There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

The author systematically examines one of the important issues of information — establishing the market price. He introduces the concept of «search» — where a buyer wanting to get a better price, is forced to question sellers. The article deals with various aspects of finding the necessary information.

Economics of Information

Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity

We examine how social capital dimensions of networks affect the transfer of knowledge between network members. We distinguish among three common network types: intracorporate networks, strategic alliances, and industrial districts. Using a social capital framework, we identify structural, cognitive, and relational dimensions for the three network types. We then link these social capital dimensions to the conditions that facilitate knowledge transfer. In doing so, we propose a set of conditions that promote knowledge transfer for the different network types.

Social Capital, Networks, and Knowledge Transfer

The 2008 crash has left all the established economic doctrines - equilibrium models, real business cycles, disequilibria models - in disarray. Part of the problem is due to Smith’s "veil of ignorance": individuals unknowingly pursue society’s interest and, as a result, have no clue as to the macroeconomic effects of their actions: witness the Keynes and Leontief multipliers, the concept of value added, fiat money, Engel’s law and technical progress, to name but a few of the macrofoundations of microeconomics. A good viewpoint to take bearings anew lies in comparing the post-Great Depression institutions with those emerging from Thatcher and Reagan’s economic policies: deregulation, exogenous vs. endoge- nous money, shadow banking vs. Volcker’s Rule. Very simply, the banks, whose lending determined deposits after Roosevelt, and were a public service became private enterprises whose deposits determine lending. These underlay the great moderation preceding 2006, and the subsequent crash.

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism

This paper reports on a longitudinal case study of the interaction between two partners to a failed international joint venture. We develop a model of the collaboration process in partnership and alliances based on earlier work by Ring and Van de Ven (1994) and by Doz (1996). We employ a series of events that occurred in the course of the relationship as the unit of analysis in order to trace the interactions between the partners, and to explicate the impact that external shocks have on their perceptions of efficiency and equity. The impact of these events, as well as the responses they elicit, on the quality of the relationship (and vice versa) are also considered. We find that the partners' assessments cause them to either engage in renegotiation of the terms of the contract, or to modify their behavior unilaterally, in an attempt to restore balance to the relationship. The process feeds back until a new mutual understanding of equity is restored, or else the relationship deteriorates gradually until a point when the venture is dissolved. We conclude that positive feedback loops are critical in the evolutionary process, that relationship quality is both an outcome and a mediating variable, and that procedural issues are critical from the start in fostering a climate for positive reinforcement and the building of mutual trust and confidence in the relationship.

/pdf/learning-from-failure-towards-an-evolutionary-model-of-4wnz5uyra7.pdf

Learning From Failure: Towards An Evolutionary Model of Collaborative Ventures

In contrast to prior studies examining strategic alliances as discrete governance structures (e.g., alliances vs. MA rather, repeat collaborators are less likely to adopt contractual provisions that are informational in nature and are geared to the coordination of the alliance. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

https://www.webssa.net/files/reuer2007.pdf

Strategic alliance contracts: dimensions and determinants of contractual complexity

Management scholars have often argued that "trust" plays a key role in economic exchanges, particularly when one or another party is subject to the risk of opportunistic behavior and incomplete monitoring or when problems due to moral hazard or asymmetric information arise. These conditions are almost always present in the case of corporate alliances and joint ventures. However, one attribute of relationships—"relational quality"—is fundamental to the maintenance of good working conditions in two-party alliances where past experience and the shadow of the future play important roles. Relying on a growing body of theory and a number of case studies, the authors develop a framework for thinking about trust in dynamic and practical terms. They also provide recommendations for managing relational quality in alliances as a strategy for enhancing value.

/pdf/relational-quality-managing-trust-in-corporate-alliances-42rcgpn1kx.pdf

Relational Quality: Managing Trust in Corporate Alliances

This study evaluates the construct validity of measures of the performance of strategic alliances in 34 equity strategic alliances (SAs) and 45 contractual SAs. We discuss the content validity of existing measures in the light of current concepts of SA performance. Empirical results show that the fulfilment of strategic goals, and other organizational effectiveness measures of SA performance – such as overall performance satisfaction and net spillover effects – capture different underlying factors. The latter two measures display convergent validity. The results also support the discriminant validity of these two measures with respect to contractual changes and survival, but not with respect to longevity. Building on our findings, we propose an expanded definition of SA performance that considers both outcome and process performance.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057%2Fpalgrave.jibs.8400005.pdf

Africa Ariño

Papers

Learning From Failure: Towards An Evolutionary Model of Collaborative Ventures

Strategic alliance contracts: dimensions and determinants of contractual complexity

Relational Quality: Managing Trust in Corporate Alliances

Measures of strategic alliance performance: an analysis of construct validity

Contractual Renegotiations in Strategic Alliances