Contract Formalization and Governance of Exporter–Importer Relationships
研究了出口商与进口商关系中合同作为治理机制的作用，分析了合同性质的前因及其对绩效的影响，帮助理解非市场交易也非层级控制的混合治理模式。
abstract Exporting relationships between manufacturers and foreign importers pose unique coordination problems because, on the one hand, transactions are recurrent and both firms make non‐trivial relationship‐specific investments, but at the same time, the exchange partners maintain separate legal entities with individual profit claims. This study examines the role of contracts as a governance mechanism in these relationships that are neither market‐based discrete transactions, nor can be governed through ownership‐based hierarchies. Drawing upon recent research on contract law and interorganizational relationships, we develop and empirically test a model that incorporates both the antecedents and performance implications of the nature of contract governing exporter–importer relationships.