate governance, Corporations , Social responsibility of business , Big business, Business ethics |
| Journal or Publication Title: | Oxford Economic Papers |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| ISSN: | 0030-7653 |
| Official Date: | October 2020 |
| Dates: | Date Event October 2020 Published 1 September 2020 Available |
| Volume: | 72 |
| Number: | 4 |
| Page Range: | pp. 966-984 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/oep/gpaa012 |
| Status: | Peer Reviewed |
| Publication Status: | Published |
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons open licence) |
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 21 September 2023 |
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 21 September 2023 |
| URI: | https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/179381/ |
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