Why Is “Stigler’s Coase Theorem” Stiglerian? A Methodological Explanation
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Including a Symposium on Bruce Caldwell’s
ISBN: 978-1-78756-126-7, eISBN: 978-1-78756-125-0
Publication date: 14 June 2018
Abstract
The Coase theorem is associated with Stigler because Stigler coined the term. The object of this paper is to show that Stigler’s Coase theorem is Stiglerian for deeper – namely, methodological – reasons. We argue that, convinced as he was by the importance of Coase’s message, Stigler also believed that this message – such as presented in “The Federal Communications Commission” (1959) or “The Problem of Social Cost” (1962) – was not scientific. Hence, he had to transform it into a theorem to give it a scientific dimension. This is what we try to show by presenting Stigler’s methodology and by confronting it to the methodology used in Coase’s articles.
Keywords
Citation
Marciano, A. (2018), "Why Is “Stigler’s Coase Theorem” Stiglerian? A Methodological Explanation
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018 Emerald Publishing Limited