THE NETWORK AS KNOWLEDGE: GENERATIVE RULES AND THE EMERGENCE OF STRUCTURE

摘要

The imputation problem is how to account for the sources of the value of the firm. I propose that part of the value of the firm derives from its participation in a network that emerges from the oepration of generative rules that instruct the decision to cooperate. Whereas the value of firm-level capabilities is coincidental with the firm as the unit of accural, ownership claims to the value of coordination in a network pit firms potentially in opposition with one another. We awnalyze the work on network structure to suggest two tpyes of mechanisms by which rents are distributed. This approach is applied to an analysis of the Toyota Production System to show how a network emerged, the rents were divided to support network capabilities, and capabilities were transferred to the United States.