THE ECONOMIC-APPROACH TO CONTRACTS - UNIT Y OR DIVERSITY

Since the mid-1970s, neoclassical economic analysis has gradually conc entrated on the contract as the prototypical form for regulating trans actions. The key notions of the economic theory of contracts are prese nted by distinguishing between types of actors and the risks linked to asymmetrical situations with regard to information. The explanatory p ower of these notions is tested with examples from various fields. Sev eral still unsettled questions limit the scope of the economic analysi s of contracts: the method used, the status of time, and the way this theory incorporates the notion of organization.