ABSTRACT
The transaction cost approach to the study o I organizations covers issues ranging from varieties of organizational structure (Armour and Teece, 1978) to franchise contracting (Williamson, 1976). A transaction is the trans fer of goods or a service between technologically separate units (Williamson, 1981). and the analysis of transactions focuses on achieving efficiency in their administration. The analytical framework has two sides: first. the administrative mechanisms whose efficiency is at issue and second, the dimensions of transactions that determine how efficiently a particular administrative mechanism performs. Matching these sides ~f the problem is the critical task.
