Information Technology Law

Global Order Beyond Law How Information and Communication Technologies Facilitate Relational Contracting in International Trade

By Thomas Dietz
Hart Publishing August 2016

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781509907434
Publisher
Hart Publishing
Publication
August 2016
Format
Paperback , 270 pages
Jurisdiction
International ? Countri(es) for reference only

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Details

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 on global markets has emerged in the absence of a global legal order. 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction

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 from Bulgaria and Romania are Enforced after Bulgaria and Romania Entered the EU
9. Overall Results

PART III Explanations and Theoretical Results
10. Economic Globalisation and the Decline of State Contract Law
11. The Limits of International Commercial Arbitration
12. ICT and the Rise of Informal Contract Enforcement

Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Thomas Dietz is Associate Professor for Politics and Law at the University of Muenster.

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