Professor Masten's research focuses on issues at the intersection of law, economics, and organization. He has published numerous articles relating to contracting, vertical integration, and antitrust, and his work has made him a leading scholar in the area of transaction cost economics.

Professor Masten joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1984, following two years as a member of the economics faculty at the University of Virginia. He held the Louis and Myrtle Moskowitz Research Professorship in Business and Law in 1998-99 and was president of the International Society for New Institutional Economics in 2008-09. He is a co-editor of the Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Law, Economics & Organization, the Journal of Corporate Finance; and Managerial and Decision Economics.

Since joining the University of Michigan, Professor Masten has taught the core MBA and BBA Applied Microeconomics courses and MBA electives on Business Transactions and on Nonprofit and Cooperative Enterprise. He also teaches a doctoral seminar on the Economics of Institutions and Organization and has taught Contract Design and Interpretation and Economic Analysis of Law in the University of Michigan Law School.

Research Fields: Law and economics, contracting; Industrial organization, antitrust; Management policy and strategy

Publications:

"Public Utility Ownership in 19th-Century America: The 'Aberrant' Case of Water," Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization (forthcoming).

"Long-Term Contracts and Short-Term Commitment: Price Determination for Heterogeneous Freight Transactions," American Law and Economics Review(forthcoming).

"Authority and Commitment: Why Universities, Like Legislatures, Are Not Organized As Firms," Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 15, Fall 2006, 649-84.

"Modern Evidence on the Firm," American Economic Review, 92, May 2002, pp. 428-32.

"Prospects for Private Water Provision in Developing Countries: Lessons from 19th Century America" (with Keith Crocker), in Mary Shirley (ed.), Thirsting for Efficiency: The Economics and Politics of Urban Water Reform. London: Elsevier Science, 2002, pp. 317-47.

"Transaction-Cost Economics and the Organization of Agricultural Transactions," in Michael Baye (ed.), Advances in Applied Microeconomics: Industrial Organization. New York: Elsevier Science, 2000, pp. 173-195.

"Reaffirming Relationship-Specific Investments: Comments on Miwa and Ramseyer's 'Rethinking Relationship-Specific Investments,'" Michigan Law Review, 98, August 2000, pp. 2668-77.

"Econometrics of Contracts: An Assessment of Recent Developments in the Empirical Literature on Contracting" (with Stephane Saussier), Revue d'Economie Industrielle 92, 2000, pp. 215-236.

Reprinted (with updates and revisions) in: The Economics of Contract in Prospect and Retrospect (E. Brousseau and J-M Glachant, eds.), Cambridge University Press, 2002.

"Contractual Choice," in B. Boukaert and G. De Geest (eds.), Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, Vol. III, The Regulation of Contracts, pp. 25-45. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. 2000.

"The Three Great Puzzles of the Firm," in Stephen G. Medema (ed.), Coasean Economics. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998, pp. 51-63.

"Discrete Choice, Censored Regression, and the Costs of Organization," in Arregle, Ghertman, and Obadia (eds.), Statistical Models for Strategic Management Statistical Models for Strategic Management. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997, pp. 221-237.

"Oliver E. Williamson," in Warren J. Samuals (ed.), American Economists of the Late 20th Century. Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 1996, pp.384-406.

Reprinted in: Transaction Cost Economics and the Influence of Oliver Williamson, G.R. Carrol and D.J. Teece (eds..), Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. 1999.

"Regulation and Administered Contracts Revisited: Lessons from Transaction-Cost Economics for Public Utility Regulation" (with Keith J. Crocker), Journal of Regulatory Economics, 9, January 1996, pp. 5-39.

"Empirical Research in Transaction-Cost Economics: Progress, Challenges, Directions," in John Groenewegen (ed.), Transaction Cost Economics and Beyond. Boston: Kluwer: Academic Publishers, 1996, pp. 41-64.

"Old School Ties: Financial Aid Coordination and the Governance of Higher Education," Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 28, September 1995, pp. 23-47.

"Franchise Contracting, Organization, and Regulation: Introduction," Journal of Corporate Finance: Contracting, Governance, and Organization, 2, October 1995, pp. 1-7.

"Economic Organization and Conflict: Comment," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 151, March 1995, pp. 237-241.

