Pomiar kosztów transakcyjnych – różne podejścia i perspektywa badawcza
Measurement of Transaction Costs – Different Approaches and Research Perspective

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to present various approaches to measuring transaction costs at both micro- and macroeconomic levels, and a proposal for the direction of integrating research in this field. The study of transaction costs conducted since the 1970s brought a number of inspiring conclusions regarding the role of such costs in the economy, indicating their key importance in the efficiency of operations of economic agents. The wide variety of research approaches and methods used is the reason for both criticism and a limited dissemination and application of the concept of transaction costs and related agency costs or transfer of property rights. The analysis of the presented approaches indicates various definitions of transaction costs, various research methods using qualitative and quantitative variables, and relying in most cases on the existing system of cost accounting in enterprises that does not explicitly take into account transaction costs. The result is that the aggregation of transaction costs at the mezzo- and macroeconomic levels raises many doubts about the credibility of their estimates. This was also emphasized by D.C. North in his research based on historical data. The conclusions from his research on transaction costs conducted for many years prompted the author to propose an integration approach that identifies transaction costs at the micro level using qualitative and quantitative methods, accepting as a subject of research relationships between economic agents acting in a specific transaction and institutional environment.

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