In this tightly edited volume, a single theoretical framework is developed to
explain institutional transformation in the governance of the U.S. economy in
the twentieth century, and this framework is applied to case studies of eight
American industries in various sectors: telecommunications, nuclear energy,
railroads, steel automobiles, dairies, meatpacking, and hospitals. By
"governance" the contributors refer to the systems of rules, procedures and
norms that define ownership and control the means of production, govern
transactions and determine the efficiency with which resources and information
are allocated. An important new evolutionary model of the governance
transformation process emerges, and a new perspective on the role of the state
is developed,