IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v65y2012i7p1031-1039.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Incentives, opportunism and behavioral uncertainty in electricity industries

Author

Listed:
  • Niesten, Eva
  • Jolink, Albert

Abstract

Many theories on the economics of the firm assume that economic actors are opportunistic. The focus of these theories is on the mitigation of the uncertainty that economic actors may behave opportunistically, and on the ability of contracts and governance structures to reduce this behavioral uncertainty. Previous studies did not analyze the properties of behavioral uncertainty in detail, nor did they emphasize the empirical verification of behavioral uncertainty with revealed opportunistic behavior. This article addresses both of these lacunae in the literature by focusing on incentive alignment between parties to information transactions and on empirical proof of opportunistic behavior. When a context aligns incentives, contracting parties do not behave opportunistically. When a context does not align incentives, contracting parties strategically distort or disguise information. A study of 239 regulatory decisions on dispute resolutions and enforcements of energy laws in the Dutch and French electricity industries confirms these propositions.

Suggested Citation

  • Niesten, Eva & Jolink, Albert, 2012. "Incentives, opportunism and behavioral uncertainty in electricity industries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(7), pages 1031-1039.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:65:y:2012:i:7:p:1031-1039
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.03.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014829631100107X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.03.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bianchi, Constanza C. & Saleh, Md. Abu, 2011. "Antecedents of importer relationship performance in Latin America," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 258-265, March.
    2. Liu, Yi & Li, Yuan & Zhang, Leinan, 2010. "Control mechanisms across a buyer-supplier relationship quality matrix," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 3-12, January.
    3. Gassenheimer, Jule B. & Baucus, David B. & Baucus, Melissa S., 1996. "Cooperative arrangements among entrepreneurs: An analysis of opportunism and communication in franchise structures," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 67-79, May.
    4. Rodolphe Durand & Vicente Vargas, 2003. "Ownership, organization and private firm's efficient use of resources," Post-Print hal-02311662, HAL.
    5. Deligonul, Seyda & Kim, Daekwan & Roath, Anthony S. & Cavusgil, Erin, 2006. "The Achilles' heel of an enduring relationship: Appropriation of rents between a manufacturer and its foreign distributor," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(7), pages 802-810, July.
    6. Rodolphe Durand & Vicente Vargas, 2003. "Ownership, organization, and private firms' efficient use of resources," Post-Print hal-00480849, HAL.
    7. Buvik, Arnt & Reve, Torger, 2001. "Asymmetrical deployment of specific assets and contractual safeguarding in industrial purchasing relationships," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 101-113, February.
    8. Rodolphe Durand & Vicente Vargas, 2003. "Ownership, organization, and private firms' efficient use of resources," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(7), pages 667-675, July.
    9. Keld Laursen & Volker Mahnke, 2001. "Knowledge Strategies, Firm Types, and Complementarity in Human-Resource Practices," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-27, March.
    10. Macher, Jeffrey T. & Richman, Barak D., 2008. "Transaction Cost Economics: An Assessment of Empirical Research in the Social Sciences," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 1-63, April.
    11. Macher Jeffrey T & Richman Barak D, 2008. "Transaction Cost Economics: An Assessment of Empirical Research in the Social Sciences," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-65, May.
    12. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    13. Erin Anderson, 1985. "The Salesperson as Outside Agent or Employee: A Transaction Cost Analysis," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 4(3), pages 234-254.
    14. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
    15. Claycomb, Cindy & Frankwick, Gary L., 2005. "The dynamics of buyers' perceived costs during a relationship development process: an empirical assessment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(12), pages 1662-1671, December.
    16. Oliver E. Williamson, 2000. "The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 595-613, September.
    17. Sollner, Albrecht, 1999. "Asymmetrical Commitment in Business Relationships," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 219-233, November.
    18. William M. Dugger, 1996. "The Mechanisms of Governance," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 1212-1216, December.
    19. Williamson, Oliver E, 1983. "Credible Commitments: Using Hostages to Support Exchange," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(4), pages 519-540, September.
    20. Hart, Oliver, 1995. "Firms, Contracts, and Financial Structure," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198288817.
    21. Anderson, Erin, 1988. "Transaction costs as determinants of opportunism in integrated and independent sales forces," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 247-264, April.
    22. De Vita, Glauco & Tekaya, Arafet & Wang, Catherine L., 2010. "Asset specificity's impact on outsourcing relationship performance: A disaggregated analysis by buyer-supplier asset specificity dimensions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(7), pages 657-666, July.
    23. Lui, Steven S. & Wong, Yin-yee & Liu, Weiping, 2009. "Asset specificity roles in interfirm cooperation: Reducing opportunistic behavior or increasing cooperative behavior?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(11), pages 1214-1219, November.
    24. Rodolphe Durand & Vicente Vargas, 2003. "Ownership, Organization, and Private Firm's efficient use of resources," Post-Print hal-00699294, HAL.
    25. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    26. Mohammed Rawwas & Ziad Swaidan & Jamal Al-Khatib, 2006. "Does Religion Matter? A Comparison Study of the Ethical Beliefs of Marketing Students of Religious and Secular Universities in Japan," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 69-86, April.
