Why do firms both make and buy? An investigation of concurrent sourcing
调查了小型制造企业，发现企业同时自制和外购同一产品是一种独立选择，而非介于自制与外购之间的连续状态，并验证了交易成本、新古典经济学和企业能力理论的解释力。
Abstract Transaction cost economics, neoclassical economics, and the firm capabilities literatures propose theories of the firm that typically depict firm boundaries determined by a dichotomous choice: the make or buy decision. However, none of these theories presents a satisfying explanation as to why firms would concurrently source, i.e., simultaneously make and buy the same good. This study combines these organizational economics theories and compares when firms make, buy, and concurrently source through surveying small manufacturing firms. Support was shown for aspects of all three theories, with evidence indicating that concurrent sourcing is a distinctly different choice, rather existing along a make/buy continuum. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.