Inter-Company Communication of Environmental Information: an Empirical Investigation Based on Transaction Cost Theory

Abstract

In this paper, the relevance of the transaction cost theory (TCT) for inter-company communication of environmental information is analysed. Based on a brief description of the main assumptions and statements of the TCT, the empirical data of a survey on inter-company recycling activities of firms in the manufacturing sector in Austria and member firms of two so-called recycling networks are analysed. It can be seen that trust between the transaction partners plays an outstanding role in inter-company recycling activities, since environmental information might be considered to be critical in terms of the firm’s reputation. Trust-building forms of communication become very important for environmental transactions, but simultaneously lead to a closer dependency from each other.