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Opportunism

About: Opportunism is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2030 publications have been published within this topic receiving 97170 citations. The topic is also known as: opportunist.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present evidence on the nature of inter-firm relations in the UK engineering construction industry in the 1980s and 1990s and show that management contractors have so far predominantly adopted the low-trust route to improved performance.
Abstract: There is a growing body of literature that suggests that advanced economies are experiencing an economic restructuring such that the engines of economic development are smaller, more independent, firms acting in an increasingly cooperative manner. In assessing whether the UK economy is actually experiencing such a shift in inter-firm relations, the paper firstly assesses the existing evidence. This evidence suggests the continued dominance of large firms and only limited and uneven movements away from a low-trust system. Secondly, the paper presents evidence on the nature of inter-firm relations in the UK engineering construction industry in the 1980s and 1990s. the research shows considerable improvement in performance against schedule associated with the emergence of management contractors. Management contractors can improve performance either by adopting a high-trust route in which they seek to make overall efficiency gains by integrating design and construction, or by adopting a low-trust route in which they seek to reduce scope for opportunism by rigidifying design, and by passing on risk. Evidence is presented which shows that management contractors in the UK have so far predominantly adopted the low-trust route to improved performance. Cumulatively, the evidence suggests the dominance of the ‘top down’ control of inter-firm relations in the UK.

88 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the major rationales for P3s, including cost savings and keeping project financing off government budgets, and present a transaction cost model that suggests that public-private partnerships can often be prone to conflict, high contracting costs, opportunism and failure.
Abstract: Governments in many industrialized nations have made concerted efforts to reduce their immediate expenditures and to reduce the cost of major infrastructure projects. Public–private partnerships (P3s) are one emerging method that might do so. Despite the increased use of P3s, there is little independent research on the effectiveness of P3s as a public policy instrument. This article considers the major rationales for P3s, including cost savings and keeping project financing off government budgets. It then presents a transaction cost model that suggests that P3s can often be prone to conflict, high contracting costs, opportunism and failure. Evidence from six major infrastructure projects and a summary analysis of US prisons is then presented. These cases confirm that contracting costs have been high, as predicted by the model. Specifically, high contracting costs reflect the presence of complexity/uncertainty, asset specificity, the potential for ex post bilateral opportunism and a lack of contra...

88 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a simple test for supplier opportunism at the time of franchise renewal is employed to empirically analyze the terms of trade in a cross-sectional sample of recent cable franchise renewal contracts.
Abstract: Systematic empirical evidence has heretofore been lacking on the extent to which supplier opportunism at the time of contract renewal is a fundamental problem associated with franchise bidding schemes. At least for the case of local cable television distribution, this article suggests several theoretical reasons why bad behavior by an incumbent supplier may be the exception rather than the rule and a simple test for supplier opportunism at the time of franchise renewal. The simple test is employed to empirically analyze the terms of trade in a cross-sectional sample of recent cable franchise renewal contracts

88 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the role of relational governance in curbing opportunism in marketing channels and proposed that relational governance encompasses both relational norms and collaborative activities (i.e., joint planning and joint problem solving).

87 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present experimental evidence largely consistent with this theory of the interplay between formal and informal mechanisms in the determination of social mobility, showing that trust in general others (as opposed to trust in familiar people) reduces participants' perception of hazards in market exchanges and hence promotes transactions among strangers.
Abstract: When there are constantly new, valuable opportunities to transact with alternative partners — a situation we refer to as exchange value uncertainty — long-term or committed transactions among the same individuals are discouraged. But when opportunism creates exchange hazards, which escalate in non-recurring transactions, individuals will be reluctant to take full advantage of the gains from switching to more valuable partners, thereby leading to "overembedded" exchanges. Two mechanisms may encourage movement out of committed relationships in those conditions. First, formal contracts should serve as a safeguard to market participants, in the sense that they limit potential losses due to opportunistic behavior. Second, trust in general others (as opposed to trust in familiar people) reduces participants' perception of hazards in market exchanges and hence promotes transactions among strangers. By increasing the propensity to initiate new exchanges, general trust also diminishes the role of contracts in causing movement out of committed relationships. In this paper, we present experimental evidence largely consistent with this theory of the interplay between formal and informal mechanisms in the determination of social mobility.

86 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202398
2022182
202168
202097
201991
201871