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Transaction
Costs
Commerce, Grundlagen, Strategien, Praxisbeispiele, Vahlen Verlag München,
1999
Transaction Costs / Transaktionskosten
One of Coase’s (1937) original propositions was that firms and markets are
alternative governance structures that differ in their transactions costs. Under
certain conditions the cost of organizing an exchange in a market exceeds
the cost of coordinating the exchange in a firm. Transaction costs, in
this context, consist of ex ante and ex post costs. In the market the ex ante
costs include the expense of searching for a trading partner, specifying the
product(s) to be traded and - most importantly - negotiating the price and
contract. The ex post transaction costs are incurred after the contract has
been signed but before the entire transaction has been completed. These
include late delivery, non-delivery or non-payment and - most importantly -
problems of quality control (Casson 1987).
Williamson added substantial precision to Coase’s argument by identifying
the types of exchanges better conducted within the boundaries of a firm
than within a market (e.g. Williamson 1975; 1986; 1991). Williamson suggests
that transaction costs include both the direct costs of the transaction
and the possible opportunity costs of infe-rior governance decisions. His
framework rests on two main assumptions about human behavior (bounded
rationality in a complex world and opportunism) and two key dimensions of a
transaction (asset specificity, and uncertainty). The theory further recognizes
that the operation of a market is not without cost as is assumed in
classical economic theory. The firm then becomes a substitute for the market
mechanism - created
to reduce transaction costs.
Sources:
Casson 1987: Casson M.C.,
The Firm and the Market: Studies in Multinational Enterprise and the Scope
of the Firm, Cambridge MA: Press, 1987, reprinted in Casson M.C
(ed.), Critical Writings in Economics - The Theory of the Firm, 72,
Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 1996.
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Coase 1937: Coase R.H., "The Nature of the Firm", Economica, 4 (13-16),
November 1937, pp. 386-405.
Williamson 1975: Williamson O.E.,
Markets and Hierarchies - Analysis and Antitrust Implications, New York:
The Free Press, 1975.
Williamson 1991: Williamson O.E.,
"Comparative Economic Organization: The Analysis of Discrete Structural
Alternatives", Administrative Science Quarterly, 36 (2), June 1991, pp. 269-
296.
Value Web Value Web
Wertschöpfungsnetz
1. Geschäftsverkehr
Die Firma, oder allgemeiner: der wirtschaftliche Agent (Mensch, Organisation,
Maschine) tauscht Informationen und Güter oder Leistungen über
Plattformen, d.h. Medien, mit anderen Agenten aus. Diese Austauschprozesse
bilden die Wertschöpfungskette (Value Chain). Das Bild
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