ABSTRACT
A trend from sim pler toward longer-term and more active ties is discernible in the development of economic relations at the enter prise level. There has been a movement from the short-term , tra ditional trading transactions, concluded by a purchasing agreement, d eliveries of goods, and payment, through the various forms (de scribed in Chapter 3) of functional inter firm East-W est cooperative undertakings that bring the partners together on a contractual basis in long-term reciprocal activ ities, to the most developed form, the joint venture [1 ],
In all functional types of cooperation the particular activ ities per formed are coordinated by the agreement, but they are not totally integrated with one another. Stipulated quantities of goods and se r vices are, simultaneously or with som e lapse of time (e.g., after the venture has begun operation), repaid wholly or partly by counter deliveries of goods and serv ices. In all these form s the partners are associated contractually with one another for a specified tim e interval without losing their own legal and economic identity. Apart from the mutual commitments specified in the contract, the partners remain independent of one another; each is liable only for its own firm , and the profits or lo sses of the other are not its concern.
