Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-xq6d9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-10T02:50:38.969Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Oliver Williamson: a Hero's journey on the merits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2021

Joseph T. Mahoney  and
Jackson Nickerson Open the ORCID record for Jackson Nickerson [Opens in a new window]
Joseph T. Mahoney
Affiliation:
Gies College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Jackson Nickerson*
Affiliation:
Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Joseph Campbell describes a narrative pattern for a hero's journey. ‘A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from the mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man’ (2008: 30). This paper looks at Oliver E. Williamson's life through Campbell's lens and reveals his journey, challenges, and triumphs not only for himself but also for all students of the science of organization.

Keywords

Economic HistoryTransaction Cost EconomicsOliver WilliamsonInstitutional Economics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , April 2022 , pp. 195 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © Millennium Economics Ltd 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Argyres, N. S., Bercovitz, J. and Mayer, K. J. (2007), ‘Complementarity and Evolution of Contractual Provisions: An Empirical Study of IT Services Contracts’, Organization Science, 18(1): 3–19.10.1287/orsc.1060.0220CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arrow, K.J. (1969), ‘The organization of economic activity’, The Analysis and Evaluation of Public Expenditure: The PPB System. Joint Economic Committee, 91st Cong., 1st session, 59–73.Google Scholar
Augier, M. and March, J. G. (2008), ‘Realism and Comprehension in Economics: A Footnote to an Exchange Between Oliver E. Williamson and Herbert A. Simon’, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 66(1): 95–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnard, C. I. (1938), The Functions of the Executive, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Baudry, B. and Chassagnon, V. (2010), ‘The Close Relation Between Organization Theory and Oliver Williamson's Transaction Cost Economics: A Theory of the Firm Perspective’, Journal of Institutional Economics, 6(4): 477–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, J. (1988), The Power of Myth, with Bill Moyers, New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Campbell, J. (2008), The Hero With a Thousand Faces (3rd edn), New York: New World Library.Google Scholar
Chandler, A. D. (1962), Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of American Industrial Enterprises, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Coase, R. H. (1937), ‘The Nature of the Firm’, Economica, 4(November): 386–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coase, R. H. (1960), 'The Problem of Social Cost', Journal of Law and Economics, 3(1): 1–44.Google Scholar
Commons, J. R. (1932), ‘The Problem of Correlating Law, Economics, and Ethics’, Wisconsin Law Review, 8(1): 3–26.Google Scholar
Cyert, R. M. and March, J. G. (1963), A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Gale, R. L. (2003), A Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Companion, Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.Google Scholar
Gindis, D. and Hodgson, G. (2007), ‘An Interview with Oliver Williamson’, Journal of Institutional Economics, 3(3): 373–386.Google Scholar
Gouldner, A. W. (1954), Industrial Bureaucracy, Glencoe, IL: Free Press.Google Scholar
Hart, O., Shleifer, A. and Robert Vishny, R. (1997), ‘The Proper Scope of Government: Theory and an Application to Prisons’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(4): 1127–1161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henisz, W. J. (2016), ‘The Dynamic Capability of Corporate Diplomacy’, Global Strategy Journal, 6(3): 83–196.10.1002/gsj.1121CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joskow, P.L. (2020), ‘Oliver Williamson: Reminiscences’, Manuscript, revised June 1, 2020. https://www.sioe.org/news/oliver-williamson-reminiscencesGoogle Scholar
Ketokivi, M. (2020), ‘What is Going on Here? In Memoriam Oliver Williamson (1932–2020)’, Journal of Operations Management, 66(5): 492–493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, P. G. (2008), ‘Opportunity Discovery, Entrepreneurial Action, and Economic Organization’, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 2(3): 175–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macneil, I. R. (1974), ‘The Many Futures of Contracts’, Southern California Law Review, 47(3): 691–816.Google Scholar
Macneil, I. R. (1978), ‘Contracts: Adjustment of Long-Term Economic Relations Under Classical, Neoclassical, and Relational Contract Law’, Northwestern University Law Review, 72(6): 854–905.Google Scholar
Mahoney, J. T. (2005), Economic Foundations of Strategy, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Mahoney, J. T. and Kor, Y. Y. (2015), ‘Advancing the Human Capital Perspective on Value Creation by Joining Capabilities and Governance Approaches’, Academy of Management Perspectives, 29(3): 296–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
