Firms, Contracts, and Financial Structure (Clarendon Lectures in Economics)

著者 : OliverHart

• Clarendon Press (1995年12月7日発売)

作品紹介・あらすじ

This book provides a framework for thinking about economic instiutions such as firms. The basic idea is that institutions arise in situations where people write incomplete contracts and where the allocation of power or control is therefore important. Power and control are not standard concepts in economic theory. The book begins by pointing out that traditional approaches cannot explain on the one hand why all transactions do not take place in one huge firm and on the other hand why firms matter at all. An incomplete contracting or property rights approach is then developed. It is argued that this approach can throw light on the boundaries of firms and on the meaning of asset ownership. In the remainder of the book, incomplete contacting ideas are applied to understand firms' financial decisions, in particular, the nature of debt and equity (why equity has votes and creditors have foreclosure rights); the capital structure decisions of public companies; optimal bankruptcy procedure; and the allocation of voting rights across a company's shares. The book is written in a fairly non-technical style and includes many examples.
It is aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students, academic and business economists, and lawyers as well as those with an interest in corporate finance, privatization and regulation, and transitional issues in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and China. Little background knowledge is required, since the concepts are developed as the book progresses and the existing literature is fully reviewed.

感想・レビュー・書評

[自営業者さんの感想 · 2011年10月2日]

不完備契約（Incomplete contract)に関する基本書。昨年(2010年）、待望の翻訳版も刊行された。翻訳版は『企業 契約 金融構造』（慶応義塾大学出版会）。

事後的に（ex post）効率的な決定がなされるとしても、事前の（ex ante）効率性が達成できない（ホールドアップ問題＝過少投資になる）ということを、The Property Rights Approachを用いて説明している。

結論だけ見れば感覚的に「当たり前」に思えることであっても、単純なモデルを用いることで、何が前提となってどういうロジック（プロセス）でその結論が導かれるのかが明らかになる。単純なモデルはそれ自体現実には適用できないが、現実を理解するうえでは大いに役に立つと思う。

ビジネスパーソンにはやや敷居が高いので、『契約と組織の経済学』（柳川／東洋経済新報社）などを読んでから挑戦すると良いと思う。

[Matsuuraさんの感想 · 2008年2月26日]

不完備契約理論の中級テキスト。多くのモデルが紹介されており、貴重な一冊。