The Growth of the Firm

Edith Penrose has been one of the most significant economists of the second part of the twentieth century. Her contribution to the theory of the firm has reinvented and productively developed the classical tradition in economics. It has informed the currently dominant resource/knowledge-based theory of the firm. Penrose's contribution, however, extends to a great variety of areas, to include industry organization, strategic management, international business, human resource management, economics of innovation and technological change, history, methodology, macroeconomics, and much more. This volume builds on a special issue of Contributions to Political Economy, that celebrated forty years since Penrose's classic The Theory of the Growth of the Firm. It includes fourteen chapters by leading contributors on the aforementioned aspects of Penrose's work. This book celebrates Penrose's contribution to economics and management. Leading scholars (including such 'classic' names as Robin Marris and George Richardson), assess Penrose's contribution to economics, strategic management, industry organization, and more. Using a Penrosean lens, these authors address the most important issues such as resource allocation and resource creation, co-ordination, innovation and growth. They cover topics ranging from the nature of the firm, firm growth, and strategy, to multinational firms, industry organization, innovation, and economic development. In so doing, they make contributions to scholarship of the highest quality, with significant implications for business and government policy on competition, industry, and development.