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1、--CHAPTER3ThetheoryofcontractsOliverHartandBengtHolmstromlntroductionThepastdecadehaswitnessedagrowinginterestincontracttheoriesofvariouskinds.Thisdevelopmentispartlyareactiontoourratherthor-oughunderstandingofthestandardtheoryofperfectcompetitionundercompletemark
2、ets,butmoreimportantlytotheresultingrealizationthatthisparadigmisinsufficienttoaccommodateanumberofimportanteco-nomicphenomena.Studyinginmoredetailtheprocessofcontracting-particularlyitshazardsandimperfections-isanaturalwaytoenrichandamendtheidealizedcompetitivemo
3、delinanattempttofittheevidencebetter.Atpresentitisthemajoralternativetomodelsofimperfectcom-petition;wewillcommentonitscomparativeadvantagebelow.Inonesense,contractsprovidethefoundationforalargepartofeco-nomicanalysis.Anytrade-asaquidproquo-mustbemediatedbysomefor
4、mofcontract,whetheritbeexplicitorimplicit.Inthecaseofspottrades,however,wherethetwosidesofthetransactionoccuralmostsimultaneously,thecontractualelementisusuallydownplayed,presum-ablybecauseitisregardedastrivial(althoughthisneednotbethecase;seeSection3).Inrecentyea
5、rs,economistshavebecomemuchmoreinter-estedinlong-termrelationshipswhereaconsiderableamountoftimemayelapsebetweenthequidandthequo.Inthesecircumstances,acontractbecomesanessentialpartofthetradingrelationship.Ofcourse,long-termcontractsarenotnewineconomics.Contingent
6、commoditytradesoftheArrow-Debreutypeareexamplesparexcellenceofsuchcontracts.WhatdoesseemnewistheanalysisofcontractswrittenWewo~lldlike10thankJonathanFeinstein,PaulJoskow,JohnMoore,SherwinRosen,JeanTirole,andAndyWeissforcommentsonanearlierdraft.Financialsupportfrom
7、NSFandtheSloanFoundationisgratefullyacknowedged.72OliverHartandBengtHolmstrombyandcoveringasmallnumberofpeople.Thatis,therehasbeenamoveawayfromtheimpersonalArrow-Debreumarketsettingwherepeoplemaketrades"withthemarket,"toasituationwherefirmAandfirmB,orfirmCandunion
8、D,writealong-termcontract.Thisdepartureisnotwith-outeconomicsignificance.Williamson(1985),inparticular,hasstressedtheimportanceofsituationswhereasmallnu
