 'Intermediate Organization' Revisited: A Framework for the Vertical Division of Labor in Manufacturing and the Case of the Japanese Assembly IndustriesIndustrial and Corporate Change, 1999, vol. 8, issue 3, 487-517 Abstract: This paper develops a framework that distinguishes five types of organization for the vertical division of labor between manufacturing firms: market transactions, recurrent transactions, interdependent transactions, quasi-integration and formal integration. The application of this framework to the Japanese assembly industries shows that (i) components suppliers are quasi-integrated in Japan, in contrast to formal integration in the West, and (ii) transactions with parts makers are mostly interdependent in Japan, compared with recurrent transactions in Western countries. These findings are explained by differences in the institutional setting and have resulted in a competitive advantage for the Japanese assembly industries throughout several decades. Recently, however, the structural difference relative to Western countries seems to be diminishing gradually due to the globalization of manufacturing firms in these industries. Copyright 1999 by Oxford University Press. Date: 1999 There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:indcch:v:8:y:1999:i:3:p:487-517 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Industrial and Corporate Change is currently edited by Josef Chytry More articles in Industrial and Corporate Change from Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK. |
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