TY  - JOUR
AU  - Helper,Susan
TI  - Supplier Relations and Adoption of New Technology: Results of Survey    Research in the U.S. Auto Industry
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 5278
PY  - 1995
Y2  - September 1995
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5278
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5278.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Susan Helper
Weatherhead School of Management
Case Western Reserve University
11119 Bellflower Rd
Cleveland, OH  44106-7235
Tel: 216/368-5541
Fax: 216/368-5542
E-Mail: susan.helper@weatherhead.cwru.edu
AB  - Using an original data source, this paper investigates the circumstances under which firms adopt computer numerical control (CNC), an important type of flexible automation which can significantly increase productivity, product variety and quality.  The paper shows that arms'-length supplier/customer relationships are a significant barrier to CNC adoption, even where CNC would improve efficiency.  For firms where CNC would be efficient, but who currently receive little commitment from their customers, an increase in contract length of one year would increase the adoption rate by 30%. These results have theoretical implications in two areas.  First, the paper integrates questions of appropriability into the technical change literature, by adding supplier relations as  a determinant of technology adoption.  Second, the paper extends transaction-cost analysis, by relaxing the assumption that agents' private maximizing behavior will always produce organizational forms that maximize social efficiency.
ER  -