羅納德.寇斯在〈廠商的本質〉一文中以交易成本的概念解釋了廠商為何會選 擇以自製或採購的方式取得生產所需的投入,然而該文在〈社會成本的問題〉 發表前卻一直不受重視。本文從方法論的角度出發,認為 Coase (1937, 1960)缺 乏對於交易成本的操作性論述,以至於經濟學者難以從其作品衍生實證研究, 而奧利弗.威廉森透過操作化交易成本提供檢驗該命題的理論架構,進而衍生 許多實證研究。此外,筆者進一步檢驗交易成本理論對於自製與採購決策的實 證研究,發現資產專用性的定義分歧導致在建構其測量變數時無法充分反映理 論定義的內涵。甚者,交易成本理論面臨了不充分決定論的問題,其核心命題 能夠以其他競爭理論的觀點去解釋,以至於這類實證無法充分決定交易成本理 論的可信度,這些結果可作為未來交易成本理論實證應加強的方向。

In his seminar paper “The Nature of the Firms”, Ronald Coase explains that the boundary of the firms is determined by transaction cost. However, the influence of this paper was not recognized until the publication of “The Problem of Social Cost”. This thesis addresses the lack of operationalization in transaction cost is the reason why this “The Nature of the Firms” was “much cited, but little use”. With operationalizing transaction cost, Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), established by Oliver. E. Williamson, has been successful in inspiring empirical examinations on TCE. Moreover, this thesis examines the empirical works of TCE, and finds that the concept of asset specificity is so ambiguous that the construct of asset specificity, which used in these empirical works, cannot reflect all meaning in TCE. Moreover, these empirical works suffer from the problem of underdetermination. The core proposition tested in these works can be explained well by different competing the theory of the firms, which weakens the plausibility of TCE’s explanation.

第一章、緒論
1.1 研究動機............................................................................1
1.2 簡介..................................................................................1
第二章、交易成本的概念形成與操作化
2.1 交易成本概念來源與演變....................................................4
2.2 科學理論的操作化與操作主義.............................................8
2.3 寇斯的理論架構與交易成本的操作性分析............................13
2.4 簡介交易成本經濟學........................................................ 23
2.5 威廉森的交易成本操作化...................................................35
第三章、操作化與測量:以交易成本經濟學的實證研究為例
3.1 交易成本經濟學,一個實證成功的故事?.................................41
3.2 操作化交易成本理論—以垂直整合問題為例.........................45
第四章、結論......................................................................... 63
參考文獻.................................................................................66
附錄.......................................................................................73

Alchian, A. A. (1965). Some Economics of Property Rights. Il Politico 30(4), 816-829.
Alchian, A., and Demsetz, H. (1972). Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization. The American Economic Review, 62(5), 777-795. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1815199
Anderson, E. (1985). The Sales Person as Outside Agent or Employee: a Transaction Cost Analysis. Marketing Science, 4(3), 234–254.
Anderson, E., and Schmittlein, D. C. (1984). Integration of the SalesForce: An Empirical Examination. The RAND Journal of Eco- nomics,15(3), 385-395.
Anderson, E., and Weitz, B. (1992). The use of pledges to build and sus- tain commitment in distribution channels. Journal of Marketing Research, 29(1), 18–34.
Argyres, N. (1998). Capabilities, Technological Diversification and Divi- sionalization. Strategic Management Journal, 17(5), 395-410.
Barzel, Y. and Kochin, L. A. (1992). Ronald Coase on the Nature of So- cial Cost as a Key to the Problem of the Firm. The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 94(1), 19-31.
Baumol, W. J. (1952). The Transactions Demand for Cash: An Inventory Theoretic Approach. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 66(4), 545-556.
Blaug, M. (1980). The Methodology of Economics, or, How economists explain. Cambridge England New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521294379.
Bridgman, P. (1927). The Logic of Modern Physics. New York. MacMil- lan Press.
Carter, R., and Hodgson, G. M. (2006). The Impact of Empirical Tests of Transaction Cost Economics on the Debate on the Nature of the Firm’, Strategic Management Journal, 27(5), May, pp. 461-476.
