Lai, L W C (2000) The Coasian market-firm dichotomy and subcontracting in the construction industry. Construction Management and Economics, 18(3), pp. 355-362. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
This is a contribution to the debate on the contractual nature of subcontracting in the construction industry by arguing, contrary to certain views in the literature on institutional and construction economics, that the Coasian firm-market dichotomy is not blurred or pointless. By reference to the type and number of contracts, the study offers a way to distinguish the firm from the market as well as the precise nature of subcontracting in terms of such distinction. Subcontracting is shown to be a nexus of Coasian firms interacting through the main contractor with a monopsony consumer in a Coasian market.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ambiguity of the firm; coasian firm; coasian market; subcontracting; transaction costs |
| Index terms: | construction economics, transaction cost, construction industry, subcontracting, main contractor |
| Subjects: | industry analysis, financial analysis, practitioner, organization |
| Topics: | Supply Chain Management, Roles and Professions, Cost Management, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here