Transaction Costs as Determinants of Vertical Coordination in the U.S. Food Industries
构建了一个包含市场、合同和所有权协调的纵向协调指数，并用计量分析验证了交易成本是推动美国食品产业采用非市场安排进行纵向协调的主要动机。
Abstract Vertical coordination is a more comprehensive concept than vertical integration, capturing market, contractual, and ownership coordination. Williamson suggests that transaction costs motivate the use of nonmarket arrangements to vertically coordinate production. This paper presents a vertical coordination index incorporating industry input‐output relationships and nonmarket arrangements. In an econometric analysis, the vertical coordination index is utilized to examine transaction cost effects on food industry vertical linkages. Empirical results support the hypothesis that transaction costs are a primary motivation to vertically coordinate via nonmarket arrangements. Results also suggest the vertical coordination index is more robust than traditional vertical integration measure.