Antitrust Economics

Author: Oliver E. Williamson (USA); Translated by Zhang Qunqun, Huang Tao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-03-01
Features: China is currently in the period of economic system transition. In the process of moving from a planned economy to a market economy, we have encountered many contradictions and problems. How to design a good institutional framework, how to handle the triangular relationship between the state, market, and enterprises, and how to solve the information incentive problem are the most urgent fundamental issues that China must address. The essence of these problems lies in how to save institutional costs. Once this issue is resolved, China will embark on a path of institutional innovation characterized by low transaction costs, sound market operation mechanisms, sensitive information, and rapid market expansion. To reform the world, we first need to understand the world. The first step in understanding the world is to learn. Modern knowledge is vast, and learning requires selection. New Institutional Economics has only developed in the past 30 years and is distinct from Neoclassical Economics. It can be said that New Institutional Economics is a revolution against the basic Arrow-Debreu paradigm of neoclassical economics. The analytical methods of neoclassical economics treat the firm, market, and government as black boxes"; these institutional arrangements are considered costless.