In this dissertation, the governance or organizational form of interfirm alliances are studied. Existing theories and empirical works on interfirm alliances recognizes the vast variety of interfirm arrangements formed in todays business. However, few deal with these different arrangements in a systematic fashion. In this dissertation, this issue is handled by first developing a model of organization based on transaction costs framework. A central goal of this model is to demonstrate that Coasian conception of organization is amenable to the framework of the logic of choice. Introducing two elementary concepts of organizations, substitution and expansion, the degree of vertical integration of organizational governance is endogenously determined.;The model is then empirically tested by using data on collaborative arrangements struck between U.S. and Japanese firms in several high technology industries. Several firm and industry specific characteristics are employed to determine the degree of vertical integration of alliance forms. The empirical findings are consistent with the conjectures that the degree of vertical integration of alliance forms increases when (1) the technical area is a growing or a maturing as opposed to an emerging technical area, (2) the regime of appropriability is weak, (3) firms decide to undertake joint R&D in the course of the alliance, (4) the technological capabilities of the alliance partners are similar, (5) the direction of product/knowledge flow is reciprocal and not unidirectional, (6) when at least one of the alliance partners is a small firm and a joint R&D decision was taken.;Finally, an empirical link between alliance formation in high technology areas and bi-lateral trade flow is established. The analyses involved all U.S.-Japanese alliances formed in the semiconductor, computer/communications and automobiles industries, in 1988 and 1989. Based on detailed trade data for 1990, 1991, and 1992, the interaction among flow direction, technical area and the administrative form of the alliance was significant on the level of U.S. net exports to Japan in these three technical areas.
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