Economics of Strategy, 2nd Edition

by David Besanko (Northwestern Univ.); David Dranove (Northwestern Univ.); Mark Shanley (Purdue Univ.)

• ISBN13: 9780471254546
• ISBN10: 0471254541
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

This comprehensive book applies modern economic principles to study a firm's strategic position. The book integrates insights from the theory of the firm, industrial organization and strategy research while building upon a strong theoretical and empirical foundation familiar to academics working in economics and strategy. The broad sweep of modern economics and strategy research is organized and presented in an appealing format. Many topics dovetail with important current research agendas. In this edition, the authors have completely reworked their discussions of a number of difficult topics, such as "make or buy fallacies", competitor identification, commitment, and strategic positioning. They also introduce a "make or buy issue tree" and an "industry analysis checklist" that readers should find very useful when assessing make or buy decisions and performing five forces analyses.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Strategy and Economics	1	(8)
Primer: Economic Concepts for Strategy	9	(34)
Part One: Firm Boundaries
The Evolution of the Modern Firm	43	(28)
The Horizontal Boundaries of the Firm: Economies of Scale and Scope	71	(38)
The Vertical Boundaries of the Firm	109	(32)
The Transactions Costs of Market Exchange	141	(28)
Organizing Vertical Boundaries: Vertical Integration and Its Alternatives	169	(28)
Diversification	197	(30)
Part Two: Market and Competitive Analysis
Competitors and Competition	227	(36)
Strategic Commitment	263	(26)
The Dynamics of Pricing Rivalry	289	(36)
Entry and Exit	325	(34)
Industry Analysis	359	(26)
Part Three: Strategic Position and Dynamics
Strategic Positioning for Competitive Advantage	385	(58)
Sustaining Competitive Advantage	443	(40)
The Origins of Competitive Advantage: Innovation, Evolution, and Environment	483	(26)
Part Four: Internal Organization
Incentives and Agency	509	(36)
Strategy and Structure	545	(32)
Power and Culture	577	(32)
Strategy and the General Manager	609	(16)
Glossary	625	(8)
Indexes	633