Abstract
Ronald Coase was ‘at’, rather than ‘of’ Chicago. This statement goes a long way toward explaining how the methodological aim and approach of Ronald Coase differed sharply from that of Chicago. As he, himself, clearly claimed, he was a direct throwback to the Classical Liberalism that defined and formed the characteristic feature of the work of Frank Knight. By exploring and analyzing this distinctive difference, such questions as Coase’s response to the ‘Coase Theorem’ becomes clarified, as does the intent of much of his work. Though generally in line with such leading Chicagoans as George Stigler and Milton Friedman in terms of policy, Coase remained firmly at odds with these figures in his approach to economics and his rejection of what he termed ‘blackboard economics’.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Berlin, Isaiah (1953) The Hedgehog and the Fox. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Boettke, Peter (1987) “Virginia Political Economy: A View from Vienna”, Market Process 5(2): 7–15.
Bronte, Charlotte (1850) “Letter of April 12th to W. S. Williams”, http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/janeart.html#swscott1, 8 August 2016.
Buchanan, James, and Gordon Tullock (1962) The Calculus of Consent. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Cannan, Edwin (1903) A History of the Theories of Distribution and Production in English Political Economy 1776–1848 (Second Edition). London: P.S. King & Son.
Cheung, Steven N.S. (1973) “The Fable of the Bees: An Economic Investigation”, The Journal of Law and Economics 16(1): 11–33.
Clark, John Maurice (1936) “Past Accomplishments and Present Prospects of American Economics”, American Economic Review 26(2): 1–11.
Coase, Ronald H., and Ronald F. Fowler (1935a) “Bacon Production and the Pig-Cycle in Great Britain”, 2 Economica (n.s.): 142–147.
Coase, Ronald H., and Ronald F. Fowler (1935b) “The Pig-Cycle: A Rejoinder”, 2 Economica (n.s.): 423–428.
Coase, Ronald H. (1937a) “The Nature of the Firm”, 4(16) Economica (n.s.): 386–405.
Coase, Ronald H., and Ronald F. Fowler (1937b) The Pig-Cycle in Great Britain: An Explanation, 4 Economica (n.s.): 55.
Coase, Ronald H. (1946) “The Marginal Cost Controversy”, Economica (n.s.) 13(51): 169–182.
Coase, Ronald H. (1954) “The Development of the British Television Service”, Land Economics 30(3): 207–222.
Coase, Ronald H. (1959) “The Federal Communications Commission”, The Journal of Law & Economics 2(1): 1–41.
Coase, Ronald H. (1960) “The Problem of Social Cost”, The Journal of Law & Economics 3(1): 1–44.
Coase, Ronald H. (1961) “The British Post Office and the Messenger Companies”, The Journal of Law & Economics 4(1): 12–65.
Coase, Ronald H. (1974) “The Lighthouse in Economics”, Journal of Law and Economics 17(2): 357–376.
Coase, Ronald H. (1988) “The Firm, the Market and the Law”, in The Firm, the Market and the Law (pp. 1–33). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Coase, Ronald H. (1992) “The Institutional Structure of Production: The 1991 Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize Lecture in Economic Sciences”, American Economic Review 82(4): 713–719.
Coase, Ronald H. (1994a) “Economists and Public Policy”, in Essays on Economics and Economists (pp. 47–64). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Coase, Ronald H. (1994b) “How Should Economists Choose?”, in Essays on Economics and Economists (pp. 15–33). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Coase, Ronald H. (1994c) “Adam Smith’s View of Man”, in Essays on Economics and Economists (pp. 95–136). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Coase, Ronald H. (1994d) “The Institutional Structure of Production”, in Essays on Economics and Economists (pp. 3–15). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Coase, Ronald H. (1997) “Looking for Results”, Reason.com. Jan 1: 1–8. http://reason.com/archives/1997/01/01/looking-for-results/, 4 September 2013.
Coase, Ronald H. (2006) “The Conduct of Economics: The Example of Fisher Body and General Motors”, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 15(2): 255–278.
Cooter, Robert D. (1982) “The Cost of Coase”, The Journal of Legal Studies 11(1): 1–33.
Cooter, Robert D. (1987) “Coase Theorem”. The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics. First Edition. Eatwell, John; Murray Milgate and Peter Newman (eds.). Oxford: Palgrave Macmillan. http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde1987_X000351doi:10.1057/9780230226203.2205, 4 May 2017.
Friedland, Claire (1993) “On Stigler and Stiglerisms”, Journal of Political Economy 101(5): 780–783.
Friedman, Milton (1953) Essays in Positive Economics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Frost, Robert (1916) “The Road Not Taken”, in Mountain Interval, 1. New York: Henry Holt & Co.
Hirschman, Albert O. (1970) Exit, Voice, and Loyalty. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Hotelling, Harold (1938) “The General Welfare in Relation to Problems of Taxation and of Railway and Utility Rates”, Econometrica 6(2): 242–269.
Kaldor, Nicholas (1934) “A Classificatory Note on the Determination of Equilibrium”, Review of Economic Studies 1(1): 122–136.
Klein, Benjamin, Robert G. Crawford, and Armen A. Alchian (1978) “Vertical Integration, Appropriable Rents, and the Competitive Contracting Process”, Journal of Law & Economics 21(2): 297–326.
Knight, Frank H. (1967) “Laissez Faire: Pro and Con”, The Journal of Political Economy 75(6): 782–795.
Knight, Frank H. (1971) Risk, Uncertainty and Profit. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lerner, Abba (1944) The Economics of Control. London: Macmillan.
Mill, John Stuart (1965) Principles of Political Economy. New York: Augustus M. Kelley.
Pigou, Arthur Cecil (1920) The Economics of Welfare. London: Macmillan.
Scott, Walter (1826) “Journal Entry, March 14”, https://janeausteninvermont.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/sir-walter-scott-on-austen-march-14-1826/, 8 August 2016.
Stigler, George Joseph (1949) “Monopolistic Competition in Retrospect”, Five Lectures on Economic Problems (pp. 12–24). London: Longmans. Green & Co. Ltd.
Stigler, George Joseph (1960) “The Influence of Events and Policies on Economic Theory”, The American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings 50(2): 36–45.
Stigler, George Joseph (1971) “The Theory of Economic Regulation”, The Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science 2(1): 3–21.
Stigler, George Joseph (1976) “Do Economists Matter?” Southern Economic Journal 42(3): 347–354.
Stigler, George Joseph (1988) Memoirs of an Unregulated Economist. New York: Basic Books.
Stigler, George Joseph (1991) “Memorial Service for Ethel Verry”, mimeo. October 28: 1–2.
Stigler, George Joseph, and Claire Friedland (1962) “What Can Regulators Regulate the Case of Electricity”, Journal of Law & Economics 5(1): 1–16.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Freedman, C. (2020). Roads Not Taken: The Coase Conundrum. In: Freedman, C. (eds) George Stigler. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56815-1_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56815-1_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56814-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56815-1
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)