Suchergebnisse

In a model with internal and external risks together with incentive problems, this paper investigates the role of a risky environment on contractual incompleteness. We consider a typical employment contract with an extra control option. This option is contractable ex ante, exercisable ex post, and good for incentives. But, the employer may choose not to have it in a contract. We identify some interesting circumstances under which the option is not in the optimal contract. Our main findings are that (1) external risks determine contractual incompleteness, and (2) a complete contract can better handle incentives, while an incomplete contract can better handle external risks. Hence, our analysis of incomplete contracts is somewhat consistent with Williamson's (1985) idea of low-powered incentives inside the firm and high-powered incentives outside the firm.

AbstractWe study the boundary of the firm with endogenous firm structure. The firm has two restructuring options: internal restructuring by which the firm centralizes or decentralizes decision making, or external restructuring by which the firm spins off a division. We investigate the firm's restructuring options to determine its boundary based on the optimal firm structure. Our conclusion depends on market uncertainty, market size, market competition, synergy among divisions, and coordination costs. We find that when market uncertainty rises, a decentralized firm (D‐firm) conducts internal restructuring, whereas a centralized firm (C‐firm) conducts external restructuring. A D‐firm chooses to stay put when market competition intensifies, whereas a C‐firm chooses to conduct either internal or external restructuring depending on whether a positive synergy exists among its divisions.