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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2009

  Conglomerates and LBO Associations: A Comparison of Organizational Forms

  George P. Baker and Cynthia A. Montgomery

  Citation:

  Baker, George P., and Cynthia A. Montgomery. "Conglomerates and LBO Associations: A Comparison of Organizational Forms." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 10–024, September 2009.

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• Journal Article | Journal of the Japanese and International Economies | June 2008

  Strategic Alliances: Bridges Between 'Islands of Conscious Power'

  George P. Baker, Robert Gibbons and Kevin J. Murphy

  Strategic alliances range from unstructured collaborations, through consortia and joint ventures that superimpose new governance structures on existing firms, to transactions that restructure firm boundaries and asset ownership. In this paper, we draw on detailed discussions with practitioners to describe and analyze a rich collection of feasible governance structures. Our model focuses on two issues emphasized by practitioners: spillover effects (as opposed to hold-ups motivated by specific investments) and contracting problems ex post (as opposed to only ex ante). By considering the allocation of assets, decision rights, and payoffs, we generate a large number of potential governance structures, including strategic divestitures, total divestitures, licensing agreements, and royalty agreements. For the broad range of parameter values and payoff functions we consider, we show that each of these possible strategic alliances could be optimal. We expect that, given institutional knowledge about a particular setting, our broad theoretical framework can be specialized to deliver testable predictions for that setting (as has occurred in some analogous work on vertical integration, for example).

  Keywords: Governance; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Alliances; Strategy; Theory;

  Citation:

  Baker, George P., Robert Gibbons, and Kevin J. Murphy. "Strategic Alliances: Bridges Between 'Islands of Conscious Power'." Journal of the Japanese and International Economies 22, no. 2 (June 2008): 146–163.

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• Other Unpublished Work | 2007

  Wage Policies and Incentives to Invest in Firm-Specific Human Capital

  George P. Baker and Cristian Voicu

  Keywords: Human Capital; Wages; Investment; Motivation and Incentives;

  Citation:

  Baker, George P., and Cristian Voicu. "Wage Policies and Incentives to Invest in Firm-Specific Human Capital." January 2007.

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