The transaction specificity of assets yields dependence, and hence transaction costs in case of opportunism and bounded rationality. However, this dependence need not be symmetric between buyer and supplier, and there may be dependence without transaction specific assets. There are many forms of specificity, yielding different patterns of more or less symmetric dependence. These different forms of specificity are analyzed in terms of a formal, generalized relation of specificity. The implications for dependence are discussed.
