The Economics of Ronald Coase

Abstract

Ronald Coase (1910-2013), who sadly died at the remarkable age of 102, made significant contributions to economics based on common sense and the detailed study of his topics. Coase was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1991 “for his discovery and clarification of the significance of transactions costs and property rights for the institutional structure and functioning of the economy”. This paper traces the development of Coase’s economics to describe his contributions and the essence of the law and economics enterprise he fostered.

Keywords: Coase, Transactions Costs, Law and Economics, New Institutional Economics, Coase Conjecture, Economic Analysis of Law, Spectrum Pricing

JEL Classification: A11, A12, A13, B00, B13, B15, B21, B25, B31, B52, D02