Inter-organizational tie dissolution:A literature review

Why do inter-organizational relationships (IORs) dissolve? This question is hardly addressed in the literature in which most attention is directed at tie formation and the economic and strategic outcomes of inter-organizational relationships. This study focuses on a specific outcome: tie dissolution. In order to understand the causes of tie dissolution, we have conducted a comprehensive literature study analyzing the literature with regard to two aspects: 1) Which organization theories help at understanding tie dissolution? 2) Which causes does empirical research provide for explaining tie dissolution? Our study consists of an in-depth analysis of a total of 104 theoretical and empirical papers that result in the following answers: 1) Tie dissolution is predominantly explained with Transaction Cost Theory, Social Exchange Theory, Evolutionary Theory of Organizations and Organizational Learning Theory. (2) Reasons for dissolution can be categorized in environmental factors, network factors, relational fact...