Cooperative behavior as well as other cultural rules and values are made explicit in organizational units that procure and provide a common service. The common service is procured by a club, which consists of a user-value function, a representation governance, and a budget-allocation function....

This paper gives a survey of insights into inter-firm alliances and networks for innovation, from a constructivist, interactionist perspective on knowledge, which leads to the notion of 'cognitive distance'.It looks at both the competence and the governance side of relationships.Given cognitive...

We investigate the determinants of decentralization and performance measurement choices in multidivisional firms.We extend the research on the economics of organizational design choices by examining the impact of two important determinants of those choices, namely, subunit interdependencies and...

This paper formalizes the difference between firms, nonprofits, and cooperatives and identifies optimal organizational choice. In a model of quality provision, we find a clear ranking of quality produced: Firms provide lowest and nonprofits highest levels of quality. Efficiency, however, depends...

This chapter reviews some key points in the analysis of trust, based on Nooteboom (2002)i.The following questions are addressed.What can we have trust in?What is the relation between trust and control?What are the sources of trust? And what are its limits?By what process is trust built up and...

This paper presents a principal-agent model where the agent has multiple, or imprecise, beliefs. We model this situation formally by assuming the agent's preferences are incomplete. One can interpret this multiplicity as an agent's limited knowledge of the surrounding environment. In this...

Trust is full of puzzle and paradox.Trust is both rational and emotional. Trust can go beyond calculative self-interest, but has its limits.People may want to trust, while they may also feel threatened by it.If trust is not in place prior to a relationship, on the basis of institutions, prior...

The neoclassical way to cope with firms providing services, or with clubs procuring services, is restricted by the lack of institutional features. An institutional approach is introduced that requires a cooperative governance to realize the potential value-production by firms, or to realize the...

In this article we provide an empirical illustration of hypotheses, developed in the literature, on the role of density and strength of ties in innovation networks.We study both exploration and exploitation networks in the Dutch multimedia and pharmaceutical biotechnology industry.We find...