The Form of the Firm: A Normative Political Theory of the Corporation

Author:   Abraham A. Singer (Visiting Assitant Professor of Ethics, Visiting Assitant Professor of Ethics, Georgetown Business School)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
ISBN:  

9780197586860


Pages:   312
Publication Date:   13 October 2021
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
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The Form of the Firm: A Normative Political Theory of the Corporation


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Author:   Abraham A. Singer (Visiting Assitant Professor of Ethics, Visiting Assitant Professor of Ethics, Georgetown Business School)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.10cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9780197586860


ISBN 10:   0197586864
Pages:   312
Publication Date:   13 October 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

"Introduction Chapter 1. A Framework for a Political Theory of the Corporation Section I. The Economic Theory of Corporate Efficiency and Justice Chapter 2. The Classical Theories of the Corporation Chapter 3. Ronald Coase and the Difference between Markets and Firms Chapter 4. The Managerial Challenge to Liberalism Chapter 5. The Chicago School's Theory of the Corporation Chapter 6. From Market to Firm to Market Again Section II: A Normative Account of Corporate Efficiency Chapter 7. The Concept of ""Norm-Governed Productivity"" Chapter 8. Corporate Justice Within Efficiency Horizons Section III: Toward a More Just Corporate Regime: Law, Governance, and Ethics Chapter 9. Toward a Relational Corporate Law Chapter 10. The Architecture of Corporate Governance and Workplace Democracy Chapter 11. Business Ethics and Efficiency: The Market Failures Approach Chapter 12. Business Ethics and Equality: The Concept of ""Justice Failure"" Conclusion Works Cited"

Reviews

The Form of the Firm is an extraordinary and highly original book. It is one of the most rigorous and comprehensive interdisciplinary works that combines normative political theory with business ethics and economics addressing issues relating to justices in and of the buisness firm. * Chi Kwok, Res Publica * Abraham Singer's book is comprehensive, original, and overall a highly impressive articulation of how political philosophy, legal theory, and economics intersect when it comes to our understanding and evaluation of firms. I expect it to become a valued and influential resource for political philosophers working on the nature of employment or the variety of proximate topics also covered by this book. * Daniel Halliday, Economics & Philosophy * The large thesis of The Form of the Firm is compelling, the writing is brisk, and the argument is grounded in the key works of several disciplines. The book will make a fine sparring partner and resource for the ongoing task of describing and appraising the business corporation * Mark Hoipkemier, University of Virginia, Review of Politics * [a] virtuoso work ... a powerful, grounded call for reform ... This book requires repeated reading. It is dense and deliberate, but those interested in political philosophy and political economy will find it worthy of the investment ... Essential. * D. C. Jacobs, CHOICE * Across ideological lines, political theory about economic questions is often strangely individualistic, imagining a world with consumers, entrepreneurs, workers, the recipients of income checks from the government, but no meso-level institutions, no corporations. Abraham Singer's The Form of the Firm is an outstanding response to this problem. Working at the border of political theory and normative political economy, Singer does something that is rare, valuable, and impressive: he takes seriously the importance and function of the business corporation in the course of developing a critical normative theory of its functioning. This is a decisively important contribution, a book to reckon with. -Jacob T. Levy, Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory and Professor of Political Science, McGill University The Form of the Firm is an important intervention in the growing body of literature on the political theory of the corporation. Singer's critical historical overview of leading theories of firm and corporation, from Smith to the Chicago School, is filled with new insights into motivations, underlying logics, and lacunae. In developing his own 'relational' theory of the firm, Singer emphasizes-against reductionist contractarian approaches-the importance of productivity-enhancing social norms within the firm. Singer then uses the presence of such norms to suggest novel ways of bringing corporations into line with liberal democratic standards, within the constraint of economic viability. The work will become a standard reference in argumentation going forward. -David Ciepley, Associate Professor, University of Denver Singer has provided the most comprehensive framing to date of the relevant questions and theoretical underpinnings for a political theory of the firm. He is, throughout, a reliable and witty guide for both political philosophers unfamiliar with theories of the firm in law and economics, on the one hand, and social scientists and lawyers in need of a primer on the latest developments in political philosophy, on the other. -Wayne Norman, Mike & Ruth Mackowski Professor of Ethics, Duke University


