percent in 2001, and a substantial increase over 28 percent in 1991 and 11 percent in 1969. However, aggregate contract use …

of a contract presumption, whereby the nominal beneficiary must obtain the contractual consent from the other side before … benefiting from the rule. The experiment tends to confirm the Coasean prediction that contract presumptions do not affect the … efficiency of bargains. The results question, however, the Coasean wisdom that contract presumptions should not affect the …

Freedom of contract is a principle of law, expressing three related ideas: parties should be free to choose their … been freely made, parties should be held to their bargains (‘sanctity of contract'). This entry, prepared for an …

enforceable contracts is costly. A contract can describe contingencies and actions at a more or less detailed level, and the cost … of writing a contract is proportional to the amount of detail. We consider both formal (externallyenforced) and informal …