Judges become ambitious decision makers when they face appellate review. This paper applies a contract theoretic perspective to the behavior of self-interested trial judges in a two-level court system and analyzes the consequences for contracting in “the shadow of” the court. Confronted with...

In a model where biased judges can distort contract enforcement, we uncover positive feedback effects between the use of innovative contracts and legal evolution that improve verifiability and contracting over time. We find, however, that the cost of judicial bias also grows over time because...

In a model where biased judges can distort contract enforcement, we uncover positive feedback effects between the use of innovative contracts and legal evolution that improve verifiability and contracting over time. We find, however, that the cost of judicial bias also grows over time because...

The issue of determining the applicable law in the international trade contract before the arbitral tribunal is significantly different from its determination in the court of law. The explanation of this differentiation lies in the basis of the authority of the arbitral tribunals and of the...

In the age of globalization the relevance of international trade has increased tremendously. As a consequence, many transactions go beyond the legal framework of the nation state. Mechanisms provided by the nation states are not anymore suitable to secure international transactions. The...

This study displays several theoretical and practical remarks on certain abusive terms of loan contracts. Considering the European Law, the main regulation framework is given by Directive 93/13/EEC approved by the Council on the 5th April, 2013, regarding the abusive terms and conditions within...

Lex mercatoria or Law Merchant (‘LM’) is said to be the self-made law of international commerce. According to its proponents, LM is an autonomous legal order that not only supplements state commercial law, but works as a substitute for it. The ‘ancient’ LM, which accompanied the...

Can incumbent sellers and buyers use contracts with stipulated damages to extract surplus from entrants? We experimentally study the strategic environments of Aghion and Bolton (1987)and Spier and Whinston (1995). As predicted, contract renegotiation weakens the commitment power of stipulated...

Vertical restraints have been subject of lively policy and academic discussions. Scholars associated with the Chicago School challenged early foreclosure doctrines by arguing that vertical restraints primarily reflected efficiency considerations. More recently, industrial organization economists...