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Theories of Contract and Contract Law

In: Equity, Efficiency, and Ethics in Remedies for Breach of Contract

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  • Sergio Mittlaender

    (Fundação Getulio Vargas Law School in São Paulo (FGV Direito SP)
    Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy)

Abstract

This chapter reviews the three main theories of contract and contract law, namely promissory, reliance, and economic theories. It inquires, firstly, into the nature of the contractual obligation with the aim of identifying why breach of contract is an act possibly perceived by individuals as a wrong in need of redress. Among the candidates advanced by those theories are the violation of the moral norm of keeping promises, or of pacta sunt servanda (as advanced by promissory or deontological theories), the loss of reliance suffered by the promisee (in reliance theories), and the loss of welfare associated with breach in certain circumstances (in consequentialist or economic theories). The chapter studies, secondly, the reasons and justifications for legal enforcement of contractual promises from the perspective of those same theories, focusing on the law’s contribution to the welfare of society by providing incentives for individuals to behave in socially optimal manners.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergio Mittlaender, 2022. "Theories of Contract and Contract Law," International Law and Economics, in: Equity, Efficiency, and Ethics in Remedies for Breach of Contract, chapter 0, pages 19-59, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:intchp:978-3-031-10804-4_2
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-10804-4_2
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