Commerce depends on buyers and sellers fulfilling their contractual obligations; mechanisms inducing such performance are essential to well-functioning markets. Internet-enabled reputation mechanisms that collect and disseminate consumer feedback have emerged as prominent means for inducing...

As search costs and other coordination costs decline, theory predictsthat firms should optimally increase the number of suppliers with whichthey do business. Despite recent declines in these costs due toinformation technology, there is little evidence of an increase in thenumber of suppliers...

Information systems can serve as intermediaries between the buyers andthe sellers in a market, creating an "electronic marketplace"that lowers the buyers' cost to acquire information about seller pricesand product offerings. As a result, electronic marketplaces reduce theinefficiencies caused by...

Organizations are transforming their relationships with their businesspartners. For example, instead of playing off dozens or even hundreds ofcompeting suppliers against each other, many firms are finding it moreprofitable to work closely with only a small number of"partners". While these firms...