The Organizational Contract ― From Exchange to Long-term Network Cooperation in European Contract Law

This book introduces and develops the paradigm of the organisational contract in European contract law. Suggesting that a more radical distinction should be made between contracts which regulate single or spot exchanges and contracts that organize complex economic activities without creating a new legal entity, the book argues that this distinction goes beyond that between spot and relational contracts because it focuses on the organizational dimension of contracting and its governance features. Divided into six parts, the volume brings together a group of internationally renowned experts to examine the structure of long-term contractual cooperation; networks of contracts; knowledge exchange in long-term contractual cooperation; remedies and specific governance rules in long-term relationships; and the move towards legislation. The book will be of value to academics and researchers in the areas of private law, economic theory and sociology of law, and organizational theory. It will also be a useful resource for practitioners working in international contract law and international business transaction law.

Stefan Grundmann (1958) is married, with three children. He has held the chair for German, European and International Private Law at Humboldt University since 2004. In 2013, he became professor for transnational law at the European University Institute (Florence), while retaining the chair at Humboldt University. He has been visiting professor at Kinga€?s College London, at Rome I University, a€?La Sapienzaa€? and LUISS, at Oxford and Cambridge universities, at Herzlya University (Tel-Aviv), at NYU and Harvard University. He is founding president and current president of the Society of European Contract Law (SECOLA). He is co-founder and president (of the steering committee) of the European Law School (Berlin/London/Paris/Rome) and director of several institutes in the universities where he holds or has held chairs. He is a member of the board of the German Society of Comparative Law. Moreover, he is a member of the European Law Institute and of its council. His research interests include contract law, company and banking law, legal theory, including comparative and European private law. His publications include European Contract Law (1999), European Company Law (2004, 2007, 2011/12); and several comA-mentaries on banking and German contract law in German, European Company Law in English (2007) and in Chinese (forthcoming). He is co-editor of several journals including the European Review of Contract Law (editor-in-chief).