REASONS TO “MAKE”
Thus far we have provided ample reasons for firms to focus on a narrow set of activities
and leave everything else to market firms. But just as markets are not dominated
by one or two megafirms, they are not exclusively the province of focused market
firms. Sometimes it makes sense for firms to make rather than buy. Transactions
among market firms can create serious problems for the profitability of all firms in the vertical chain, however, because owners of market firms have hard-edged incentives to
maximize their own profits, without regard to the profits of their trading partners.
Firms could write contracts to blunt these incentives, by penalizing market firms that
look after their own interests and rewarding those market firms that help their trading
partners become more profitable. As we describe below, such contracts would assure
efficient production and maximum profits, while rendering meaningless the distinction
between integrated firms and market firms. Unfortunately, it is costly to write and
enforce such contracts. As a result, the decision to vertically integrate is far from
meaningless. Thus, we begin our discussion of “reasons to make” by exploring the
limitations of contracts.
but it is used to justify acquisitions on many other occasions when it lacks merit.