E-Marketplace and transaction cost theory: a possible interpretative analysis,

Aim of this paper is to analyse the electronic marketplaces from an organisa-tional point of view. The marketplaces are herein considered as a particular form of electronic network and are analysed in the light of transaction cost the-ory. Besides considering the three classical effects identified by Malone et al. (the communication effect, the electronic integration effect, the electronic me-diation effect), the paper, on the ground of empirical evidences, also evaluated a fourth effect defined by Wigand as “the strategic electronic network effect”