Reading Edith Penrose through the eyes of a labour economist

Franck Bailly () and Benjamin Dubrion ()
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Franck Bailly: LASTA - Laboratoire d'Analyse des Sociétés, Transformations et Adaptations - UNIROUEN - Université de Rouen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université
Benjamin Dubrion: TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - IEP Lyon - Sciences Po Lyon - Institut d'études politiques de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: Penrose's book, The Theory of the Growth of the Firm has had considerable influence in academia. Nevertheless, it seems to have attracted little attention from labour economists. We argue that Penrose has something original to say about labour. The originality of her point of view is that she analyses labour productivity as being dependent on both the firm conceived as an organisation and on the representations or beliefs of the economic actors. This positioning gives rise to a particular conception of human resource management policies. It also gives rise to an understanding of work as a transformative activity for individuals.

Keywords: Penrose; labour; productivity; human resources; representations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-02-14
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Published in European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 2025, Published online: 14 Feb 2025, pp.1-25. ⟨10.1080/09672567.2025.2460219⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04952754

DOI: 10.1080/09672567.2025.2460219

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