Organizations and Markets

Government and the Corporation

1 December 2008 at 10:01 am Peter G. Klein 2 comments

| Peter Klein |

What is the net effect of government intervention on firm size, scope, complexity, and ownership? Roderick Long thinks government intervention makes firms larger and more hierarchical than they would otherwise be, and that a pure market economy would be dominated by small firms like worker-owned cooperatives. I think the net effect of government intervention on firm characteristics is ambiguous, because there are so many interventions affecting different types of firms. Here’s some back-and-forth between Roderick and me: his original essay on Cato Unbound, my comment on Mises.org, his reply, and my rejoinder.

Update: See also Caplan.

Entry filed under: - Klein -, Classical Liberalism, Corporate Governance, Public Policy / Political Economy, Theory of the Firm.