wang et al. make both an empirical and conceptual to the knowledge-based view of the firm. they do this by developing hypotheses that address some significant gaps in knowledge and then testing them empirically. the gap in knowledge they address is the extent to which different governance mechanisms motivate worker to contribute to the development of organization-specific knowledge resources. this is neglected topic as the literature on the resource/knowledge-based view of the firm typically doesn't question or address the issue of employee motivation, generally assuming that such motivation is un problematic.