Part I is made up of contributions which consider the multinational enterprise from the perspective of transactions cost theory. Casson emphasises the costs of collecting and disseminating information. This focus derives directly from Coase. However, Casson is not content merely to contrast the market with the firm but wishes to predict the circumstances in which alternative types of firm-centralised or decentralised, autocratic or consult-ative-will emerge. He develops a model of internal organisation, analyses its properties and explores its implications for the multinational firm.