This chapter synthesizes the theoretical ideas developed earlier in the book. The goal is construct a unified causal framework for the labor-managed firm and show how it can explain the empirical facts from chapters 6-7. The foundation of the theory is the proposition that capital is alienable while labor is not. This distinction acts in concert with market imperfections to determine organizational form. Four major implications of the alienability distinction are identified, involving control transactions; control group composition; stocks and flows; and the roles of capital and labor suppliers in the production process. Together with various market imperfections such as informational asymmetries, incomplete markets, and a lack of commitment devices, these factors lead to appropriation problems, public good problems, and opportunism problems that limit the prevalence of LMFs. On the other hand, the direct participation of workers in production tends to give LMFs a productivity advantage. In addition to the general rarity of LMFs, the theory can account for a number of other patterns involving the behavior, performance, and design of such firms.