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The Technological Evolution of Industrial Districts pp 173–194Cite as

Cognitive economies and the “nature of the district”

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Part of the book series: Economics of Science, Technology and Innovation ((ESTI,volume 29))

Abstract

In “The nature of the firm” Coase quotes D.H. Robertson who notes that it is possible to find “islands of conscious power in this ocean of unconscious cooperation like lumps of butter coagulating in a pail of buttermilk” (Coase, 1937; p. 386). Coase asks why is it so? As we know, he contends that the balance between the costs of producing in house and the costs of using the market explains the existence of firms “coagulating transactions” within the market.

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Authors
  1. Margherita Turvani
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Fiorenza Belussi Giorgio Gottardi Enzo Rullani

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Turvani, M. (2003). Cognitive economies and the “nature of the district”. In: Belussi, F., Gottardi, G., Rullani, E. (eds) The Technological Evolution of Industrial Districts. Economics of Science, Technology and Innovation, vol 29. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0393-4_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0393-4_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5054-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0393-4

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