Acknowledgments; Introduction: the wealth of three nations; Part I. Economic Institutions and Economic Performance: 1. Business organization and competitive advantage; 2. Institutional foundations of industrial dominance and decline; 3. Organizations and markets in capitalist development; Part II. Intellectual Foundations and Intellectual Constraints: 4. The theory and history of capitalist development; 5. The making of the market mentality; Part III. 'The Marvels of the Market' Versus 'The Visible Hand': 6. The innovative business organization and transaction cost theory; 7. Lending the economic institutions of capitalism a visible hand; Part IV. Overcoming Intellectual Constraints: 8. Business organization and economic theory; 9. Rigor and relevance in economics.

'Lazonick successfully marries economic theory to the history of technology and business organization … He then applies this blend of insights to contemporary issues of economic growth in Japan and relative decline in Britain and America. The result is a controversial but richly informative analysis - almost an intellectual hand grenade tossed into contemporary discussions. It is hard to think of another scholar who could match the combination of boldness, graceful writing, and intellectual challenge.' Thomas McCraw, Harvard University