Relationship Duration and Returns to Brokerage in the Staffing Sector

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bidwell, Matthew; Fernandez-Mateo, Isabel
• 署名单位: University of Pennsylvania; University of London; London Business School
• 刊物名称: ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7039
• DOI: 10.1287/orsc.1090.0509
• 发表日期: 2010
• 页码: 1141-1158
• 关键词: brokerage; triads; Long-term relationships; temporary employment

摘要

We examine how long-term relationships affect brokers' returns, using project-level pricing data from an information technology staffing firm. We argue that long-term relationships between brokers and their counterparties affect both acquisition of private information and bargaining power, helping brokers to create and capture economic value. The results show that the staffing firm is able to charge a higher price and capture a higher proportion of that price when it has a long-term relationship with the worker. We also show that the staffing firm's ability to generate returns from its relationships is constrained when the brokered parties (worker and client firm) have a long-term relationship with each other. We discuss the implications of these findings for the study of market brokerage and long-term exchange relationships.