This article provides an empirical assessment of payment schemes implemented in technology licensing agreements. We propose that differences in payment schemes reflect the ex ante measurement costs and the ex post contractual hazards existing in such agreements. We argue that such costs evolve...

Legal frameworks, especially in Europe, encourage private participation and competition in the management of public services. However, many local public authorities concentrate the various services they have in charge in the hands of a single operator, leading to horizontal integration which a...

In this paper, we use a large database of more than 3,700 strategic relationships in force between French firms in 2003 to study the way they govern their relationships combining both relational and formal elements. We argue that these two dimensions might be complements or substitutes depending...

In many countries, governments are pushing for the introduction of competition in the organization of public services and more broadly in public procurement. The development of public-private partnerships throughout the world is a good illustration of this trend. In order to foster competition,...

Using an original database concerning 1637 French local public authorities in 2001, we explore the relationships between prices charged by private operators in water contracts and ex post competition. We show that prices charged in contracts, in which operators are in a monopoly situation...

Using an original database concerning 1637 French local public authorities in 2001, we explore the relationships between prices charged by private operators in water contracts and ex post competition. We show that prices charged in contracts, in which operators are in a monopoly situation...

This paper investigates a new dataset of franchise networks in nine countries in order to assess whether and to what extent do institutions influence the practice of franchising. Our regressions relate the structure of franchise networks (the rate of franchised units as opposed to corporate...

In this paper we present the main developments of the theories of the firm rooted in Coase's [Coase, R.H., 1937. The nature of the firm. Economica, New Series 4, 386-405] seminal article.We show that the two important topics of the nature and boundaries of the firm, as well as the internal...

Governments have largely turned to public-private partnerships (PPPs) to manage public services. Although it is difficult to analyze PPPs as discrete and alternative forms of public service organization, they all constitute some forms of partial outsourcing of activities that contribute to the...

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the link between the corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication efforts of companies and their ability to obtain public procurement contracts. Design/methodology/approach - The authors are exploiting a database with the number of public procurement...