Abstract
This study adopted a transaction cost perspective to examine the intra-organizational application of asset specificity in the industrial waste management industry and the potential tension it may cause to local and cross-strait organizations with respect to business operations. The industrial waste management industry faced considerable changes in the 1990s. While seemingly identical, the specific forms of asset specificity applied in the industry before and after the 1990s were actually very different, meaning that the operational flexibility of intra-organizational asset specificity could be explained by institutional changes. In addition to reduced transaction costs and skill development, specific access specificity was found to have an important and complex influence on the industry.