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This book provides an expert analysis of the theory of the marketing firm by drawing upon operant psychology, economic theory and marketing to argue that all firms exist in order to market. The authors explore the nature of bilateral interdependence and suggest a framework to analyse the collaborative and competitive mutually reinforcing relationships within which the firm acts.

Economics of International Business sets out a new agenda for international business research. Mark Casson asserts that it is time to move the subject on from sterile debates about transaction cost economies and resource-based theories of the firm. Instead of focusing on the individual firm, the new agenda focuses on the global systems view of international business. A static view of the firm’s environment is replaced by a dynamic view which highlights the volatility of the international business environment. Coping with volatility requires entrepreneurial skills, flexibility and the need to synthesize information on a global basis. To co-ordinate the global system properly, entrepreneurs must co-operate through social networks of trust, as well as competing. Constructing a network of joint ventures, it is argued, is simply not enough.