Value and Transaction Costs: Building Bridges Between the Economics of Property Rights and Strategic Management

AbstractWe forge linkages between the economics of property rights (Coase, Demsetz,Cheung, Barzel) and strategic management. Property rights to resources consistof the rights to consume, obtain income from, and alienate these resources.Transaction costs are the costs of exchanging, protecting and capturing propertyrights. We clarify the key role of transaction costs with respect to understandingvalue creation and the limitations and opportunities of strategizing relative tocompetitive forces. The economics of property rights identifies new sources ofvalue creation (i.e., reducing the dissipation caused by transaction costs), andnew types of resources (i.e., capture and protection capabilities), clarifies the roleof contracting in the exercise of market power, and suggests that `strategizing'and `economizing' perspectives are related to a larger extent than is normallyrecognized. Refutable propositions are derived.