Six Haas School professors write about the significance of Nobel Laureate and Haas Professor Emeritus Oliver Williamson's work in the latest issue of the California Management Review (CMR), the Haas School's management journal.
The winter issue of CMR also features articles on customer relations and new product development, including a piece by Haas Professor John Morgan on how tournaments can spark innovation.
CMR solicited contributions from Haas School professors in honor of Williamson receiving the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in December. In their articles, Haas Professors Rui de Figueiredo and Pablo Spiller explore Williamson’s influence on governmental institutions and government-business relations.
Professor Carl Shapiro, now serving as chief economist in the Department of Justice's antitrust division, describes the significant ways in which Williamson’s research has affected antitrust policies. Professors Ben Hermalin, Steve Tadelis, and David Teece explore the major role that transaction costs economics — a concept developed and pioneered by Williamson — played in shaping several dimensions of corporate strategy and organization, including a firm's decision whether to make or buy goods and services.
In a separate section of the journal, Morgan presents a framework for managers to organize tournaments to spur innovation. In "Tournaments for Ideas," Morgan and co-author Richard Wang, PhD 10, also examine how the power of the network, the wisdom of crowds, and the power of love can create more successful tournaments.
For more information about CMR, visit cmr.berkeley.edu.