STRATEGIC ALLIANCE STRUCTURING - A GAME-THEORETIC AND TRANSACTION COST EXAMINATION OF INTERFIRM COOPERATION

Maintaining robust cooperation in interfirm strategic alliances poses special problems. Such relationships have received growing attention i n recent research grounded in game theory, which has suggested that so me alliance structures are inherently more likely than others to be as sociated with high opportunity to cheat, high behavioral uncertainty, and poor stability, longevity, and performance. The present study merg ed these theoretical insights with the logic of transaction cost econo mics in a general model of alliance structuring and tested it with dat a from ill interfirm alliances. Findings generally supported the model and hypotheses, suggesting the need for a greater focus on game theor etic structural dimensions and institutional responses to perceived op portunism in the study of voluntary interfirm cooperation.