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Contracting in the Presence of Judicial Agency

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  • Bond Philip

    (University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

While a key function of contracts is to provide incentives, the incentives of judges to enforce the terms of a contract have rarely been examined. This paper develops a simple model of judicial agency in which judges are corrupt and can be bribed by contracting parties. Higher-powered contracts expose contracting parties to more frequent and more severe corruption, which in turn lessens the incentives actually provided by the contract. Consequently the model predicts that individuals will commonly refrain from writing high-powered contracts, even when such contracts would be valuable absent judicial agency. I show that similar implications can also be obtained by considering other forms of imperfection in contract enforcement, such as variable expenditures on legal representation. I use the model to develop implications for the optimal punishment of individuals who are extorted by corrupt judges, and to establish circumstances under which a right-of-appeal is optimal.

Suggested Citation

  • Bond Philip, 2009. "Contracting in the Presence of Judicial Agency," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-34, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejtec:v:9:y:2009:i:1:n:36
    DOI: 10.2202/1935-1704.1430
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ari Van Assche & Galina A. Schwartz, 2013. "Contracting Institutions and Ownership Structure in International Joint Ventures," CIRANO Working Papers 2013s-04, CIRANO.
    2. Van Assche, Ari & Schwartz, Galina A., 2013. "Contracting institutions and ownership structure in international joint ventures," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 124-132.
    3. Luca Anderlini & Leonardo Felli & Alessandro Riboni, 2014. "Why Stare Decisis?," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 17(4), pages 726-738, October.
    4. Massenot Baptiste, 2010. "Contract Enforcement, Litigation, and Economic Development," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 10.14, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.
    5. Nicola Gennaioli & Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto, 2015. "Optimally vague contracts and the law," Economics Working Papers 1410, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jan 2017.
    6. Ivan Pastine & Tuvana Pastine, 2023. "Equilibrium existence and expected payoffs in all-pay auctions with constraints," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 75(4), pages 983-1007, May.
    7. Nicola Gennaioli & Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto, 2015. "Contract Innovation and Legal Evolution under Imperfect Enforcement," Working Papers 836, Barcelona School of Economics.
    8. Anderlini, Luca & Felli, Leonardo & Riboni, Alessandro, 2020. "Legal efficiency and consistency," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    9. Ivan Pastine & Tuvana Pastine, 2012. "All-pay contests with constraints," Working Papers 201204, School of Economics, University College Dublin.

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