    27. John, George & Weitz, Barton A, 1988. "Forward Integration into Distribution: An Empirical Test of Transaction Cost Analysis," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 337-355, Fall.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lo Nigro, Giovanna, 2016. "The effect of early or late R&D inbound alliance on innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1791-1795.
    2. Miao Li & Luluo Peng & Guijun Zhuang, 2020. "Sales Control Systems and Salesperson Commitment: The Moderating Role of Behavior Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Guangbin Wang & Yingxia Xue & Mirosław Jan Skibniewski & Jiule Song & Hao Lu, 2018. "Analysis of Private Investors Conduct Strategies by Governments Supervising Public-Private Partnership Projects in the New Media Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-26, December.
    4. Kang, Bohyeon & Jindal, Rupinder P., 2015. "Opportunism in buyer–seller relationships: Some unexplored antecedents," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 735-742.
    5. Bhattacharya, Ananya & Singh, Prakash J. & Nand, Alka Ashwini, 2015. "Antecedents of buyer opportunistic behavior in outsourcing relationships," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 258-268.
    6. Eva Niesten & Albert Jolink, 2014. "Absence of a market in the Dutch balancing mechanism: European rules versus specific investments," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 71-90, August.
    7. Liu, Steven Y.H. & Napier, Elizabeth & Runfola, Andrea & Cavusgil, S. Tamer, 2020. "MNE-NGO partnerships for sustainability and social responsibility in the global fast-fashion industry: A loose-coupling perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    8. Yang, Defeng & Sheng, Shibin & Wu, Shuilong & Zhou, Kevin Zheng, 2018. "Suppressing partner opportunism in emerging markets: Contextualizing institutional forces in supply chain management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 1-13.
    9. Koo, JaSeung & Yamanoi, Junichi & Sakano, Tomoaki, 2020. "Acquisition announcements and stock market valuations of acquiring firms’ alliance partners: A transaction cost perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 129-140.
    10. Stefan, Ioana & Hurmelinna-Laukkanen, Pia & Vanhaverbeke, Wim & Oikarinen, Eeva-Liisa, 2022. "The dark side of open innovation: Individual affective responses as hidden tolls of the paradox of openness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 360-373.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Williamson, Oliver E., 2010. "Transaction Cost Economics: The Natural Progression," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 215-226.
    2. Delbufalo, Emanuela, 2021. "Asset specificity and relationship performance: A meta-analysis over three decades," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 105-121.
    3. Christian Balcells, 2022. "Determinants of firm boundaries and organizational performance: an empirical investigation of the Chilean truck market," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 423-461, April.
    4. Aric Rindfleisch & Kersi Antia & Janet Bercovitz & James Brown & Joseph Cannon & Stephen Carson & Mrinal Ghosh & Susan Helper & Diana Robertson & Kenneth Wathne, 2010. "Transaction costs, opportunism, and governance: Contextual considerations and future research opportunities," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 211-222, September.
    5. Mahamoud, Ismael, 2008. "Contraintes institutionnelles et règlementaires et le secteur informel à Djibouti [Institutional and regulatory constraints and the informal sector in Djibouti]," MPRA Paper 48886, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Richard Carter, 2012. "Transaction Cost Empirical Work," Chapters, in: Michael Dietrich & Jackie Krafft (ed.), Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Kim, Jongwook & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2008. "A Strategic Theory of the Firm as a Nexus of Incomplete Contracts: A Property Rights Approach," Working Papers 08-0108, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    8. Sabri Boubaker & Riadh Manita & Wael Rouatbi, 2021. "Large shareholders, control contestability and firm productive efficiency," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 296(1), pages 591-614, January.
    9. Mike Peng & Yi Jiang, 2006. "Family Ownership And Control In Large Firms: The Good, The Bad, The Irrelevant ??? And Why," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp840, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    10. Williamson, Oliver, 2009. "The Theory of the Firm as Governance Structure: From Choice to Contract," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 6, pages 111-134, December.
    11. Minh, Thanh Nguyen & Quang, Tuyen Tran, 2022. "The effects of corporate social responsibility on firm efficiency: Inside the matrix of corporate finance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    12. Hanousek, Jan & Kočenda, Evžen & Shamshur, Anastasiya, 2015. "Corporate efficiency in Europe," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 24-40.
    13. Mikko Ketokivi & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2020. "Transaction Cost Economics As a Theory of Supply Chain Efficiency," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(4), pages 1011-1031, April.
    14. Bhattacharya, Ananya & Singh, Prakash J. & Nand, Alka Ashwini, 2015. "Antecedents of buyer opportunistic behavior in outsourcing relationships," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 258-268.
    15. Aric Rindfleisch, 2020. "Transaction cost theory: past, present and future," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 10(1), pages 85-97, June.
    16. Robert Gibbons, 2010. "Transaction‐Cost Economics: Past, Present, and Future?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 112(2), pages 263-288, June.
    17. Kutlu, Levent & Nair-Reichert, Usha, 2022. "Executive compensation and the potential for additional efficiency gains: Evidence from the Indian manufacturing sector," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    18. Peter G. Klein, 2010. "Vertical Integration," Chapters, in: Peter G. Klein & Michael E. Sykuta (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Transaction Cost Economics, chapter 17, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Mark Casson & Nigel Wadeson, 2012. "Internationalisation Theory," Chapters, in: Michael Dietrich & Jackie Krafft (ed.), Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm, chapter 15, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Francine Lafontaine & Margaret Slade, 2007. "Vertical Integration and Firm Boundaries: The Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(3), pages 629-685, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:65:y:2012:i:7:p:1031-1039. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.