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This study aims to examine the double-edged effects of guanxi on opportunism and the moderating effects of legal enforceability and partner asset specificity. It thus differs from the current literature, which primarily focuses on the benevolent effects of guanxi.

Based on matched data collected from 268 sales manager and salesperson dyads, this study tested hypotheses using hierarchical regressions.

The empirical test supports the conceptual model and demonstrates two findings. First, guanxi between boundary spanners follows an inverted U-shaped relationship with inter-firm opportunism. Second, both the benefits and drawbacks of guanxi are stronger under the condition of low legal enforceability and high partner asset specificity.

The study did not untangle guanxi into different dimensions and did not investigate how firms should make trade-offs between the benefits and drawbacks of guanxi. Therefore, future research could further explore this question by using a multidimensional approach.

The study alerts managers that guanxi is a double-edged sword, so they should complement it with formal control mechanisms, particularly when they are operating in legally inefficient regions or when their partner firm’s asset specificity is high.

The study offers a more balanced view of guanxi by showing both its positive and negative effects on opportunism. It also uncovers legal enforceability and partner asset specificity as two boundary conditions that influence the curvilinear effects of guanxi on opportunism.

Building on transaction cost economics (TCE) and recent critique on international business (IB) research, we intend to sharpen our knowledge on the application of TCE in entry mode studies.

We develop a two-sided model of transaction costs by considering the multinational corporation (MNC) and the local partner.

Overall, we illustrate that the decisions firms undertake are not always in line with traditional MNC-centric TCE reasoning. Specifically, we identify three situations when “traditional” TCE predicts transaction costs lower than they actually are. Based on our findings we derive implications for future TCE studies.

Our study is among the first to highlight the relevance of potential partners’ transaction costs during market entry. Our model of dually impinged transaction costs is supposed to guide future research and can be of direct use to firms assessing costs of entry.

The purpose of this study is to investigate factors that influence the application of governance mechanism in family small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia.

This study used multiple regression analysis to examine the hypothesis. For data collection, questionnaires were distributed to 337 owners and managers of SMEs around 7 districts in Java Island in Indonesia.

The result indicates that uncertainty influences the application of formal governance in family SMEs in Indonesia. Meanwhile, asset specificity has impact on both formal and relational governance in the context of firms. Financial and non-financial objectives did not impact both formal and relational governance.

Though this research was carried out in a particular cultural context, this study was not specifically designed to examine the interaction between cultural variables and family corporate governance variables. In the future, there is need for a study that examines how culture can influence the practice of formal and relational governance in family business.

The study will give guidance to owners or managers of family business in terms of governance mechanism when uncertainty increases. This evidence suggests that family firms need to adopt formal governance within family firms when uncertainty exists.

The research finding indicated that uncertainty influenced the application of formal governance in family SMEs in Indonesia. This research finding suggests that family firms need to adopt formal governance when uncertainty exists. The adoption of formal governance, however, may implicate to some others organizational areas in family firms such as leadership, recruitment and selection and corporate culture.

This study is one of the few on family SMEs, which applied the transaction cost theory. Most of the studies use agency theory for investigating governance mechanism in the family business. This study is one of the few on family SMEs, which applied the transaction cost. This study provides an explanation about a factor that influences a family firm to choose formal and relational governance within the firm.

This paper aims to examine the opportunity for third-party logistics providers (3PLs) to develop further value-added services for their clients, focused on purchasing. The provider perspectives on third-party purchase (3PP) services are examined in conjunction with their business environment, with a survey informed by transaction cost economics.

New Zealand 3PL providers were surveyed, and 166 responses were received. Structural equation modeling was used to test the conceptual model.

From the perspective of 3PL providers, uncertainty, frequency and transaction size, but not asset specificity, are significantly associated with client value from a 3PP service. While asset specificity in investments is not required by 3PLs, they need a high frequency of orders, sufficient order size and low levels of uncertainty as supporting conditions for the development of 3PP services.

The sample focuses on 3PL providers and therefore does not address the behavioral characteristics of users or customers of the services.

This study shows that 3PP services may be further developed by 3PL providers to improve the value offered to their clients.

Although research on channel integration has evolved into a major stream in literature in international marketing, channel integration in new product export remains unexamined. Drawing on transaction cost analysis, organizational capability, and marketing control perspectives, the authors develop a conceptual model of channel integration in new product export. They further test the model using data collected from the computer software industry. The findings indicate that both channel integration and new product competitive advantage exert positive impacts on product market performance in foreign markets. The results regarding asset specificity, country risk, and firm size offer interesting insights about the linkage between these antecedents and channel integration.

