Introducing ‘Economics and Management of Networks’

Abstract

The design and management of networks, such as alliances, franchising chains, cooperatives, joint ventures, venture capital relations and virtual organizations, have become very important research topics in the field of organizational economics and management in the last decade (Hendrikse 2003; Nooteboom 1999; Grandori 2004; Baker et al. 2004; Windsperger et al. 2004; Blair and Lafontaine 2005; Robinson 2005). The second international conference on Economics and Management of Networks (EMNet) took place at the Corvinus University Budapest from September 15 to September 17, 2005. EMNet-conferences serve in promoting communication among researchers in economics and management of networks and should provide a forum to present current research and to discuss issues of common interest, such as relevant developments in organizational economics and management. A selection of theoretical and empirical papers from areas in economics and management of franchising, strategic alliances and cooperatives are published in this book. The current trend in economics and management of networks is twofold: On the one hand, there is a strong tendency toward theoretical approaches developed in economics and management, such as property rights theory, agency theory, signalling theory, screening theory, transaction costs theory, resource-based and organizational capability theory, social exchange theory, tapered integration theory and population ecology theory. On the other hand, there is also a strong tendency toward the application of new research methods, such as agent-based modelling, cointegration analysis, data envelopment analysis, case study methods, time series studies as well as survival analysis. Starting from this status of research the current book has two aims: First, the book emphasizes research in economics and management of networks as a theorydriven field by offering new theoretical perspectives on governance structure issues in franchising, alliances, venture capital relations and cooperatives. Second,