An examination of the institutional relationships between governments and business interests
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abstract
This dissertation provides a rationale for examining the relationships which develop between governmental organizations and business interests. A taxonomy is proposed which classifies government/business relationships based upon the presence of transaction factors which have been formally institutionalized within government/business interfaces. The existence of constant, moderated and fully mediated resource relationships between governmental organizations and business interests is reasoned to form in response to the various levels and combinations of transaction factors within government/business interfaces. Additionally, a series of implications arising from the existence of constant, moderated or fully mediated resource relationships between governmental organizations and business interests is hypothesized and explained. An attempt to assess the validity and usefulness of the proposed taxonomy and its hypothesized implications is made by comparing the macro-level governmental environments of the United States, Japan and Germany in regard to similarities and differences that may affect transactions between political actors and business interests within each of the three nations. The comparison of the three nations' macro-level governmental environments and business interests' activities in response to those environments provided some preliminary support for the validity and usefulness of the proposed taxonomy and an awareness of the difficulties under which research concerning government/business relationships is conducted. Further research at different levels of analysis is suggested as a means to provide more conclusive evidence regarding the validity and usefulness of the proposed taxonomy and its hypothesized implications.
