A Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis of Williamson’s Transaction Costs of Supply Chain Management

サプライチェーン・マネジメントにおけるウィリアムソンの取引費用論の総括とメタ分析

Abstract

This study intends to assess the application of transaction cost economics in the cross disciplinary study involving supply chain management, specifically how transaction cost attributes are related to the governance issues of supply chains. Research synthesis and meta-analysis are selected as the method to perform hypothesis testing and analysis. A total of 63 eligible studies with combined sample size of 23,561 are meta-analyzed. The findings for this study confirm the proposition that transaction costs are positively related to the governance of supply chain in its three attribute measures: asset specificity, uncertainty and transaction frequency. Further observations show that transaction costs vary in the various dimensions of supply chain organizations. Transaction specific technological assets are related to the study of supply chain management and transaction costs are found to be relevant in the manufacturing industry where supply chains are traditionally defined. This study provides evidence of research feasibility in continuing research in supply chain management devising the theory of transaction cost economics. Practically, this study informs supply chain managers in the deployment of efficient supply chain mode of governance in terms of vertical integration, outsourcing and inter-firm coordination. This research is original and pioneer in the cross examination of transaction cost economics of supply chain management.

Keywords: Transaction cost economics, Supply chain management, Governance, Meta-analysis, Research synthesis.