Download or read book The Law and Economics of Preliminary Agreements written by Alan Schwartz and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contract law encourages parties to make relation-specific investments by enforcing the contracts the parties make, and by denying liability when the parties had failed to agree. For decades, the law has had difficulty with cases where parties sink costs in the pursuit of projects under agreements that are too incomplete to enforce, and where one of the parties prefers to exit rather than pursue the contemplated project. The issue whether to award the disappointed party any remedy has divided a large number of courts over many years. The judicial uncertainty arises, we claim, because the questions why parties make such incomplete contracts, then rely before uncertainty is resolved and finally disagree over cost reimbursement when both recognize that their project would be unprofitable have not been satisfactorily answered. We create a model which shows that parties create "preliminary agreements" rather than complete contracts when the project they explore could take a number of forms, and the parties are unsure at the outset which form would maximize profits. A preliminary agreement roughly allocates investment tasks between the parties, specifies investment timing and commits the parties only to pursue a profitable project. Parties sink costs in a project because investment accelerates the realization of returns and illuminates whether any of the possible project types would be profitable. A party to a preliminary agreement "breaches" when it delays its investment beyond the time the agreement specifies. Delay will save costs for this party if no project turns out to be profitable and improves this party's bargaining power in the renegotiation to a complete contract if a project would succeed. Delay often disadvantages the promisee, but the main inefficiency is ex ante: When parties anticipate such strategic behavior, the likelihood that they will make preliminary agreements is materially reduced. This is unfortunate because the performance of a preliminary agreement often is a necessary condition to the creation of a complete contract and the subsequent realization of a socially efficient opportunity. Thus, contract law should encourage relation-specific investment by awarding verifiable reliance costs to a party to a preliminary agreement if its partner has strategically delayed investment. We also study a large sample of appellate cases that deal with reliance prior to the signing of a complete contract. This study reveals that (a) parties appear to make the preliminary agreements we describe and breach for the reasons our model identifies; and (b) courts sometimes protect the disappointed party's reliance interest when they should, but the courts' imperfect understanding of the parties' behavior causes courts to make mistakes.
Download or read book Contract Law and Economics written by Gerrit de Geest and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2010-10 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique and timely book offers an up-to-date, clear and comprehensive review of the economic literature on contract law. The topical chapters written by leading international scholars include: precontractual liability, misrepresentation, duress, gratuitous promises, gifts, standard form contracts, interpretation, contract remedies, penalty clauses, impracticability and foreseeability. Option contracts, warranties, long-term contracts, marriage contracts, franchise contracts, quasi-contracts, behavioral approaches, and civil contract law are also discussed. This excellent resource on contract law and economics will be particularly suited to contract law scholars, law teachers, policy makers, and judges. For experts in and practitioners of contract law this will be a key book to buy.
Download or read book Economics of Contract Law written by Douglas G. Baird and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 686 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This important volume presents a rich collection of ideas on and insights into the law and economics of contracts. It includes material relevant to a large number of legal fields. Many of the articles are classics that have, over the years, become focal points for continuing debate; others provide an easily accessible account of particular areas. The editor's comprehensive introduction provides an overview of law and economics scholarship in contracts over the past few decades and a portal into an evolving field. Topics include: the economics of contracting; efficient breach and renegotiation; expectation damages and its alternatives; default rules and mass markets.
Download or read book Just Exchange written by Francis H. Buckley and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-11-30 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now, for the first time, there is a comprehensive, eminently readable book designed to focus thinking in the area of contract law. This book bridges the gap between law and economics by confronting normative values that economists too often deem the preserve of moral philosophers. Contract theorists, on the other hand, are seldom in sympathy with economic efficiency norms. While free bargaining continues to be regarded with suspicion by legal scholars who are hostile to private ordering, the proper scope of free bargaining remains in dispute. Combined with a recent renewed interest in this field, these academic tensions mean that the time is right for a reconsideration of contract law. Drawing on scholarship from diverse fields and using illuminating and erudite examples, Just Exchange is entertaining as well as informative. Of interest to economists, lawyers, public policy-makers and those intersted in contract theory, this volume is a valuable overview of a vital intersection between legal studies and economics.
