Sunk Costs and the Inefficiency of Relationship‐Specific Investment

C-Tier
Journal: Economica
Year: 1998
Volume: 65
Issue: 257
Pages: 97-106

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

It is well known that relationship‐specific investment will be inefficient when the parties are unable to write (binding) long‐term contracts. In this note I exploit some of the recent developments in strategic bargaining theory in order to explore the relationship between the degree of inefficiency in the level of such relationship‐specific investment and the degree of sunkness in the cost of investment. One result obtained is that the underinvestment result is not sensitive to the degree of sunkness in the cost of investment. Another result is that each player may actually overinvest when the cost of investment is not sunk.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:econom:v:65:y:1998:i:257:p:97-106
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-26