Abraham Singer's book is comprehensive, original, and overall a highly impressive articulation of how political philosophy, legal theory, and economics intersect when it comes to our understanding and evaluation of firms. I expect it to become a valued and influential resource for political philosophers working on the nature of employment or the variety of proximate topics also covered by this book. * Daniel Halliday, Economics & Philosophy * The large thesis of The Form of the Firm is compelling, the writing is brisk, and the argument is grounded in the key works of several disciplines. The book will make a fine sparring partner and resource for the ongoing task of describing and appraising the business corporation * Mark Hoipkemier, University of Virginia, Review of Politics * [a] virtuoso work ... a powerful, grounded call for reform ... This book requires repeated reading. It is dense and deliberate, but those interested in political philosophy and political economy will find it worthy of the investment ... Essential. * D. C. Jacobs, CHOICE * Across ideological lines, political theory about economic questions is often strangely individualistic, imagining a world with consumers, entrepreneurs, workers, the recipients of income checks from the government, but no meso-level institutions, no corporations. Abraham Singer's The Form of the Firm is an outstanding response to this problem. Working at the border of political theory and normative political economy, Singer does something that is rare, valuable, and impressive: he takes seriously the importance and function of the business corporation in the course of developing a critical normative theory of its functioning. This is a decisively important contribution, a book to reckon with. -Jacob T. Levy, Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory and Professor of Political Science, McGill University The Form of the Firm is an important intervention in the growing body of literature on the political theory of the corporation. Singer's critical historical overview of leading theories of firm and corporation, from Smith to the Chicago School, is filled with new insights into motivations, underlying logics, and lacunae. In developing his own 'relational' theory of the firm, Singer emphasizes-against reductionist contractarian approaches-the importance of productivity-enhancing social norms within the firm. Singer then uses the presence of such norms to suggest novel ways of bringing corporations into line with liberal democratic standards, within the constraint of economic viability. The work will become a standard reference in argumentation going forward. -David Ciepley, Associate Professor, University of Denver Singer has provided the most comprehensive framing to date of the relevant questions and theoretical underpinnings for a political theory of the firm. He is, throughout, a reliable and witty guide for both political philosophers unfamiliar with theories of the firm in law and economics, on the one hand, and social scientists and lawyers in need of a primer on the latest developments in political philosophy, on the other. -Wayne Norman, Mike & Ruth Mackowski Professor of Ethics, Duke University


"The Form of the Firm is an extraordinary and highly original book. It is one of the most rigorous and comprehensive interdisciplinary works that combines normative political theory with business ethics and economics addressing issues relating to justices in and of the buisness firm. * Chi Kwok, Res Publica * Abraham Singer's book is comprehensive, original, and overall a highly impressive articulation of how political philosophy, legal theory, and economics intersect when it comes to our understanding and evaluation of firms. I expect it to become a valued and influential resource for political philosophers working on the nature of employment or the variety of proximate topics also covered by this book. * Daniel Halliday, Economics & Philosophy * The large thesis of The Form of the Firm is compelling, the writing is brisk, and the argument is grounded in the key works of several disciplines. The book will make a fine sparring partner and resource for the ongoing task of describing and appraising the business corporation * Mark Hoipkemier, University of Virginia, Review of Politics * [a] virtuoso work ... a powerful, grounded call for reform ... This book requires repeated reading. It is dense and deliberate, but those interested in political philosophy and political economy will find it worthy of the investment ... Essential. * D. C. Jacobs, CHOICE * Across ideological lines, political theory about economic questions is often strangely individualistic, imagining a world with consumers, entrepreneurs, workers, the recipients of income checks from the government, but no meso-level institutions, no corporations. Abraham Singer's The Form of the Firm is an outstanding response to this problem. Working at the border of political theory and normative political economy, Singer does something that is rare, valuable, and impressive: he takes seriously the importance and function of the business corporation in the course of developing a critical normative theory of its functioning. This is a decisively important contribution, a book to reckon with."" -Jacob T. Levy, Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory and Professor of Political Science, McGill University The Form of the Firm is an important intervention in the growing body of literature on the political theory of the corporation. Singer's critical historical overview of leading theories of firm and corporation, from Smith to the Chicago School, is filled with new insights into motivations, underlying logics, and lacunae. In developing his own 'relational' theory of the firm, Singer emphasizes-against reductionist contractarian approaches-the importance of productivity-enhancing social norms within the firm. Singer then uses the presence of such norms to suggest novel ways of bringing corporations into line with liberal democratic standards, within the constraint of economic viability. The work will become a standard reference in argumentation going forward."" -David Ciepley, Associate Professor, University of Denver Singer has provided the most comprehensive framing to date of the relevant questions and theoretical underpinnings for a political theory of the firm. He is, throughout, a reliable and witty guide for both political philosophers unfamiliar with theories of the firm in law and economics, on the one hand, and social scientists and lawyers in need of a primer on the latest developments in political philosophy, on the other."" -Wayne Norman, Mike & Ruth Mackowski Professor of Ethics, Duke University"


Author Information

Abraham A. Singer is currently assistant professor of Management at Loyola University Chicago's Quinlan School of Business. His research and teaching interests lie within and between business ethics and political theory.

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