Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/77529 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 43
Publisher: 
University of Zurich, Department of Economics, Zurich
Abstract: 
Previous experimental work provides encouraging support for some of the central assumptions underlying Hart and Moore (2008)'s theory of contractual reference points. However, existing studies ignore realistic aspects of trading relationships such as informal agreements and expost renegotiation. We investigate the relevance of these features experimentally. Our evidence indicates that the central behavioral mechanism underlying the concept of contractual reference points is robust to the presence of informal agreements and ex post renegotiation. However, our data also reveal new behavioral features that suggest refinements of the theory. In particular, we find that the availability of informal agreements and ex post renegotiation changes how trading parties evaluate ex post outcomes. Interestingly, the availability of these additional options affects ex post evaluations even in situations in which the parties do not use them.
Subjects: 
contractual reference points
informal agreements
renegotiation
experiment
JEL: 
C91
D03
D86
J41
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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