We consider a partnership game with two roles in which a large population of firms interact to carry out, say, R&D joint ventures. The partners have to build a common-property asset through a sequence of costly investments. Firms have access to a monitoring technology whose cost depends on the...

This research examines the recent growth of contract use in the USA and European agro-food sector where asset specificity is not a dominant concern and secondary markets exist. It sheds light on the neglected capabilities of a contract to transmit buyer-specific information, obtain secondary...

We study the effect of alleviating information asymmetry regarding product quality that is widespread in developing-country agricultural markets. Opportunistic buyers may underreport quality levels back to farmers to reduce the price they have to pay. In response, farmers may curb investment,...

In emerging markets for high-value food products in developing countries, processing companies search for efficient ways to source raw material of consistent quality. One widely embraced approach is contract farming. But relatively little is known about the appropriate design of contracts,...

The role of inter-enterprise relationships in European pig meat, beef and cereals chains is analysed. Using survey data from 1,442 farmers, processors and retailers in six countries, the empirical relevance of several factors potentially influencing the choice of contract types and the...

How quickly do firms respond to new institutions? Romanian survey data permits investigation of this question, using variables summarizing firms' strategies on transactional governance. These variables are regressed on the factors that should determine efficient behavior according to standard...