Flexibility in Buyer-Seller Relationships: A Transaction Cost Economics Extension based on Real Options Analysis

Foreword Long—term buyer—seller relationships are a real and important phenomenon in business—to­ business markets. Since the consequences for the parties to a relationship heavily depend on the management of these relationships, research becomes increasingly intensive to explain the real phenomenon of buyer—seller relationships. On the one hand, the objective is to determine when relationships are a reasonable form of coordination in markets. On the other hand, the management of the relati...