We propose transaction cost economics theory as a tool for exploring when school administrators rely on information from two types of sources: internal sources like their own colleagues, and external sources like researchers and government agencies. The theory's application is illustrated in a comparative case study of two public school districts in Michigan. Consistent with the theory's predictions, the smaller, homogeneous, high-performing district used more external sources of information, while the larger, diverse, low-performing district used internal sources of information. We conclude by identifying some strengths and limitations of the theory, which can serve as starting points for debate.

中文翻译：

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制作或购买证据：利用交易成本经济学来理解公立学区的决策


我们提出交易成本经济学理论作为探索学校管理者何时依赖来自两种来源的信息的工具：内部来源（如他们自己的同事）和外部来源（如研究人员和政府机构）。该理论的应用通过密歇根州两个公立学区的比较案例研究来说明。与该理论的预测一致，规模较小、同质、绩效高的地区使用更多的外部信息源，而规模较大、多样化、绩效差的地区则使用内部信息源。最后，我们确定了该理论的一些优点和局限性，这可以作为辩论的起点。