Not All Identification Are Created Equal: Opportunism, Identification asymmetry, and Performance in China

Time：April 16 (Thursday) 10am -12noon

Location: Zhifuxuan, National School of Development, Peking U.

Speaker: Zhong, Weiguo, Assistant Professor, Guanghua School of Management, Peking University

 

 

Abstract：

Focusing on identification in interorganizational setting, we propose a concept of identification asymmetry. We argue that within-dyad and pro-relational opportunism affects identification asymmetry differently, which may in turn hurt exchange performance. Based on a matched sample of manufacturer-supplier, we find that within-dyad opportunism has a negative effect while pro-relational opportunism has a positive effect on identification asymmetry. Identification asymmetry displays an inverted-U shaped relationship with exchange performance. Moreover, distributive fairness aggravates while interactive fairness mitigates the effect of pro-relational opportunism on identification asymmetry. Our findings enrich a more nuanced between-level research on identification and caution the tendency of Machiavellian reasoning of firms when they face the temptation of complicity for gains.