Economizing in a Context of Strategizing: Governance Mode Choice in Cournot Competition

Abstract This paper builds on JEL classification: D21; D23; L22 Keywords: Transaction cost economics; Organization; Strategy Economizing and strategizing in Cournot competition Williamson has categorized economic approaches to strategy as either strategizing, which appeals to a market power perspective, or economizing, which is principally concerned with organizational efficiency. Of the two, Williamson (1991, p.75) "aver[s] that . . . economizing is much the more fundamental." Teece et al. (1997, p.513) echo this view by arguing that the game-theoretic strategic conflict approach "ignores competition as a process involving the development, accumulation, combination, and protection of unique skills and capabilities," which they believe is central to building a long-run competitive advantage. Collectively, * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1314-935-6046; fax: +1-314-935-6359 E-mail address: [email protected] (J.A. Nickerson) 0167-2681/99/$ -see front matter ©1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 7 -2 6 8 1 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 3 9 -