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Relational Contracts and Development

Author

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  • Rocco Macchiavello

    (Department of Management, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, London, United Kingdom)

Abstract

This article reviews an emerging body of evidence on relational contracts, defined as informal arrangements sustained by the value of future interactions. We focus on developing and international markets, which are often characterized as contexts with weak formal contract enforcement. We introduce relational contracting between firms as a governance form alternative to both firms and markets. We then review evidence on the prevalence of long-term relationships between firms and discuss why this governance form might be particularly common in developing countries. After introducing a simple framework, we discuss the measurement of relational contracting between firms. We review an approach that takes dynamic incentive compatibility constraints to the data to quantify the value of future interactions and illustrate how different types of shocks can be used to uncover the inner functioning of relational contracting. We also review structural models and conclude with policy implications and promising avenues for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Rocco Macchiavello, 2022. "Relational Contracts and Development," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 337-362, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:anr:reveco:v:14:y:2022:p:337-362
    DOI: 10.1146/annurev-economics-051420-110722
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    Cited by:

    1. Danila Medvedev & Diag Davenport & Thomas Talhelm & Yin Li, 2024. "The motivating effect of monetary over psychological incentives is stronger in WEIRD cultures," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(3), pages 456-470, March.
    2. Amiti, Mary & Duprez, Cédric & Konings, Jozef & Van Reenen, John, 2024. "FDI and superstar spillovers: Evidence from firm-to-firm transactions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    3. Macchiavello, Rocco & Morjaria, Ameet, 2022. "Acquisitions, Management, and Efficiency in Rwanda's Coffee Industry," CEPR Discussion Papers 17434, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    4. Rocco Macchiavello & Ameet Morjaria, 2023. "Relational Contracts: Recent Empirical Advancements and Open Questions," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 179(3-4), pages 673-700.
    5. Macchiavello, Rocco & Morjaria, Ameet, 2022. "Empirical approaches to trust and relational contracts," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Raul P. Lejano & Wing Shan Kan, 2025. "Conjectures on a relational turn in policy studies," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 58(2), pages 385-401, June.
    7. Fiorin, Stefano & Hall, Joseph & Kanz, Martin, 2023. "How do Borrowers Respond to a Debt Moratorium? Experimental Evidence from Consumer Loans in India," CEPR Discussion Papers 17994, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    8. Quan, Yingyue, 2025. "Firm sorting, clustering, and vertical disintegration: Evidence from China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    9. Herkenhoff, Philipp & Krautheim, Sebastian & Semrau, Finn Ole & Steglich, Frauke, 2024. "Corporate Social Responsibility along the global value chain," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    10. Cajal-Grossi, Julia & Del Prete, Davide & Macchiavello, Rocco, 2023. "Supply chain disruptions and sourcing strategies," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    11. Luis Espinoza & Jose Morales-Arilla, 2025. "Proximity as a Substitute of Contract Enforcement in Specialized Trade," Working Paper Series of the School of Government and Public Transformation 10, School of Governement and Public Transformation.
    12. Rocco Macchiavello & Thomas Reardon & Timothy J. Richards, 2022. "Empirical Industrial Organization Economics to Analyze Developing Country Food Value Chains," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 193-220, October.
    13. Louise Guillouet & Amit Khandelwal & Rocco Macchiavello & Madhav Malhotra & Matthieu Teachout, 2021. "Language Barriers in Multinationals and Knowledge Transfers," NBER Working Papers 28807, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Mohamed Abouaziza, . "Farmer constraints and relational contracts: evidence from agricultural value chains in East Africa," Economics PhD Theses, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School, number 0122, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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