Proprietary versus internet technologies and the adoption and impact of electronic marketplaces

摘要

This paper addresses the decreasing importance of asset-specific investments and the consequences for governance of the adoption of electronic marketplace. It is argued that due to the changing technological characteristics, asset-specific investments are no longer as high as they were before, and hence allow for a more rapid adoption and a more relational type of exchanges of governance mechanisms. The authors provide a set of propositions concerning the impact that the antecedents of electronic marketplace formation and adoption will have on governance consequences.