Econometric Society 57th European Meeting
25th August 2002 - 28th August 2002, Venice, Italy

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COURTS OF LAW AND UNFORESEEN CONTINGENCIES


Category: Economic Theory
Law and Economics II
Tuesday 27th August 2002, 09:30 - 11:00, Room: 2.2
Session Chair(s): James Anderson, Boston College, UNITED STATES

Presenter(s): Felli, Leonardo

Co-Author(s): Anderlni, Luca and Postlewaite, Andrew

Keyword(s): Courts of Law, Incomplete Contracts, Unforeseen Contingencies

JEL(s): C79, D74, D89, K40, L14

Abstract:

We study a contracting model with unforeseen contingencies in which the court is an active player. Ex-ante, the contracting parties cannot include the risky unforeseen contingencies in the contract they draw up. Ex-post the court observes whether an unforeseen contingency occurred, and decides whether to \textit{void} or \textit{uphold} the contract. If the contract is voided by the court, the parties can renegotiate a new agreement ex-post. There are two effects of a court that voids more contracts. The parties' incentives to undertake relationship-specific investment are reduced, while the parties enjoy greater insurance against the unforeseen contingencies which the ex-ante contract cannot take into account. In this context, we are able to characterize fully the optimal decision rule for the court. The behavior of the optimal court is determined by the tradeoff between the need for incentives and the gains from insurance that voiding in some circumstances offers to the agents.


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Paper Reference Number: 1245

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57th European Meeting
25th August 2002 - 28th August 2002, Venice, Italy

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