The main purposes of the study are to: test the strategic alliance framework developed by Sambasivan et al. on the strategic alliances with suppliers and customers, separately; and compare the factors influencing strategic alliances with suppliers and customers based on the results. The present study analyzes the effect of strategic alliance motives, environment, asset specificity, perception of opportunistic behavior, interdependence between supply chain partners, and relational capital on strategic alliance outcomes.

A sample of 228 companies representing different industries in manufacturing in Malaysia participated in the study. The sampling frame used was Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers directory. A questionnaire was distributed to all the companies. The authors tested the structural model for 185 suppliers and 75 customers using structural equation modelling.

Based on the results, the key differences in the strategic alliances with suppliers and customers are: the relationship between environment and alliance motives is stronger for alliances with suppliers, the relationship between alliance motives and relational capital is significant for alliances with customers, the relationship between asset specificity and interdependence is significant for alliances with customers, the relationship between perception of opportunistic behaviour and relational capital is significant for alliances with customers, and the relationship between perception of opportunistic behaviour and interdependence is significant for alliances with suppliers.

The current study adds to the body of knowledge on strategic alliances. The results can help supply chain managers identify factors that influence the success of strategic alliances with suppliers and customers and develop strategies to enhance effective collaborative relationships between supply chain partners. The authors specify the limitations and directions for future research.

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing the transaction costs (TCs) in megaprojects to provide a basis for controlling project costs.

This study selects six factors influencing the TCs in megaprojects from the perspective of TC theory and relational contract theory (RCT) through literature review. On the basis of crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), this study tests combined factors influencing the TCs and the interaction between them.

Results show that in megaprojects, TCs are affected by combination factors. The combination of asset specificity, uncertainty, transaction frequency and trust and the combination of asset specificity, reputation and trust will control TCs in certain situations. In the configuration leading to high project TCs, the combination of environmental and behavioral uncertainties is a necessary condition.

This paper fills up the research gap in the field of megaproject TCs, and researchers can focus on this field in the future.

Discusses the question of whether a firm should set up an own‐account physical distribution organization or contract out the distribution function. Shows how the concepts of transaction cost economics, particularly asset specificity and performance ambiguity, can shed light on the division of responsibility for the physical distribution function between in‐house operations and outside contractors.

Prior studies have demonstrated the important role of coopetition in firms’ innovation. Based on the paradox perspective, this study aims to focus on technology transfer, the pre-innovation stage, to provide a supplementary understanding of the complementarity and contradictoriness of paradoxical coopetition, with the formal and informal governance mechanisms which are suitable with this understanding in coopetition.

This study conducted an original, multisource survey of 280 Chinese manufacturing firms. Hypotheses were tested through multiple regressions.

Coopetition has a positive impact on technology transfer between firms. Along with the increasing specificity of assets invested ex ante as a kind of formal governance mechanism, the relationship between coopetition and technology transfer becomes stronger. Meanwhile, inter-firm justice as an informal governance mechanism in the technology transfer process can be positively affected by coopetition between partners.

The study adds to the business-to-business coopetition literature on how to properly treat and use coopetition in technology transfer. Using the paradox perspective in the Chinese context, the findings emphasize the positive role of coopetition in the inter-firm technological exchange process, enriching the understanding of the complementary and contradictory features of paradoxical coopetition. To govern coopetitive relationships, the firms should also implement two fundamental governance mechanisms, that is, specialty asset and inter-firm justice.

This research provides a new perspective in explaining cardholders' willingness to use debit cards instead of cash by applying the transaction costs economic theory. This study also expands the adaptation of transaction cost economics theory in explaining consumer behaviour by investigating the moderating effects of income and education level on the relationship between perceived transaction costs and willingness to use debit cards.

The conceptual framework was developed primarily from the transaction cost economics theory. An in-depth interview method was employed to further support hypothesis development and the development of measurement scales. A structural equation model linking asset specificity, behavioural uncertainty, environmental uncertainty, frequency of payment, perceived monitoring costs, perceived adaptation costs and willingness to use debit cards was tested using data from a sample of 384 Vietnamese debit card holders.

This study's results support the transaction cost economics theory that asset specificity, uncertainty and frequency of payment all positively contribute to the perceived transaction costs associated with debit card usage. However, only environmental uncertainty and perceived adaptation costs have significant negative impact on willingness to use debit cards, with the relationship between environmental uncertainty and willingness to use debit cards being totally mediated by perceived adaptation costs. Moreover, the relationship between perceived adaptation costs and willingness to use debit cards becomes less negative among richer and better-educated cardholders.

The research provides insights into the hidden obstacles for developing cashless economies, thereby supporting policy makers in designing more effective and comprehensive strategies to make debit cards more widely used as a true substitute for cash.

This study provides a new lens in explaining customer willingness to use debit cards, while expanding the transaction costs economics theory by incorporating demographic factors as moderators in the relationship between transaction costs and the card-or-cash choice.