Coase [1937] first explained the existence of firms and the boundaries between them as an emergent solution to minimizing the costs of accessing markets – what Williamson [1975] later termed 'transaction costs.' Over time, innovations in management control and changes to legal structures have...

Using an unusually comprehensive database on 858 transactions for information technology products and accompanying services, we study how close partners who are exposed to opportunistic hazards structure and control a significant transaction. We analyze data on the terms of contracting to...

Research in consumer psychology shows that customers seek reasons for service failures and that attributions of blame moderate the effects of failure on the level of customer satisfaction. This paper extends research on service operations failures by hypothesizing that attributions of blame also...