Cooperation, Opportunism, and the Invisible Hand: Implications for Transaction Cost Theory

Abstract

Transaction cost theorists have generally neglected to consider the implications that the invisible hand of the market mechanism can have for the risk of opportunism. In the long run, the invisible hand deletes actors whose behaviors are habitually opportunistic. Consequently, as markets move toward the state of competitive equilibrium, the risk of opportunism will be low, even for transactions supported by specific asset investments. Therefore, in many contexts the transaction cost rationale for internalization has been overstated.