This essay explores six sentences from Oliver Williamson – five providing context and the sixth the central topic. Decades ago, Williamson asserted that: (a) ‘substantially the same factors’ (1973: 316) create governance issues not only within organizations but also in interactions between organizations; and (b) relational contracting might be useful in addressing these issues in both domains (1979, Figure II). More recently – in an informal conversation in 2002 – he suggested a perspective on relational contracting that appears valuable in both of these domains: relational contracts as ‘deals that start when you sign them’. The bulk of this essay explores past, present, and potential research on this perspective.

这篇文章探讨了奥利弗威廉姆森的六个句子——五个提供上下文，第六个是中心话题。几十年前，威廉姆森断言：（a）“基本相同的因素”（1973：316）不仅在组织内部而且在组织之间的相互作用中产生治理问题；(b) 关系契约可能有助于解决这两个领域的这些问题（1979，图 II）。最近——在 2002 年的一次非正式对话中——他提出了一种在这两个领域都显得有价值的关系合同观点：关系合同是“当你签署时开始的交易”。本文的大部分内容探讨了关于这一观点的过去、现在和潜在的研究。