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Thomas Dietz’s book will be enjoyable to any reader interested in contract law theory, in the specificities of complex software development agreements, in international commerce and trade, in sociological approaches to law, or in institutional economics, among other fields. Readers will find in Dietz’s work a fascinating study of contract law in action that forces all of us to be less attached to formal contracting rules and to consider other alternative mechanisms that work in the shadow of contract law or in its absence. Informationen zum Autor Thomas Dietz is Professor of International Relations and Law, Institute of Political Science, University of Münster, Germany. Zusammenfassung Well-functioning contract law is a crucial prerequisite for economic development. However, even though international trade has increased enormously in recent decades, we still know little about the contract enforcement mechanisms that exist in today's globalised markets. The aim of this work is to shed light on the governance of complex cross-border contracts by developing a comprehensive theoretical framework for understanding the relevance of both formal and informal institutions. This framework is then applied to an empirical study of cross-border software development contracts. Combining a unique data set of 41 qualitative expert interviews with statistical data and surveys, the author demonstrates that state contract laws show fundamental signs of dysfunction across borders. Companies engaged in globalised exchange therefore rarely use this mechanism. Even the European Union's supranational enforcement order is, in practice, insignificant. Against all expectations, international commercial arbitration also turns out to be limited in its ability to provide a workable legal infrastructure for global commerce. With global trade lacking a reliable formal legal order, companies have reacted by creating their own informal governance structures. This book explains how complex exchange in global markets has emerged in the absence of a global legal order. Inhaltsverzeichnis Part I Theoretical Framework and Research Question1. Contract Enforcement Institutions 2. State-enforced Contract Law and the Development3. Does Globalisation Lead to a Decline of State Contract Law? Part II Empirical Study4. Research Design 5. Scenario 1: How German Companies Enforce Contracts6. How Bulgarian and Romanian Firms Enforce Contracts7. How Indian Firms Enforce Contracts When Selling8. How Contracts between German Buyers and Suppliers9. Overall Results...
List of contents
Part I Theoretical Framework and Research Question
1. Contract Enforcement Institutions
2. State-enforced Contract Law and the Development
3. Does Globalisation Lead to a Decline of State Contract Law?
Part II Empirical Study
4. Research Design
5. Scenario 1: How German Companies Enforce Contracts
6. How Bulgarian and Romanian Firms Enforce Contracts
7. How Indian Firms Enforce Contracts When Selling
8. How Contracts between German Buyers and Suppliers
9. Overall Results
About the author
Thomas Dietz is Associate Professor for Politics and Law at the University of Muenster.
