This paper analyzes the effects of international openness on vertical integration decisions. A simple model is presented to represent the asset specificity problem at the heart of many industrial organization economists’ analysis of vertical integration. It suggests that there is a kind of...

This paper involves an economic theory of the degree of formality in industrial procurement. The argument is based on a tension between two procurement goals: imposing cost discipline on the supplier, and creating the conditions for cooperative innovation. In this model, a contract can solve the...