"United States v. United Shoe Machinery Corporation: On the Merits" (with Edward A. Snyder), Journal of Law and Economics, 36, April 1993, pp. 33-70.

Reprinted in:
Transaction Cost Economics, (Oliver E. Williamson and Scott E. Masten, eds.). Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. 1995
Case Studies in Contracting and Organization, (Scott E. Masten, ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. 1996.
Journal of Reprints for Antitrust Law and Economics, issue on Landmark Antitrust Decisions Revisited, 26, 1997, pp. 643-680.
Pricing Tactics, Strategies, and Outcomes, (M. Waldman & J. Johnson, ed.). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. 2007

"Transaction Costs, Mistakes, and Performance: Assessing the Importance of Governance," Managerial and Decision Economics, 14, March-April 1993, pp. 119-129.

"Pretia Ex Machina? Prices and Process in Long-Term Contracts" (with Keith J. Crocker), Journal of Law and Economics, 34, April 1991, pp. 69-99.

Reprinted in: Transaction Cost Economics, (Oliver E. Williamson and Scott E. Masten, eds.). Aldershot, UK: , Edward Elgar Publishing. 1995.

"The Costs of Organization" (with James W. Meehan and Edward A. Snyder), Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 7, Spring 1991, pp. 1-25.

Reprinted in:
Transaction Cost Economics, (Oliver E. Williamson and Scott E. Masten, eds.). Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. 1995.
The International Library of the New Institutional Economics, (Claude Menard, ed.), Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. 2004.

"Vertical Integration in the U.S. Auto Industry: A Note on the Influence of Transaction-Specific Assets" (with James W. Meehan and Edward A. Snyder), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 12, October 1989, pp. 265-273.

"The Design and Duration of Contracts: Strategic and Efficiency Considerations" (with Edward A. Snyder), Law and Contemporary Problems, 52, Winter 1989, pp. 63-85.

"Mitigating Contractual Hazards: Unilateral Options and Contract Length" (with Keith J. Crocker), RAND Journal of Economics, 19, Autumn 1988, pp. 327-343.

"Minimum Bill Contracts: Theory and Policy," Journal of Industrial Economics, 37, September 1988, pp. 85-97.

"A Legal Basis for the Firm," Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 4, Spring 1988, pp. 181-198.

Reprinted in:
The Nature of the Firm: Origins, Evolution, and Development, (Oliver E. Williamson and Sidney G. Winter, eds.). New York: Oxford University Press. 1991.
Fundamental of Business Strategy, Vol. 1, (Mie Augier and David J. Teece, eds.). London: SAGE Publications. 2007

"Equity, Opportunism, and the Design of Contractual Relations," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics/Zeitschrift fur die gesamte Staatswissenschaft, 144, February 1988, pp. 180-195.

"Institutional Choice and the Organization of Production: the Make-or-Buy Decision," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics/Zeitschrift fur die gesamte Staatswissenschaft, 142, September 1986, pp. 493-509.

"Efficient Adaptation in Long-Term Contracts: Take-or-Pay Provisions for Natural Gas" (with Keith J. Crocker), American Economic Review, 75, December 1985, pp. 1083-1093.

Reprinted in:
Transaction Cost Economics, (Oliver E. Williamson and Scott E. Masten, eds.). Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. 1995.
Case Studies in Contracting and Organization, (Scott E. Masten, ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. 1996.
The International Library of the New Institutional Economics, (Claude Menard, ed.), Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. 2004.

"The Organization of Production: Evidence from the Aerospace Industry," Journal of Law and Economics, 27, October 1984, pp. 403-417.

Reprinted in:
Transaction Cost Economics, (Oliver E. Williamson and Scott E. Masten, eds.), Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. 1995.
Case Studies in Contracting and Organization, (Scott E. Masten, ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. 1996.
The International Library of the New Institutional Economics, (Claude Menard, ed.), Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. 2004.

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Working Papers and Work in Progress:

"Post-Sale Service and the Limits of Reputation" (with Renata Kosova) (under review)

"The Evolution of University Governance: A Comparative Institutional Analysis"

"Nominal Terms, Real Intentions, and Contract Interpretation"

"The Determinants of Judicial Contract Enforcement Policies" (in progress)

The Organization and Governance of Higher Education (book manuscript, in progress).