consider a seller of an intermediate good and a buyer. Should the seller own the physical assets that are necessary to produce the good (non-integration) or should the buyer be the owner (integration)? After relationship-specific investments have been made, the seller and the buyer bargain. When they are symmetrically informed, they will always agree to collaborate. Yet, the division of the ex post surplus depends on the parties’ disagreement payoffs (the payoffs they would get if no ex post agreement were reached), which in turn depend on the ownership structure. Thus, the ownership structure has an influence on the incentives to invest. A central insight of the theory is that the party with the more important investment decision should be the owner. Another prominent conclusion is that joint asset ownership is suboptimal if investments are in human capital. The Grossman–Hart–Moore model has been successfully applied in many contexts, e.g. with regard to privatization. Chiu (1998) and DeMeza and Lockwood (1998) have extended the model by considering different bargaining games that the parties may play ex post (which can explain ownership by the less important investor). Oliver Williamson (2002) has criticized the Grossman–Hart–Moore model because it is focused on ex ante investment incentives, while it neglects ex post inefficiencies. Schmitz (2006) has studied a variant of the Grossman–Hart–Moore model in which a party may have or acquire private information about its disagreement payoff, which can explain ex post inefficiencies and ownership by the less important investor. Several variants of the Grossman–Hart–Moore model such as the one with private information can also explain joint ownership. See also Dynamic capabilities Industrial organization Knowledge-based theory of the firm Organizational capital Organizational effectiveness Transaction cost Williamson's model of managerial discretion Notes References Foss, Nicolai J., ed. (2000). The Theory of the Firm: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management. Taylor and Francis. v. I–IV. Chapter preview links, including Bengt Holmström and Jean Tirole, "The Theory of the Firm," v. I, pp. 148–222 Further reading Kroszner, Randall S.; Putterman, Louis, eds. (2009). The Economic Nature of the Firm: A Reader (3rd ed.) Cambridge University Press. Management Production economics Business economics Management cybernetics