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Contracts as Reference Points

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Author Info
Oliver Hart
John Moore

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Abstract

We argue that a contract provides a reference point for a trading relationship: more precisely, for parties' feelings of entitlement. A party's ex post performance depends on whether he gets what he is entitled to relative to outcomes permitted by the contract. A party who is shortchanged shades on performance. A flexible contract allows parties to adjust their outcome to uncertainty, but causes inefficient shading. Our analysis provides a basis for long-term contracts in the absence of noncontractible investments, and elucidates why "employment" contracts, which fix wage in advance and allow the employer to choose the task, can be optimal.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 12706.

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Date of creation: Nov 2006
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12706

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law
K12 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Contract Law

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Edward Kane, 2007. "Basel II: A Contracting Perspective," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 39-53, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Harrison, Mark & Markevich, Andrei, 2007. "Quantity Versus Quality in the Soviet Market for Weapons," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 822, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Randolph Sloof & Joep Sonnemans, 2009. "The Interaction between Explicit and Relational Incentives: An Experiment," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 09-030/1, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  4. Ruys, P.H.M. & Bruil, J. & Dix, H.G., 2007. "Modes of Governance in the Dutch Social Housing Sector," Discussion Paper 2007-001, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center. [Downloadable!]
  5. Hoppe, Eva I. & Schmitz, Patrick W., 2009. "Can Contracts Solve the Hold-Up Problem? Experimental Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 7205, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Fehr, Ernst & Hart, Oliver & Zehnder, Christian, 2008. "Contracts as Reference Points: Experimental Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 3889, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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