The Coase±Williamson response to the question `̀ why do firms exist?'' is based on the idea that transaction costs in viable firms are lower than they would be if production was coordinated through the market. The explanatory focus of this argument is on the diminution of costs related to transactions between given individuals. However, this ignores the possibility of activities which are in pri...

Many real-life contract agreements actually involve negotiations in which both parties have some bargaining power. However, standard contract theory assumes that the principal holds all of the bargaining power. The literature has typically modeled that with a one-shot game in which the principal makes a take-it-or-leave-it offer to the agent. Then, the agent is only able to accept or reject the...

We study aspects of the accelerating cosmologies obtained from the compactification of vacuum solution and S2-branes of superstring/M theories. Parameter dependence of the resulting expansion of our universe and internal space is examined for all cases. We find that accelerated expansions are obtained also from spherical internal spaces, albeit the solution enters into contracting phase eventua...

This paper develops an integrative organizational economics framework explaining and predicting multinational firms’ managerial resource deployments based on resource-based, agency, and transaction costs theories. Our empirical findings suggest that the governance decision for managerial services of multinational firms is influenced not only by the comparative capabilities of managers, but also...

Financial contracting theories agree that more-liquid assets decrease the expected cost of external financing, thus making leasing more attractive and reducing lessors’ equilibrium return. However, the literature has ambiguous predictions about the effect of liquidity on the maturity of leases. These predictions are further complicated by the existence of two types of lease contracts—operating ...

It is argued that a change in the prevailing theory of production is also influencing how contracts, especially in construction, are being conceived. It is contended that the theoretical shift in question, both in production and contracting, concerns the metaphysical presuppositions of respective theories. This claim is further justified through a critical analysis of how risks and collaboratio...

This study examined the mentoring relationship as a context for the development of psychological contracts and investigated the obligations that mentors and protégés feel that they owe and are owed in the mentoring relationship. By using psychological contract theory, we develop new insights into the dynamics of the mentoring relationship and extend psychological contract research by applying t...

There is a well developed and useful theory of Hamiltonian reduction for semidirect products, which applies to examples such as the heavy top, compressible fluids and MHD, which are governed by Lie-Poisson type equations. In this paper we study the Lagrangian analogue of this process and link it with the general theory of Lagrangian reduction; that is the reduction of variational principles. Th...

Following major reforms of the British National Health Service (NHS) in 1990, the roles of purchasing and providing health services were separated, with the relationship between purchasers and providers governed by contracts. Using a mixed multinomial logit analysis, we show how this policy shift led to a selection of contracts that is consistent with the predictions of a simple model, based on...