On Specific Performance in Civil Law and Enforcement Costs

Abstract: We argue that enforcement costs, ignored in the literature <p> on ‘efficient breach’, are important for the choice of contract breach <p> remedy. Empirically we find that specific performance is almost never <p> claimed in Civil Law countries. It involves forcing a party in breach to <p> perform actions while damages involves extracting only a monetary <p> payment. The former is more difficult and more coercive. We study <p> enforcement rules of Denmark, France and Germany. Enforcement of <p> specific performance is absent in Denmark and weak in France. In <p> Germany it seems stricter, which points to the importance of costs of <p> enforcement to the claimant.