Factores determinantes de la duración de los contratos en la subcontratación electrónica.

Abstract

This work examines factors explaining the duration of inter-firm subcontracting agreements. Diverse hypotheses from the contractual literature are therefore tested on a sample of 74 arrangements, established in the Spanish electronic industry. The results show that the duration of contracts increases the more specific the subcontracted works are and decreases with the uncertainty regarding the future needs of the subcontracted activity and the degree of formalisation of the contract, due to the fact that both factors increase the risk of contractual inflexibility of long-term agreements. However, neither technological uncertainty nor multiple subcontrating have significant effects on contractual duration.