The 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics to Oliver E. Williamson: Recognition of the Influence of Transaction Cost Economics on Business Research

This article provides an introduction to the Journal of Retailing Special Issue dedicated to Oliver Williamson and transaction cost economics. The paper briefly outlines transaction cost economics contributions to marketing and related social sciences.     

交易费用、经济组织与治理机制——诺贝尔经济学奖得主奥利弗·威廉姆森的学术贡献和借鉴意义

奥利弗·威廉姆森教授是2009年度诺贝尔经济学奖得主之一,其学术贡献不只是对纵向一体化或企业边界问题的开创性研究,纵向一体化只是经济组织问题的一个特例。以制度、组织和治理为主线,对威廉姆森的学术生涯、知识谱系、代表性著作的回顾,揭示了他所提出的交易费用经济学的分析方法,特别是匹配交易活动与治理形式的契约关系有效治理的分析框架,具有更大的理论价值和广泛的适用性。此外,他把产业组织理论与交易费用分析融合在一起,对反垄断和规制等问题的研究成果也独具特色。其理论成果在经验检验、应用经济学和公共政策研究领域具有广阔的应用前景,跨学科研究方法具有借鉴意义。     

分布式创新、区域创新体系与区域分工

分布式创新以主导公司内部知识主体与外部知识主体共同构建知识网络,在保证人力资本的专用性和节省交易费用的前提下,对区域创新体系构建中微观主体发挥比较优势、进行有效知识资源配置有深远影响,对解决区域自主创新和区域分工演进的问题有借鉴意义。     

Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Size

Small and medium-sized firms form 90% of the worldwide population of businesses. However, it has been argued that given their smaller scale of operations, resource access constraints and lower visibility, smaller firms are less likely to participate in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. This article examines the different economic motivations of firms with varying combinations of visibility, resource access and scale of operations. Arguments are presented to propose that in terms of visibility, resource access and operating scale, very small and very large firms are equally motivated to participate in CSR. However, the motivational bases for CSR participation are likely to be different. Medium-sized firms are the least motivated. This suggests a U-shaped relationship between firm size and CSR participation. This study contributes towards resolution of the long-standing debate on the effects of firm size on CSR participation, and highlights the importance of considering configurations of firm characteristics in the study of CSR outcomes. In conclusion, cautions are raised against the broad categorization of firms, without adequate attention to the underlying dimensions of such categorizations. This study was supported by Academic Research Fund Grant no. R-313-000-069-112 from the Ministry of Education, Singapore.     

A comparison and critical assessment of Porat and Rubin's information economy and Wallis and North's transaction sector

This paper compares two approaches to the measurement of the resources devoted to the organisational task in the economy, i.e. Porat and Rubin's `information economy' and Wallis and North's `transaction sector'. While there have been a number of studies using the information economy approach, it seems to have made way to a narrower focus on the information technology economy in recent years. The quantitative measurement of the transaction sector, on the other hand, again focuses on the wider issues involved in information activities, e.g. organisational and institutional questions. However, it is only in its infancy. Being based on a well-known theory, i.e. transaction cost economics, it might attract attention from a larger number of economists than does the information economy approach. The paper points out similarities and shortcomings of both approaches and indicates areas for further research. ©1997 Elsevier Science B.V.     

Book Review Section

Books reviewed:
Richard Brealy, Stewart Myers, Graham Partington and David Robinson, Principles of Corporate Finance
M. Hutton and I. Ferrier, Tolleyy's UK Taxation of Trusts
John Irvine, Company Accounting Fundamentals
Alan Tyree and Andrea Beatty, The Law of Payment Systems
John Wanna, Joanne Kelly and John Forster, Managing Public Expenditure In Australia     

The Transaction Cost Economics of Market‐based Exchange: The Impact of Reputation and External Verification Agencies

In this analysis, we empirically investigate market‐based transaction costs. We measure market‐based transaction costs indirectly by examining variations in market prices when selling Morgan Silver Dollars on eBay. We find that the reputation of both the seller and the coin‐rating agency employed significantly influences the price premium obtained. Moreover, we find that the use of a coin‐rating agency with a poor reputation proved more damaging than the use of no coin‐rating agency. Thus, we find support for the suggestion that the reputation of sellers and third‐party verification agencies have a significant influence on perceived market‐based transaction costs.     

Marketing Period Risk in a Portfolio Context: Theory and Empirical Estimates from the UK Commercial Real Estate Market

The role of selling (or marketing) period uncertainty in understanding risk associated with property investment is examined in this paper. Using an approach developed by Lin (2004), and Lin and Vandell (2001, 2005), combined with a statistical model of UK commercial property transactions, we show that the ex ante level of risk exposure for a commercial real estate investor is around one and a half times that obtained from historical statistics. The risk related to marketing time uncertainty can be reduced by constructing a portfolio. We find that at least ten properties are necessary to reduce this risk, assuming independence between marketing period risk and price risk. These findings have important implications for mixed-asset portfolio allocation decisions.      

审计意见的决定因素：来自中国上市公司的证据

利用中国上市公司和相应会计师事务所2001—2003年的综列数据,本文研究了审计意见和会计师事务所规模、上市公司的风险和盈余管理等因素之间的关系。本文发现有破产风险的、进行盈余管理的或小规模的上市公司更可能得到非标准审计意见。如果它们又是大会计师事务所的客户,则得到非标意见的概率更大。本文不支持合资会计师事务所的审计质量更高的结论。     

基于交易成本的供应商选择研究

本文从交易成本的三个影响因素出发考虑如何在供应商选择过程中对交易成本进行定性和定量分析,并试图利用模糊综合评价方法建立基于交易成本控制的供应商选择模型。