Download or read book Contracts of Adhesion Between Law and Economics written by Elena D'Agostino and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-11-21 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the most controversial issues concerning the use of pre-drafted clauses in fine print, which are usually included in consumer contracts and presented to consumers on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. By applying a multi-disciplinary approach that combines consumer’s psychology and seller’s drafting power in the logic of efficiency and good faith, the book provides a fresh and unconventional analysis of the existing literature, both theoretical and empirical. Moving from the unconscionability doctrine, it criticizes (and in some cases refutes) its main conclusions based on criteria which are usually invoked to sustain the need for public intervention to protect consumers, and specifically related to Law (contract complexity), Psychology (consumer lack of sophistication criterion) and Economics (market structure criterion). It also analyzes the effects of different regulations, such as banning vexatious clauses or mandating disclosure clauses, showing that none of them protect consumers, but in fact prove to be harmful when consumers are more vulnerable, that is whenever sellers can exploit some degree of market power. In closing, the book combines these disparate aspects, arguing that the solution (if any) to the problem of consumer exploitation and market inefficiency associated with the use of contracts of adhesion in these contexts cannot be found in removing or prohibiting hidden clauses, but instead has to take into account the effects of these clauses on the contract as a whole.
Download or read book The Law and Economics of Contracts written by Benjamin E. Hermalin and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper, which will appear as a chapter in the forthcoming Handbook of Law and Economics (A.M. Polinsky & S. Shavell, eds.), surveys major issues arising in the economic analysis of contract law. It begins with an introductory discussion of scope and methodology, and then addresses four topic areas that correspond to the major doctrinal divisions of the law of contracts. These areas include freedom of contract (i.e., the scope of private power to create binding obligations), formation of contracts (both the procedural mechanics of exchange, and rules that govern pre-contractual behavior), contract interpretation (what consequences follow when agreements are ambiguous or incomplete), and enforcement of contractual obligations. For each of these sections, we address the economic analysis of particular legal rules and institutions, and, where relevant, connections between legal arrangements and associated topics in microeconomic theory, including welfare economics and the theory of contracts.
Download or read book Readings in the Economics of Contract Law written by Victor P. Goldberg and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1989 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection brings together some of the main contributions to an important area of this work, the economics of contract law.
Download or read book The Applied Law and Economics of Public Procurement written by Gustavo Piga and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores Public Procurement novelties and challenges in an interdisciplinary way. The process whereby the public sector awards contracts to companies for the supply of works, goods or services is a powerful instrument to ensure the achievement of new public goals as well as an efficient use of public funds. This book brings together the papers that have been presented during the "First Symposium on Public Procurement", a conference held in Rome last summer and to be repeated again yearly. As Public Procurement touches on many fields (law, economics, political science, engineering) the editors have used an interdisciplinary approach to discuss four main topics of interest which represent the four different parts in which this book is divided: Competitive dialogue and contractual design fostering innovation and need analysis, Separation of selection and award criteria, including exclusion of reputation indicators like references to experience, performance and CV’s from award criteria, Retendering a contract for breach of procurement rules or changes to contract (contract execution), Set-asides for small and medium firms, as in the USA system with the Small Business Act that reserves shares of tenders to SMEs only.
Download or read book Comparative Contract Law and Economics written by Mitja Kovač and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comparative Contract Law and Economics provides a deeper understanding of the similarities and differences between the legal systems of France, England, the US and Germany in terms of contract law. The application of the economically inspired optimal model rule as a uniform term of comparison provides valuable insights into the pre-contractual duties of disclosure, the phenomena of unforeseen contingencies and the unilateral termination of contracts. The objective evaluation method enriches traditional comparative contract law by enabling further qualitative assessment. The book offers ample opportunities for further research and for 'better' law making, legislation and jurisprudence. Moreover, it enables comparative contract law to offer clear-cut, objective recommendations on the possible improvements of legal rules or decisions. This well-documented book will appeal to postgraduate students and scholars of law and economics, and comparative law. Judges and law practitioners will also find much to interest them in this pioneering volume. Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Pre-contractual Duty to Disclose Information 3. Unforeseen Contingencies 4. Unilateral Termination 5. Summary and Conclusions References Index
Download or read book The Laws and Economics of Confucianism written by Taisu Zhang and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-10-12 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zhang argues that property institutions in preindustrial China and England were a cause of China's lagging development in preindustrial times.
