Prague Economic Papers 2000, 9(4) | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.91

A note on coase versus pigou: institutionalism versus interventionism

Chris Coeck

A sharp distinction can be observed between A. C. Pigou and R. Coase regarding the solution of externality problems. Pigou advocated government intervention to solve externality problems whereas Coase remained sceptical about the efficiency and efficacy of intervention procedures and mechanisms. However, a much broader perspective should be adopted and the significance of different elements and building blocks of the scientific work of both authors has to be included in the analysis.
This note attempts to concentrate on the existing differences between A. C. Pigou and R. Coase, by relying upon the original contributions of these authors. As a result of the observed divergence between both theories, a focus on the difference between institutionalism and interventionism is instrumental to this article.

Keywords: externalities, government intervention, Pigou, Coase

Published: January 1, 2000  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Coeck, C. (2000). A note on coase versus pigou: institutionalism versus interventionism. Prague Economic Papers, 9(4), . doi: 10.18267/j.pep.91
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)

    • This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY NC ND 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content