This article constructs a theory of the location of transactions and the boundaries of firms in a productive system. It proposes that systems of production can be viewed as networks, in which tasks-cum-agents are the nodes and transfersmdash;of material, energy and informationmdash;between tasks...

The mirroring hypothesis predicts that organizational ties within a project, firm, or group of firms (e.g. communication, collocation, employment) will correspond to the technical patterns of dependency in the work being performed. A thorough understanding of the phenomenon is difficult to...