Download or read book The Economics of Contract Law written by David W. Barnes and published by West Academic Publishing. This book was released on 1992 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed to integrate economic principles into a traditional contracts course. The cases and materials consider reasons why some contracts should not be enforced, where enforcement might lead to inefficient results due to externalities, mistake, or lack of capacity or consideration. Introduces the theory of efficient breach and applying that theory to issues of impracticability and impossibility. Considers various permutations of the traditional remedies for breach and the limitations on recovery of damages. The final section considers duress and unconscionability and offers economic rationales for not enforcing agreements into which parties have voluntarily entered.
Download or read book Economic Analysis of Contract Law written by Sugata Bag and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-01-24 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the main issues arising in economic analysis of contract law with special attention given to the incomplete contracts. It discusses both the main features of contract law as they relate to the problem of economic exchange, and how the relevant legal rules and the institutions can be analysed from an economic perspective. Evaluate the welfare impacts, analyses the effects and the desirability of different breach remedies and examines the optimal incentive structure of party-designed liquidated damages under the different dimensions of informational asymmetry. Overall the book aims to contribute to the legal debate over the adoption of the specific breach remedies when the breach victim’s expectation interest is difficult to assess, and to the debate over courts' reluctance to implement large penalties in the event of breach of contracts.
Download or read book Rules Contracts and Law Enforcement in the Ottoman Empire written by Bora Altay and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the role of institutions and law on the economic performance of the Ottoman Empire between 1500 and 1800. By focussing on the pre-industrial period, the transition to industrialisation and the mechanisms behind it can be explored. Particular attention is given to the allocation of financial resources towards more productive and efficient economic activities and the role this played in economic divergence among societies. A comparative analysis with European societies highlights the importance of non-economic institutions during the pre-industrial period. This book aims to provide new analytical perspectives and ways of thinking about how the Ottoman Empire lost its powerful economic and political structures. It is relevant to students and researchers interested in economic history, law and economics, and the political economy.
Download or read book Rethinking Contract Law and Contract Design written by Victor P. Goldberg and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2015-02-27 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contract law allows parties to set their own rules within constraints. It provides a set of default rules and if the parties do not like them, they can change them. Rethinking Contract Law and Contract Design explores various long-standing contract doc
Download or read book The Dignity of Commerce written by Nathan B. Oman and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-01-19 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why should the law care about enforcing contracts? We tend to think of a contract as the legal embodiment of a moral obligation to keep a promise. When two parties enter into a transaction, they are obligated as moral beings to play out the transaction in the way that both parties expect. But this overlooks a broader understanding of the moral possibilities of the market. Just as Shakespeare’s Shylock can stand on his contract with Antonio not because Antonio is bound by honor but because the enforcement of contracts is seen as important to maintaining a kind of social arrangement, today’s contracts serve a fundamental role in the functioning of society. With The Dignity of Commerce, Nathan B. Oman argues persuasively that well-functioning markets are morally desirable in and of themselves and thus a fit object of protection through contract law. Markets, Oman shows, are about more than simple economic efficiency. To do business with others, we must demonstrate understanding of and satisfy their needs. This ability to see the world from another’s point of view inculcates key virtues that support a liberal society. Markets also provide a context in which people can peacefully cooperate in the absence of political, religious, or ideological agreement. Finally, the material prosperity generated by commerce has an ameliorative effect on a host of social ills, from racial discrimination to environmental destruction. The first book to place the moral status of the market at the center of the justification for contract law, The Dignity of Commerce is sure to elicit serious discussion about this central area of legal studies.
Download or read book Legal and Economic Principles of World Trade Law written by Henrik Horn and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-04-22 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement covers international commerce in goods and services including measures that directly affect trade, such as import tariffs and quotas, and almost any type of internal measure with an impact on trade. Legal and Economic Principles of World Trade Law contributes to the analysis of the texts of World Trade Law in law and economics, reporting work done to identify improvements to the interpretation of the Agreement. It starts with background studies, the first summarizes The Genesis of the GATT, which highlights the negotiating history of the GATT 1947–8; the second introduces the economics of trade agreements. These are followed by two main studies. The first, authored by Bagwell, Staiger and Sykes, discusses legal and economic aspects of the GATT regulation of border policy instruments, such as import tariffs and import quotas. The second, written by Grossman, Horn and Mavroidis, focuses on the core provision for the regulation of domestic policy instruments - the National Treatment principles in Art. III GATT.
Download or read book The Economics of Contract Law written by Anthony T. Kronman and published by Aspen Publishers. This book was released on 1979-01-01 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
