Private ordering of public processes: How contracts structure participatory processes in urban development in Amsterdam and Hamburg

The use of contracts to achieve public goals has been gaining traction since the 1980s. In this article, I investigate the implications of the increased use of private law instruments for participatory democracy. This study starts with problematising the notion of contracts and proposes a conceptual model to study contractual relations in participatory processes. Next, through a detailed description of two case studies in Amsterdam and Hamburg, I show the consequences of contractual governance for participatory democracy in urban development. Namely, the interests of commercial parties and government agencies are incorporated in contracts, whereas the interests of residents are incorporated in non-legal agreements. This has four implications for our understanding of participatory democracy and urban politics. First, the arena of public decision making has shifted from public meetings to contractual negotiations. Second, contracts are not set in stone. Mobilisation by residents can influence, adjust and politicise agreements. However, third, residents need to be able to mobilise and negotiate. This creates new boundaries between residents who are able to make deals and those who are excluded. Lastly, investigating how contracts transform urban politics should take a broad view on how contractual relations are formed and focus on both non-legal and contractual agreements.

Leveraging interorganizational governance for bridging responses to supply chain disruptions: a polynomial regression analysis

PurposeDrawing on the transactional cost economics (TCE) perspective, we aim to investigate the effects of the balance and imbalance between contractual and relational governance on a firm's bridging responses to supply chain disruptions. By adopting the institutionally contingent perspective, we further examine the moderating effect of cultural distance on the relationship between governance mechanisms and bridging responses.Design/methodology/approachBased on data collected from 183 firms in China, we use polynomial regression and response surface analyses to test our research model.FindingsThe bridging responses increase along with an increasing balance level between contractual and relational governance and decrease along with an increasing imbalance level between contractual and relational governance. Moreover, the positive effect of balance between contractual and relational governance is strengthened by a large cultural distance. We also find that a large cultural distance amplifies the negative effect of the combination of high relational governance and low contractual governance yet weakens that of the combination of high contractual governance and low relational governance.Originality/valueOur study provides nuanced insights into the effects of the balance and imbalance between contractual and relational governance on bridging responses and into the cultural boundary conditions under which these effects vary.

Closeness or opportunistic behavior? Mediating the business ecosystem governance mechanisms and coordination relationship

PurposeBusiness ecosystem is described as a web of loose relationships, thereby posing some challenges to coordination. In attempt to ensure coordination in business relationships, scholars have proposed relational and contractual governance mechanisms. Hence, this study aims to examine the effects of governance mechanisms on coordination in the pharmaceutical business ecosystem (BE), with the potential mediating effects of closeness and opportunistic behavior.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted quantitative approach with cross-sectional survey research design to collect data from the business ecosystem of pharmaceutical company X in Ghana. A structured questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale was employed to collect data. Analysis was based on 173 institutions (both local and international) selected from pharmaceutical BE. Various validity and reliability checks were conducted before the presentation of the actual analysis, which was conducted using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression in Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS).FindingsThe results of the study revealed that both relational and contractual governance have a direct positive effect on coordination between pharmaceutical BE members and the focal firm. The effect of contractual governance on coordination is however, partially mediated by opportunistic behavior. Finally, closeness also fully mediated the effect of relational governance on coordination.Originality/valueThe study builds on the governance mechanisms in exchange relationship, which was hitherto largely limited to the dyadic and triadic business network, partnerships and strategic alliances studies. The contribution to BE literature provides further understanding into transaction cost economics and relational exchange theory, which was dominantly applied in dyadic relationships ties such as partnerships, alliances and networks.

Human Capital and Eco-Contractual Governance in Small Farms in Poland: Simultaneous Confirmatory Factor Analysis with Ordinal Variables

Human capital (HC) plays an important role in modern agriculture. The difference in efficiency of assets explains only about a half of the economic performance of agricultural farms, while the other half relies on HC. Although education and training are the main components of HC, it may also be viewed from the perspective of behavioral theories that were taken under consideration in this study. The role of HC in sustainable farming has not been sufficiently explained when it comes to contractual governance (CG). In this study, the meaning of contractual governance was extended and the eco-contractual governance (ECG) concept was proposed, which stands for CG induced by agri-environmental contracts. The main objective of the article is to confirm the latent concepts of HC and ECG and to verify their correlation in view of the standards imposed by the agricultural policy. To achieve this goal, a structural equation model was developed and simultaneous confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal variables was carried out based on the sample of 674 small farms in Poland. The analysis has confirmed a relatively strong correlation between HC and ECG. It was revealed that training plays a crucial role in this relationship, while economic dependence on agricultural policy weakens the effectiveness of both HC and ECG.

A conceptual framework for effective contracting in construction supply chains

Construction supply chains are characterised by lack of trust and poor collaboration due to the short-term, project-based organisational structure of the construction industry. The lack of collaboration and trust among construction supply chain stakeholders affects the transparency and exchange of information, as well as the efficiency of the supply chain. Existing literature has shown that collaboration problems can be overcome through better integration, partnering and contractual governance. The latter requires some form of compatibility analysis and matching between the stakeholder profile and the appropriate contract type. This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework that will assist General Contractors in dealing with the complicated relationships and risks in construction supply chains through effective contracting. The methodology employed for the purposes of our analysis is based on constructive literature review, qualitative correlation of existing research and combination of concepts drawn from the fields of construction supply chain management and stakeholder analysis. The construction supply chain is viewed as a network of stakeholders organised around a General Contractor. Borrowing principles and tools from Stakeholder Analysis, a matching mechanism is developed with the aim to facilitate General Contractors in determining the suitable contract type for different profiles of construction supply chain stakeholders. The main conclusion of this paper is that stakeholder theory and contractual management can be effectively used to tackle opportunism and its negative impacts on construction supply chains.

Governance Mechanism and Structural Power Fit: Evidence from an Information System Development Project

This study identifies how relational and contractual governance mechanisms differently influence the distinct output of information systems development (ISD) performance at the project level. This study also reveals how the consequence of two modes of inter-organizational relationships (IOR) governance mechanism is affected by the gap of a dyadic partner’s centrality within the network — the client’s structural power (CSP). We collected dyadic samples of clients and vendors for 107 ISD projects and explored their governance mechanisms and project performances, all of which were evaluated by both parties. Our results first reveal a positive relationship between relational (or contractual) governance and qualitative (or quantitative) performance, respectively, but not vice versa. Second, the results incorporating a structural position within the network reveal that CSP facilitates the efficacy of relational governance to lead the quantitative performance, but surprisingly, CSP also mitigates the efficacy of contractual governance.