Caves, R. E., and Bradburd, R. M. (1988). The Empirical Determinants of Vertical Integration. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organi- zation, 9(3), 265-279.
66
Cheung, S. N. S. (1969). The theory of share tenancy: With special ap- plication to Asian agriculture and the first phase of Taiwan land reform. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Coase, R. H. (1937). The Nature of the Firm. Economica, 4(16), 386- 405.
Coase, R. H. (1960). The Problem of Social Cost. The Journal of Law and Economics, 3, 1-44.
Coase, R. H. (1972). Industrial Organization: A Proposal for Research.
Policy Issues and Research Opportunities in Industrial Organiza- tion (Victor R. Fuchs ed., National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, 1972).
Coase, R. H. (1988). The Nature of the Firm, 1. Origin 2. Meaning, 3. Influence. The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 4(1), reprinted in Oliver E. Williamson and Sidney G. Winter, eds., The Nature of the Firm. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Cohen, J. (1995). Samuelson's operationalist-descriptivist thesis. Journal of Economic Methodology, 2(1), 53-78. doi:10.1080/13501789500000003
Coles, J. W., and Hesterly, W. S. (1998). The impact of firm-specific as- sets and the interaction of uncertainty: an examination of make or buy decisions in public and private hospitals. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 36(3), 383-409.
Combs, J. G., and David J. Ketchen, J. (1999). Explaining interfirm co- operation and performance: toward a reconciliation of predictions from the resource-based view and organizational economics. Strate- gic Management Journal, 20(9), 867-888.
Commons, J. R. (1932). Problem of Correlating Law Economics and Eth- ics. Wisconsin Law Review, 8(1), 3-26.
Crook, T. R., Combs, J. G., Ketchen, D. J. and Aguinis, H. (2012). Or- ganizing Around Transaction Costs: What Have We Learned and Where Do We Go from Here? Academy of Management Perspec- tives, 27(1), 63-79. doi:10.5465/amp.2012.0008
David, R. J., and Han, S. K. (2004). A systematic assessment of the em- pirical support for transaction cost economics. Strategic Management Journal, 25(1), 39-58.
Demsetz, H. (1964). The Exchange and Enforcement of Property Rights. The Journal of Law & Economics, 7, 11-26. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/724917
67
Everaert, P., Sarens, G., and Rommel, J. (2010). Using Transaction Cost Economics to explain outsourcing of accounting. Small Business Economics, 35(1), 93-112. doi:10.1007/sl
Foss, K., and Foss, N. J. (2004). The Next Step in the Evolution of the RBV: Integration with Transaction Cost Economics. Management Revu, 15(1), 107-121.
Frank, S. D., and Henderson, D. R. (1992). Transaction Costs as Deter- minants of Vertical Coordination in the U.S. Food Industries. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 74(4), 941-950.
Gatignon, H., and Anderson, E. (1988). The Multinational Corporation's Degree of Control over Foreign Subsidiaries: An Empirical Test of a Transaction Cost Explanation. Journal of Law, Economics, and Or- ganization, 4(2), 305-336.
Geyskens, I., Steenkamp, J.-B. E. M., and Kumar, N. (2006). Make, Buy, or Ally: A Transaction Cost Theory Meta-Analysis. The Academy of Management Journal, 49(3), 519-543.
Grant, R. M. (1991). The Resource-Based Theory of Competitive Ad- vantage: Implications for Strategy Formulation. California management review, 33(3), 114-135.
Hands, D. W. (2004). On Operationalisms and Economics. Journal of Economic Issues, 38(4), 953-968.
Heide, J. B., and John G. (1990). Alliances in Industrial Purchasing: The Determinants of Joint Action in Buyer-Supplier Relationships. Jour- nal of Marketing Research, 27(1), 24–36.
Hicks, J. R. (1935). A Suggestion for Simplifying the Theory of Money. Economica, 2(5), 1-19.
Hobbs, J. E. (1997). Measuring the Importance of Transaction Costs in Cattle Marketing. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 79(4), 1083-1095.
