Examining the Nomological Network of Opportunism: A Meta-Analysis

Opportunism has prompted several orientations to the study of inter-firm interaction. Some research maintains that opportunism is an exogenous construct, whereas other research implicates opportunism as a mediator of the relationships between organizational properties and organizational effectiveness. Yet another stream of research argues that the assumption of opportunism precludes researchers from investigating collaborative governance. To examine the merits of each perspective, this study employs meta-analytic techniques and structural equation modeling to assess the nomological network of opportunism research. The analysis of 684 effect sizes extracted from 262 publications supports two of the three orientations. Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.