Economics for Lawyers (Law and Economics) Essay

Economics for Lawyers (Law and Economics) - Essay Example This is not the case in real interactions between firms. In order to dissect the concept further it would be pertinent to explore different points of views on the firm and its unique position in the market. The views of Coase, Penrose and finally Richardson will be explored in this paper in order to see how firms interact to form market structures and how these structures require the assistance of the law. 2. Defining The Firm Within the perspective of business, a firm can simply be seen as an organisation that is involved in the provision of goods and services or a combination of both to consumers1. Here it must be kept in mind that the work of such an organisation is determined by market consumption otherwise this definition would fit other organisations as well such as military organisations and the like. Therefore, the actions of a firm can be seen as being driven through competition in the market that requires the efforts of a team. Another major consideration to look into over here is the basic unit that composes the domain of economic activities. Firms are conglomerations of people who are geared to a common purpose namely the creation of economic value. In themselves, firms are actually composed of individuals and so individuals must be the basic unit of economic activity. ... This idea has been espoused by Coase who adds another dimension to hiring the services of other individuals. 2.1. Coase’s Ideas on The Nature of the Firm The earliest ideas as to why firms exist in an economy were presented by Coase2 in his article The Nature of the Firm (1937). It was recognised well before Coase’s ideas that firms existed but there had been little investigation into their need for existence. There was a visible change in emphasis of the dominant economic theory after the First World War. Analysis tended to shift from the level of industry (which relied in large part on market analysis) to the level of individual firms. This move can be attributed to a change in thinking over perfect competition. Previously perfect competition was seen as an effective model to delineate how firms behaved. Up till this point in time the emphasis of the economic theory had been to study the markets in order to understand their behaviour. There had been little work on und erstanding reasons as to why firms existed. In themselves, markets are guided Coase holds that in a perfect market, that is efficient, it would make sense to contract out services rather than hiring people. In Coase’s time the traditional theory of economics provided that entities that were best at providing goods or services were already providing these goods and services because the market was efficient. This would then have the implication that any entrepreneur looking for goods and services would tend to contract out goods and services to the best providers3. However, the actual market practice was just the opposite – entrepreneurs looked to hire people instead of contracting out services. It is only in recent years that outsourcing has

The Difference Between What is Known and What is Believed Essay

The Difference Between What is Known and What is Believed - Essay Example For one, it occurs logical to acknowledge the truth that she loves me because I am her daughter, her offspring above all. We cannot deny the biological fact that we are related by blood and we share certain traits by genetic transfer so that this evidence altogether constitutes a scientific basis for the natural loving bond between us. Moreover, I should recognize that my mother truly loves me because she had religiously managed serious domestic efforts all through my childhood days. That includes the typical obligation which every other good mother fulfills such as providing for me a safe and comfortable shelter, cooking and cleaning for the household which I am a regular member of, preparing my needs for school, and attending to me diligently for relief from sickness. Besides all this knowledge, I can further attest to the belief that my mother loves me as I constantly sense her affectionate concern. With my mother’s demonstration of concern comes the presence of warmth whic h is something that I could not readily observe as present and spontaneous from my experience of other people’s help approach. ... ter how excruciating, nevertheless, she had endured pains of labor and delivery not only to allow me to live but even to sustain my living in a considerable span of time so that it convinces me to perceive her natural motherly inclination as an utmost manifestation of a more profound level of desire, which is love. As another empirical evidence, I notice that while others exhibit their concern by spending time with me in difficult situations, they often do so yet merely to some extent unlike my mother who would stay and never leave my side until my troubles are all over. Not only does my mother go with me an extra mile, she is sensible enough to feel my specific needs even if they are indirectly conveyed to her understanding. Upon thorough examination of the aforementioned evidences by reason of logic and perception out of experience, I still maintain the claim that knowledge of the material world must hold according to physical evidence. However, love is immaterial though we have ge nerally accepted its truth and this appears to be an exception because the reasons that speak of love cannot help being enhanced and supported by a number of experiences beyond thought. Apparently, these empirical accounts seem to be in harmony with logic where logic alone bears no more capacity of proving how love may be viewed in a material context. I am but a human being who is normally accustomed to associating read or spoken ideas to tangible images of things in order to gain knowledge of the world in which case, it is inevitable to make use of our senses. By seeing, hearing, smelling, or touching concrete objects in repeated patterns over time, we are able to figure what exists and identify it based on color, shape, size, and other essential characteristics. It is part of our nature