Changing Boundaries of the Firm

Massimo G. Colombo is Full Professor of Applied Economics at the Università di Pavia. He is also Professor of Economics of Technical Change at the Politecnico di Milano. He is the author of numerous publications in the fields of industrial economics, economics of innovation and the theory of the firm in established international journals.

• Preface 1 Some introductory reflections PART I Alliance capitalism? 2 Reappraising the eclectic paradigm in an age of alliance capitalism 3 On knowledge and power in the theory of the firm 4 Blurring boundaries: new inter-firm relationships and the emergence of networked, knowledge-based oligopolies PART II Joint ventures, alliances, and hierarchical integration 5 The evolution of collaborative activity in the firm 6 Testing theories of joint ventures: Why Japanese investors in the United States choose joint ventures over acquisitions 7 A simultaneous equations model of technological agreements and infra-mural R&D 8 Technological change and vertical integration: Analysis of international vertical integration in multinational companies PART III Supply relations 9 Cost, quality, and learning based governance of buyer-supplier relations 10 Japanese ‘transplant’ supplier relations: are they transferable? Should they be? 11 Customer-subcontractor relationships