| Although joint ventures, on the one hand, are attractive instruments for gaining quickly access to new resources, new knowledge, and new markets, on the other hand, control of a joint venture is a complicated issue. As a joint venture is owned by various parents, control has to be shared. Therefore, differences in parent interests are an additional point which should be dealt with. This study aims to receive more insight into this issue of shared control. The research question is how do the parent contributions influence the way in which parents exercise control over the joint venture in the course of time? To deal with this question, we are developing a model consisting of the features of the transactions, the features of the various parties, and different patterns of control. In particular, the model focuses on concepts of transaction cost theory, such as asset specificity, and on concepts of the network approach, such as bargaining power and trust. By means of case studies, the project will empirically investigate the control patterns of four or five joint ventures. |
