Ronald Coase: biography and activities

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Our hero today is Ronald Coase. His biography will be discussed in detail later. We are talking about an English economist who was born in the London suburb of Wilesden.

Parents

Our hero's father was a telegraph operator. Mother is a postal worker. She left her job after marriage. The parents of the future economist did not receive education, but were literate people. Sports were their passion.

Early years

Ronald Coase is an only child. He had an interest in sports that can be considered normal for any young man. At the same time, the passion for learning prevailed. He went to high school at the age of 12. It was customary to start this stage of training a year earlier. This change affected the biography of our hero. In 1927, Ronald Coase passed exams in chemistry as well as history with excellent marks. This allowed me to continue my studies at the university.

However, the young man chose to stay at school for another 2 years. He intended to master as a correspondence student the main program taught in the first year of the University of London. Then he wanted to pass the intermediate exams. Only after that our hero was going to go to the university. To obtaina degree in history, an excellent knowledge of Latin was required. Our hero could not master this language, because he entered school a year later. Therefore, he decided to study the natural sciences program and connect his activities with chemistry.

I soon became convinced that the path he had chosen was not his calling. Thus, the only speci alty on the basis of which it was possible to move from school to university was commerce. Our hero passed the exams for this course. In 1929 he became a student at the London School of Economics. Professor A. Plant had a decisive influence on him during this period. As a result, our hero developed a special methodological principle. The economist strove to follow it for the rest of his life.

Views

Ronald Coase looked at the real world of economic phenomena and went beyond the scientific chalkboard. The formation of the interests of our hero was greatly influenced by the work “Risk, Uncertainty and Profit” by F. Knight. As a result, Ronald Coase became interested in the problem of economic institutions and organizations. He was also influenced by the book of F. Wiksteed. It is called The Elementary Meaning of Political Economy. Our hero was very interested in industrial legislation. He decided to specialize in this area when receiving a bachelor's degree. Perhaps he would have become a professional lawyer. However, the choice of activity was influenced by chance.

Suddenly, he won the Ernest Cassel scholarship. Thus, before him opened the possibility of obtainingeducation in foreign universities. The academic year (1931-1932) our hero spent in the USA. He studied the structure of industry in detail during this period. It was here that his interests were determined, as well as the direction of the future career of the future economist.

Activities

Ronald Coase began his professional career with an article called "The Nature of the Firm." He collected material for it during the year. This work was published on the pages of the journal "Economics" in 1937. Even after 50 years, this work has not ceased to attract attention. Her citation rate is constantly growing.

In "The Nature of the Firm" our hero touched on the fundamental problem of economic organization. He was the first to question the organizing role of the firm. According to him, she is able to interfere with the work of market forces, as well as upset transactions. An economist defines a firm as an organizational structure. It replaces the market. It is characterized by a network of contractual relationships.

Economic agents are constantly faced with a choice. They have to decide whether to organize activities through market transactions or resort to harmonizing the structure of the firm. The article described the nature of this choice. Thus, the author explained the emergence of the firm as a substitute for market transactions. The purpose of such a structure is to reduce the social costs associated with the operation of the market mechanism. Analyzing the question of the size of the firm, the economist formulated a number of rules that determine the size of such an enterprise. His conceptbased on cost comparison. They are associated with the implementation of transactions within the company and in the markets.

Books

Above we have already talked about who Ronald Coase was. The main works of the economist will be given below. His books belong to his pen: Essays on Economic Science, Firm, Market and Law. He also published How China Became Capitalist. The book "Nature of the Firm" was also published in Russian. Now you know who Ronald Coase is. Photos of this economist are attached to this material. We hope that information about this person will be useful to you.