Ronald Coase
Ronald Harry Coase (29 December 1910 – 2 September 2013) was a British economist. He was a Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Law School. Coase won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1991.
Ronald Coase | |
|---|---|
 Coase in Chicago in September 2009 | |
| Born | 29 December 1910 |
| Died | 2 September 2013 (aged 102) |
| Nationality | British |
| Institution | University at Buffalo University of Virginia University of Chicago |
| Field | Law and economics |
| School or tradition | New Institutional Economics |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics |
| Contributions | Coase Theorem Analysis of transaction costs Coase conjecture |
| Awards | Nobel Prize in Economics (1991) |
| Information at IDEAS / RePEc | |
Early life
Ronald Harry Coase was born in Willesden, Middlesex, on 29 December 1910. As a child, Coase had a weakness in his legs, which is why he had to wear leg-irons.
Education
Due to this problem, he attended the school for physical defectives. At the age of 12, he was able to enter at the Kilburn Grammar School on scholarship. Coase attended the London School of Economics, where he received a bachelor of commerce degree in 1932.
Career
After studying with the University of London External Programme in 1927–29, Coase entered the London School of Economics, where he took courses with Arnold Plant.[1] He received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1991.[2]
Coase became the oldest living Nobel laureate before his death in 2013.[3]
Personal life
Coase was married to Marian Hartung from 1937 until his death in 2013. They had no children.
Death
Coase died in Chicago, Illinois on 2 September 2013 from natural causes.[4] He was 102 years old.
Works in economics
Coase studied how businesses and people solve problems. His key insight was that of transaction costs. Transaction costs are costs of negotiating, making deals, and enforcing agreements. In The Problem of Social Cost (1960), he believed that if it’s easy for people to talk and make deals, they can figure out a fair solution on their own, even if government laws do not tell them exactly what to do. His theory would later be known as the Coase theorem.[5]
In The Nature of the Firm (1937), he used the idea of transaction costs to explain why companies exists.[5]
He other wrote books and academic papers such as The Firm, the Market, and the Law (1988); and How China Became Capitalist (2012) with Ning Wang.[5]
Ronald Coase Media
Scanned photo of Ronald Coase from UChicago Law archives.
Coase's grave at Graceland Cemetery
Coase at the University of Chicago Law School in 2003
Coase at the University of Chicago Law School
Coase at a conference in 2008 with Richard Sandor
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References
- ↑ Ronald Coase. "Nobel Prize Autobiography," 1991
- ↑ Ronald Coase Dead: Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Dies At 102Huffington Post.com. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ↑ Retired U. of C. economist won Nobel (September 4, 2013)Chicago Sun-Times.com. Retrieved October 25, 2013.[dead link]
- ↑ Galer, Sarah. Ronald H. Coase, Founding Scholar in Law and Economics, 1910–2013 | University of Chicago Law School (2 September 2013)Law.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ronald Coase | Biography, Career & New Institutional Economics | Britannica Money (in en). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2026-03-27.
Other websites
- Coase Institute
- "Looking for Results" Archived 2009-09-03 at the Wayback Machine, interview in Reason by Thomas W. Hazlett
- 2003 Coase Centennial Speech delivered by Coase (500MB QuickTime file, recommend downloading video before watching)
- Schumpeter "Why do Firms Exist?", Economist, 16 December 2010.
- Russ Roberts's "Coase on Externalities, the Firm, and the State of Economics" from the Library of Economics and Liberty