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Determinants of contract completeness: An environmental regulatory application

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  • Kosnik, Lea-Rachel

Abstract

There is a tradeoff that must be addressed any time a contract is written; whether or not to make a contract flexible but incomplete or rigid but comprehensive. This paper investigates the completeness of hydroelectric license contracts over a nearly three decade time span and finds that as environmental concerns increase, so does contract flexibility, ultimately confirming the predictions of transaction cost theory. The paper offers an interesting historical look at the development of the U.S. hydroelectric dam license as it ages over time and responds to growing environmental concerns. It also, in a novel empirical application, combines traditional regression analysis with insights from textual analysis and computational linguistics.

Suggested Citation

  • Kosnik, Lea-Rachel, 2014. "Determinants of contract completeness: An environmental regulatory application," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 198-208.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:37:y:2014:i:c:p:198-208
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irle.2013.11.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. George Hendrikse & Patrick Hippmann & Josef Windsperger, 2015. "Trust, transaction costs and contractual incompleteness in franchising," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 867-888, April.
    2. Kosnik, Lea-Rachel, 2015. "What have economists been doing for the last 50 years? A text analysis of published academic research from 1960-2010," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 9, pages 1-38.
    3. Lea-Rachel Kosnik, 2016. "In Tandem Or Out Of Sync? Academic Economics Research And Public Policy Measures," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 34(1), pages 190-202, January.
    4. Federica Di Marcantonio & Pavel Ciaian & Jan Fałkowski, 2020. "Contracting and Farmers’ Perception of Unfair Trading Practices in the EU Dairy Sector," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(3), pages 877-903, September.
    5. Allen Bellas & Lea-Rachel Kosnik, 2019. "Which leading journal leads? Idea diffusion in economics research journals," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 901-921, September.
    6. Majed S. Balalaa & Anouar Ben Mabrouk & Habiba Abdessalem, 2021. "A Wavelet-Based Method for the Impact of Social Media on the Economic Situation: The Saudi Arabia 2030-Vision Case," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-21, May.
    7. Lea Kosnik, 2016. "JEL Codes: What Do They Mean and Are They Used Consistently?," Working Papers 1011, University of Missouri-St. Louis, Department of Economics.
    8. Lea†Rachel Kosnik, 2018. "A Survey Of Jel Codes: What Do They Mean And Are They Used Consistently?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 249-272, February.
    9. Lea-Rachel Kosnik, 2018. "Cap-and-trade versus carbon taxes: which market mechanism gets the most attention?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 605-618, December.
    10. Allen Bellas & Lea-Rachel Kosnik, 2019. "Which leading journal leads? Idea diffusion in economics research journals," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 901-921, September.

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