Hoetker, G. (2005). How Much You Know versus How Well I Know You: Selecting a Supplier for a Technically Innovative Component. Stra- tegic Management Journal, 26(1), 75-96. doi:10.1002/smj.453
Hoover, K. D. (1994). Econometrics as Observation: the Lucas Critique and the Nature of Econometric Inference. Journal of Economic Methodology, 1(1), 65–80.
Jacobides, M. G., and Hitt, L. M. (2005). Losing Sight of the Forest for the Trees? Productive Capabilities and Gains from Trade as Drivers
68
of Vertical Scope. Strategic Management Journal, 26(13), 1209-
1227. doi:10.1002/smj.501
Jensen, J. B., and Rothwell, G. S. (1998). Transaction costs, Regulation,
and Subcontracting at Nuclear Power Plants. Journal of Economic
Behavior and Organization, 36(3), 369-381.
John, G., and Weitz, B. A. (1988). Forward Integration into Distribution:
An Empirical Test of Transaction Cost Analysis. Journal of Law,
Economics, and Organization, 4(2), 337-355.
Joskow, P. L. (1987). Contract duration and relationship- specific invest-
ments: empirical evidence from coal markets. American Economic
Review, 77(1),168–185.
Klaes, M. (2000). The History of the Concept of Transaction Costs: Ne-
glected Aspects. Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 22(2),
191-216.
Klaes, M. (2001). The Birth of the Concept of Transaction costs: Issues
and Controversies. Industrial and Corporate Change, 9(4), 567-
593.
Knight, F. H. (1921). Risk, Uncertainty and Profit. University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign's Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership Historical Research Reference in Entrepreneurship. Available at SSRN:http://ssrn.com/abstract=1496192
Koopmans, T. C. (1957). Three Essays on the State of Economic Science. New York. McGraw-Hill.
Lajili, K., Barry, P. J., Sonka, S. T., and Mahoney, J. T. (1997). Farmers' Preferences for Crop Contracts. Journal of Agricultural and Re- source Economics, 22(2), 264-280.
Leiblein, M. J., and Miller, D. J. (2003). An Empirical Examination of Transaction- and Firm-Level Influences on the Vertical Boundaries of the Firm. Strategic Management Journal, 24(9), 839-859. doi:10.1002/smj.340
Levy, D. T. (1985). The Transactions Cost Approach to Vertical Integra- tion: An Empirical Examination. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 67(3), 438-445.
Lieberman, M. B. (1991). Determinants of Vertical Intergration:An Em- pirical Test. Journal of Industrial Economics, 39(5), 451-466.
Lyons, B. R. (1995). Specific Investment, Economies of Scale, and the Make-Or-Buy Decision: A Test of Transaction Cost Theory. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 26(3), 431-443.
69
Macher, J. T., and Richman, B. D. (2008). Transaction Cost Economics: An Assessment of Empirical Research in the Social Sciences. Busi- ness and Politics, 10(1), 1469-3569. doi:10.2202/1469-3569.1210
Majumdar, S. K., and Ramaswamy, V. (1994). Explaining Downstream Integration. Managerial and Decision Economics, 15(2), 119-129.
Marschak, J. (1950). Rational Behavior, Uncertain Prospects, and Meas- urable Utility. Econometrica, 18(2), 111-141. doi:1. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1907264 doi:1
Masten, S. E. (1984). The Organization of Production: Evidence from the Aerospace Industry. The Journal of Law and Economics, 27(2), 403- 417.
Masten, S. E. (1996). Empirical Research in Transaction Cost Econom- ics: Challenges, Progress, Directions. In J. Groenewegen (Ed.), Transaction Cost Economics and Beyond (pp. 43-64). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
Masten, S. E., Meehan, J. W., and Snyder, E. A. (1989). Vertical Integra- tion in the U.S. Auto Industry: A Note on the Influence of Transaction Specific Assets. Journal of Economic Behavior and Or- ganization, 12(2), 265-273.
Masten, S. E., Meehan, J. W., and Snyder, E. A. (1991). The Costs of Or- ganization. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 7(1), 1- 25.
