Twin Brothers in Marshallian Thought: knowledge and organization

Abstract

Abstract: The development of Marshallian thought in the realm of business theory has con-tributed to the appearance of a new branch of economic theory: Industrial Organization, as pioneered by Stigler. This theory relies, to a large de¬gree, on the idea that a mutually beneficial relationship is produced in the indus¬trial environment between the creation of new information and the organizatio¬nal improvement of re¬lated firms. This symbiosis between knowledge and orga¬nization is the driving prin¬ciple behind the ‘industrial districts’ which Marshall announced a century ago, and is most re-cently embodied in the contemporary industrial clusters such as Silicon Valley. However, Marshall distances himself from his equilibrium model when dea¬ling with the issues of obtaining and ma¬naging information within the firm itself, creating a weak link in his own argu¬ment.