Information, Finance, and Markets
Information, Finance, and Markets
The Architecture of Allocative Mechanisms1
This chapter provides a formal model for incorporating finance within the theory of the firm and for a more nuanced reading of the evolution of capitalistic economies. Financial markets emerged as mechanisms for ensuring the fulfilment of promises made for a return in the future in exchange for money today. The ensuing difficulties were met in part by legal changes, such as the development of limited liability and enforceable fraud standards, along with pragmatic advances in such areas of accountability as accountancy and auditing. Nonetheless, tensions remain due largely to information asymmetry problems and enforcement of difficulties. Given differing rates of return across sectors, the firm takes on the role of an important financial institution. An evolutionary process results in which deficiencies in the market give rise to new contract forms and their exploitation by some participants in the market, thus producing still newer arrangements. The evolution of financial instruments necessarily remains intertwined with the evolution of the firm.
Keywords: financial institutions, allocative mechanisms, information asymmetry, contract forms, enforceability, firm evolution
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