Managers’Temporary Transfer to Reduce Transaction Costs between Business Units:Case Study on Japanese Railway Groups having Holding Company Structure

要約

We explore the effects and the efficient scheme of managers’ temporary transfer to reduce transaction costs between unbundled business units, through a case study of five Japanese private railway companies that have holding company structures. Our results suggest that there are very few conflicts, and thus few transaction costs in the system, because some informal adjustments are made before the conflicts are actualized. Managers’ temporary transfer surely contributes to reducing severe conflicts in some cases. However, the effectiveness of the process depends on other management characteristics, such as the human resource development scheme and organizational structure.