Part 1 Transaction costs: a paradigm with two blades; motivational and methodological context; some basic concepts used in the transaction cost paradigm; transaction costs and governance structures. Part 2 Measurement costs, auctions and the process of price formation: measurement costs and the transaction cost paradigm; product idiosyncracy and the cost of affixing prices; optimum expenditure on measurement costs; measurement error; process of price formation; what the auction literature has to say about price formation; price advantage and choice of auction; price convergence and choice of auction; conclusions. Part 4 Vertical disintegration: subsectors of the offshore oil supply industry; measurement of the degree of vertical integration; examination of vertical disintegration in the oil industry; characteristics of the offshore oil supply markets; are the offshore oil supply markets competitive?, locational factors, wide choice between rival suppliers, switching costs, standardization of inputs, organization of technical change, internal relocation costs, continuity of market relationships, conclusions. Part 4 The offshore oil supply industry: important features of the internationalized offshore oil supply industry. Part 5 The offshore oil supply industry - the theoretical aspect: transaction cost theories of the multinational corporation; dominant application of the transaction cost paradigm to the multinational corporation; internationalization of production to improve market efficiency; "follow the customer" in offshore oil gathering; barriers to entry; asset specificity; asset specificity and market density; asset specificity and geographic mobility; notes. Part 6 The offshore oil supply industry in its main British service base: some definitions; the data file; the predominance of affiliates - propositions 1 and 2; sub-sectors of the offshore oil supply industry - proposition 3; who got in when? - proposition 4; patent ownership - proposition 5; research and development - proposition 6; Aberdeen as a decision-making centre - proposition 7; the Aberdeen affiliate within its ownership group - proposition 8. Part 7 Legal and customary practices in the offshore oil supply industry markets: the pre-selection phase; pre-qualification; the invitation phase; replies by bidders; contract award; conclusions. Part 8 Bid prices, rent distribution and asjustment in the long run: the assumptions; supply firms; finding the optimum bid; the buyers; bid prices; quasi-rent; adjustment of the supply industry in the long run; in the beginning...... and in the end.