Monteverde, K. (1995). Technical Dialog As an Incentive for Vertical In- tegration in the Semiconductor Industry. Management Science, 41(10), 1624-1638.
Monteverde, K., and Teece, D. J. (1982). Supplier Switching Costs and Vertical Integration in the Automobile Industry. The Bell Journal of Economics, 13(1), 206-213.
Peteraf, M. A. (1993). The Cornerstones of Competitive Advantage: A Resource-Based View. Strategic Management Journal, 14(3), 179- 191.
Pigou, Arthur C. The Economics of Welfare. (1932). Library of Econom- ics and Liberty. Retrieved April 17, 2016 from the World Wide Web: http://www.econlib.org/library/NPDBooks/Pigou/pgEW.html
Poppo, L., and Zenger, T. (1998). Testing Alternative Theories of the Firm: Transaction cost, Knowledge-based, and Measurement Expla- nations for Make-Or-Buy Decisions in Information Services. Strategic Management Journal, 19(9), 853-877.
70
Regan, L. (1997). Vertical Integration in the Property-Liability Insurance Industry: A Transaction Cost Approach. The Journal of Risk and In- surance, 64(1), 41-62.
Reiss, J. (2001). Natural economic quantities and their measurement. Journal of Economic Methodology, 8(2), 287-311. doi:10.1080/13501780110047327
Samuelson, P. A. (1947). Foundations of Economic Analysis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Schilling, M. A., and Steensma, H. K. (2002). Disentangling the Theories of Firm Boundaries: A Path Model and Empirical Test. Organization Science, 13(4), 387-401.
Simon, H. A. (1991). Organizations and Markets. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(2), 25-44.
Smith, A. (1904). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Edwin Cannan, ed. Library of Economics and Liberty. Re- trieved April 29, 2016 from the World Wide Web: http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN1.html
Tobin, J. (1956). The Interest-Elasticity of Transactions Demand For Cash. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 38(3), 241-247.
Tsang, E. W. K. (2000). Transaction Cost and Resource-Based Explana- tions of Joint Ventures: A Comparison and Synthesis. Organization Studies, 21(1), 215-242.
Vernimmen, T., Verbeke, W., and Huylenbroeck, G. v. (2000). Transac- tion cost analysis of outsourcing farm administration by Belgian farmers. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 27(3), 325- 345.
Wang, N. (2003). Measuring Transaction Costs: An Incomplete Survey. Ronald Coase Institute Working Papers, 2, http://www.coase.org/work- ingpapers/wp-2.pdf
Williamson, O. E. (1979). Transaction-Cost Economics: The Governance of Contractual Relations. The Journal of Law and Economics, 22(2).
Williamson, O. E. (1981). The Economics of Organization: The Transac- tion Cost Approach. American Journal of Sociology, 87(3), 548- 577.
Williamson, O. E. (1985). The Economic Institutions of Capitalism. Free Press, New York.
71
Williamson, O. E. (1989). [Review of the book The Firm, the Market, and the Law, by Coase, R. H.]. California Law Review, 77(1), 223- 231. doi:10.2307/3480533
Williamson, O. E. (1991).Comparative Economic Organization: The Analysis of Discrete Structural Alternatives. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36(2), 269-296.
Williamson, O. E. (1996). The Mechanisms of Governance. Oxford Uni- versity Press
Williamson, O. E. (1998). Transaction Cost Economics: How It Works; Where It is Headed. De Economist, 146(1), 23-58.
Williamson, O. E. (2000). The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead. Journal of Economic Literature, 38(3), 595- 613.
Williamson, O. E. (2002). The Theory of the Firm as Governance Struc- ture: From Choice to Contract. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16(3), 171-195.
Williamson, O. E. (2007). Transaction Cost Economics: An Introduction. Economics Discussion Papers, No 2007-3, Kiel Institute for the World Economy. http://www.economics-ejournal.org/economics/dis- cussionpa- pers/2007-3
Williamson, O. E. (2009). Pragmatic Methodology: a Sketch, with Appli- cations to Transaction Cost Economics. Journal of Economic Methodology, 16(2), 145-157. doi:10.1080/13501780902940729