It has often been suggested that the trade-off between equity and efficiency can be overcome by achieving both goals sequentially. This article shows how the government of President Lula has tried to follow the latter, by first emphasizing economic orthodoxy, to be followed by measures to...

Organization theory suggests that various forms of performance ambiguity have governance implications for the strategic choice of control mechanism in organizational forms (e.g., Eisenhardt, 1985; Ouchi, 1979). Transaction costs theory emphasizes asset specificity as an important predictor of...

Consider two manufacturers, each producing a single substitutable product. In any geographical area, there are two retail outlets through which the products are sold to the end consumers. Each of the two retail outlets could be privately owned (i.e. a franchised outlet) or owned by the...

This paper maintains that the consistent application of subjectivism helps to reconcile contemporary entrepreneurship theory with strategic management research in general, and the resource-based view in particular. The paper synthesizes theoretical insights from Austrian economics and Penrose's...

This paper examines the effects of Information Technology (IT) on the governance structure of vertically-related firms that are applying IT in search of competitive advantage via superior efficiency. By adopting transaction costs and resource-based perspectives on IT and governance, this paper...

We develop a subjectivist theory of entrepreneurship that focuses on individuals, their knowledge, resources and skills, and the processes of discovery and creativity, which constitute the heart of entrepreneurship. First, we establish the fundamental importance of subjectivity in...

The US multinational United Fruit Company has been considered the quintessential representative of American imperialism in Central America. Not only did the company enjoy enormous privileges in that region, but also counted on authoritarian governments in dealing with labor unrest. The...

In this paper, we investigate the use of horizontal distribution alliances (HDAs) in the international airline industry. Airlines enter these alliances to effectively meet the needs of passengers in new and expanding markets. We apply transaction cost analysis (TCA) to develop a conceptual...