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Contracting Under Unverifiable Monetary Costs

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  • Nicolas Quérou

    (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement)

  • Antoine Soubeyran

    (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Raphael Soubeyran

    (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement)

Abstract

We consider a contracting relationship where the agent's effort induces monetary costs, and limits on the agent's resource restrict his capability to exert effort. We show that, the principal finds it best to offer a sharing contract while providing the agent with an up-front financial transfer only when the monetary cost is neither too low nor too high. Thus, unlike in the limited liability literature, the principal might find it optimal to fund the agent. Moreover, both incentives and the amount of funding are non-monotonic functions of the monetary cost. These results suggest that an increase in the interest rate may affect the form of contracts differently , depending on the initial level of the former. Using the analysis, we provide and discuss several predictions and policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolas Quérou & Antoine Soubeyran & Raphael Soubeyran, 2020. "Contracting Under Unverifiable Monetary Costs," Post-Print hal-02866383, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02866383
    DOI: 10.1111/jems.12389
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02866383
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    2. Andreu, Enrique & Neven, Damien & Piccolo, Salvatore, 2023. "Price authority and information sharing with competing supply chains," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Macho-Stadler, Inés & Pérez-Castrillo, David & Quérou, Nicolas, 2021. "Goal-oriented agents in a market," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Neven, Damien & Piccolo, Salvatore & Andreu, Enrique, 2021. "Price Authority and Information Sharing with Competing Principals," CEPR Discussion Papers 16753, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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    contract theory; moral hazard; wealth constraint; funding;
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