The Use of Collaborative Interfirm Contracts in the Presence of Task and Demand Uncertainty

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Krishnan, Ranjani; Miller, Fabienne; Sedatole, Karen
• 署名单位: Michigan State University; Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• 刊物名称: CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0823-9150
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1911-3846.2011.01124.x
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 1397-+
• 关键词: TRANSACTION-COST ECONOMICS; INTERORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS; Supplier relationships; RELATIONAL GOVERNANCE; STRATEGIC ALLIANCES; management control; performance; trust; RISK; COORDINATION

摘要

This study uses insights from agency theory and transaction cost economics to examine inter-firm contracts. Specifically, we posit that uncertainty arising from either the nature of the task or from the demand environment is associated with firms incorporating their intent to collaborate in customer-supplier contracts. Task and demand uncertainty increase the influence of uncontrollable factors on performance, thereby making expected performance difficult to determine. This decreases the ability of firms to use performance measures for control purposes, leading to greater contractual incompleteness and increased risk of opportunistic behavior by the contracting parties. We argue that firms aim to protect themselves from opportunism by making greater use of collaborative contracts. Empirical analyses using data from 87 contracts between a leading supplier of electronics manufacturing services and its customers indicate that both task and demand uncertainty are associated with greater use of collaborative contracts. Our study suggests that task and demand uncertainty have implications for the design of contracts between firms.