This book contains the papers that were presented in 1994 at the conference "Transaction Cost Economics and Beyond" organized by GRASP at the Tinbergen Institute in Rotterdam. It is generally recognized that transaction cost economics (TCE) is at the heart of the new theory of the firm. It is a well established research program with a well developed theoretical framework and good results in empirical testing. However, critics consider the approach too limited to understand the essential characteristics of such complex organizations like firms. Critics plea convincingly for the need to go beyond the original TCE framework and to develop a more pluralistic approach towards issues of economic organization. The new theory of the firm can only be further developed when scholars are willing to debate the issues in an open-minded, academic way. I thank the participants of the conference very much for putting so much effort in writing their papers and for their contribution to an open and stimulating discussion. It is my wish that this book contributes to the further deve­ lopment of the theory of the firm and that it helps us to a better understan­ ding of the complexities of economic organization. I would like to thank the following organizations for their support: the Tinbergen Institute, the "Vereniging Trust Fonds" of the Erasmus University, the Faculty of Economics of the Erasmus University, and GRASP (Group for Research and Advice in Strategic management and Industrial Policy).

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Preface. 1. Transaction Cost Economics and Beyond: Why and How? J. Groenewegen. 2. Efficiency, Power, Authority, and Economic Organization; O.E. Williamson. 3. Empirical Research in Transaction Cost Economics: Challenges, Progress, Directions; S.E. Masten. 4. Transaction Cost Analysis and Marketing; E. Anderson. 5. Regulatory Issues with Vertically Disintegrated Public Utilities: a Transaction-Cost Analysis; K.J. Crocker. 6. Opportunism and Trust in Transaction Cost Economics; N.G. Noorderhaven. 7. Short-Term Prevalence, Social Approval and the Governance of Employment Relations; S.M. Lindenberg. 8. Inside the Black Box: the Variety of Hierarchical Forms; C. Ménard. 9. Authority Relations in the Firm: Review and Agenda for Research; G.K. Dow. 10. The Core of the Firm: the Issue of the Employer-Employee Relationship; M. Turvani. 11. Transaction Cost Analysis - Is It Being Used Out of Context? K.J. Blois. 12. Opportunism, Learning and Organisational Evolution; M. Dietrich. 13. Corporate Culture and the Nature of the Firm; G.M. Hodgson. 14. Seven Reasons Why `Beyond' Transaction Costs Economics to Thesmoeconomics; C. Pitelis. 15. After the Special Nature of the Firm: Beyond the Critics of Orthodox Neoclassical Economics; E.L. Khalil. 16. Transaction Costs and Technological Learning; P.R. Beije. 17. Towards a Learning Based Model of Transactions; B. Nooteboom. 18. Transaction Acosts and Institutional Change; L. Magnusson, J. Ottosson.19. A Case for Theoretical Pluralism; J. Groenewegen, J.J. Vromen. List of Contributors. List of Tables and Figures. Index.