Bundled Transaction of the Intellectual Property: AnExplanation for the Choice of Organizational Form in theIT Standard-Setting Environment

摘要

I develop an intellectual property (IP) transaction model to explain the choice of governance form in a specific IT standardsettingrnenvironment. The model proposes that the nature of the IT standard affects the organizational form but is mediated byrnthe transaction costs involved. This model is tested using the survey methodology. The data is collected from the keyrninformants involved in developing IT standards, and working in different organizational forms.rnThe model treats IT standards as made up of bundles of essential IP that are complementary, protected and distributedrnamongst multiple different entities. For example, IEEE802.11 standard is made up of about 100 essential patents, owned byrn91 different entities in 7 different countries. To specify an implementable IT standard requires permission of each of these IPrnowners. This makes transaction of IP, as a bundle, a necessary ingredient for the IT standard-setting.rnThe thesis identifies three different types of the transaction costs. Due to information asymmetry, legal protection, andrncomplementarities, there are search, coordination, and opportunism costs. These costs are influenced by the nature of the ITrnstandard like, complexity, industrial and geographical span, substitutability, status of the IP holder, and the contributors IPrnholding pattern. It is further proposed that different governance forms handle these costs differently and the choice of therngovernance form will depend on the forms ability to best mitigate these costs.