The concept of “vertical architecture” defines the scope of a firm and the extent to which it is open to final and intermediate markets. A firm can make or buy inputs, and transfer outputs downstream or sell them. Permeable vertical architectures are partly integrated and partly open to the...

This paper provides an integrative analysis of the drivers of vertical scope, using analytical and computational methods. I propose a model with two vertical segments (upstream and downstream), with firm populations that have heterogeneous capabilities, and an intermediate market subject to...

The issue of who benefits from innovation is a complex one. The answer is notalways the innovator. It may be other firms that are needed to get an innovationto market (complementary assets), or even those who produce imitations andadapted versions of the original innovation.For the innovator the...

Using a novel database containing the time-series details of the organizational structure of individual bank holding companies, this paper presents the first population-wide study of the transformation in business scope of U.S. banks. Expanding scope has a negative impact on performance on...