March, J. G. and Simon, H. A. (1958), Organizations, New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Masten, S. E. (1984), ‘The Organization of Production: Evidence From the Aerospace Industry’, Journal of Law and Economics, 27(2): 403–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masten, S. E. (2020), ‘Oliver E. Williamson: A Personal Appreciation’, Manuscript, May 23, 2020. SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3608952 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3608952CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ménard, C. and Shirley, M. M. (2014), ‘The Future of New Institutional Economics: From Early Intuitions to a New Paradigm’, Journal of Institutional Economics, 10(4): 541–565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merton, R. (1957), Social Theory and Social Structure, New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Mowery, D. C., Oxley, J. E. and Silverman, B. S. (1996), ‘Strategic Alliances and Interfirm Knowledge Transfer’, Strategic Management Journal, 17(S2): 77–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nickerson, J. (2010), ‘Oliver Williamson and His Impact on the Field of Strategic Management’, Journal of Retailing, 86(3): 270–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nickerson, J. and Zenger, T. (2004), ‘A Knowledge-Based Theory of Governance Choice – A Problem-Solving Approach’, Organization Science, 15(6): 617–632.10.1287/orsc.1040.0093CrossRefGoogle Scholar
North, D. N. (1990), Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, E. (1990), Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schelling, T. C. (1956), ‘An Essay on Bargaining’, American Economic Review, 46(3): 281–306.Google Scholar
Simon, H. A. (1947), Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization, New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Swedberg, R. (1990), Economics and Sociology: Redefining Their Boundaries: Conversations with Economists and Sociologists, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van de Ven, A. H. (2007), Engaged Scholarship: A Guide for Organizational and Social Research, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1964), The Economics of Discretionary Behavior: Managerial Objectives in a Theory of the Firm, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1970), Corporate Control and Business Behavior: An Inquiry into the Effects of Organizational Form on Enterprise Behavior, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1971), ‘The Vertical Integration of Production: Market Failure Considerations’, American Economic Review, 61(2): 112–123.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1975), Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications, New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1976), ‘Franchise Bidding for Natural Monopolies-in General and with Respect to CATV’, Bell Journal of Economics, 7(1): 73–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1979), ‘Transaction-cost Economics: The Governance of Contractual Relations’, Journal of Law and Economics, 22(2): 233–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1983), ‘Credible Commitments: Using Hostages to Support Exchange’, American Economic Review, 73(4): 519–540.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1985), The Economic Institutions of Capitalism: Firms, Markets, Relational Contracting, New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1986), Economic Organization: Firm, Markets, and Policy Control, Washington Square, NY: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1988), ‘Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance’, Journal of Finance, 43(3): 567–591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, O.E. (1990), ‘Chester Barnard and the Incipient Science of Organization’, in Williamson, O.E. (ed.), Organization and Theory: From Chester Barnard to the Present and Beyond, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 172–206.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1991), ‘Comparative Economic Organization: The Analysis of Discrete Structural Alternatives’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 36(2): 269–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1993), ‘Transaction Cost Economics and Organization Theory’, Industrial and Corporate Change, 2(2): 107–156.10.1093/icc/2.2.107CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1996), The Mechanisms of Governance, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1999a), ‘Public and Private Bureaucracies: A Transaction Cost Economics Perspectives’, Journal of Law Economics, and Organization, 15(1): 306–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (1999b), ‘Strategy Research: Governance and Competence Perspectives’, Strategic Management Journal, 20(12): 1087–1108.3.0.CO;2-Z>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (2005), ‘The Economics of Governance’, American Economic Review, 95(2): 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (2009), ‘Pragmatic Methodology: A Sketch, with Applications to Transaction Cost Economics’, Journal of Economic Methodology, 16(2): 145–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (2010), ‘Transaction Cost Economics: The Natural Progression’, American Economic Review, 100(3): 673–690.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, O. E. (2015), ‘Ronald Harry Coase: Institutional Economist and Institution Builder’, Journal of Institutional Economics, 11(2): 221–226.10.1017/S1744137414000174CrossRefGoogle Scholar