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Can Blockchain Solve the Hold-up Problem in Contracts?

Author

Listed:
  • Holden,Richard
  • Malani,Anup

Abstract

A vexing problem in contract law is modification. Two parties sign a contract but before they fully perform, they modify the contract. Should courts enforce the modified agreement? A private remedy is for the parties to write a contract that is robust to hold-up or that makes the facts relevant to modification verifiable. Provisions accomplishing these ends are renegotiation-design and revelation mechanisms. But implementing them requires commitment power. Conventional contract technologies to ensure commitment – liquidated damages – are disfavored by courts and themselves subject to renegotiation. Smart contracts written on blockchain ledgers offer a solution. We explain the basic economics and legal relevance of these technologies, and we argue that they can implement liquidated damages without courts. We address the hurdles courts may impose to use of smart contracts on blockchain and show that sophisticated parties' ex ante commitment to them may lead courts to allow their use as pre-commitment devices.

Suggested Citation

  • Holden,Richard & Malani,Anup, 2021. "Can Blockchain Solve the Hold-up Problem in Contracts?," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781009001397, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:cbooks:9781009001397
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    Cited by:

    1. Benito Arruñada, 2020. "Prospects of Blockchain in Contract and Property," Springer Books, in: Amnon Lehavi & Ronit Levine-Schnur (ed.), Disruptive Technology, Legal Innovation, and the Future of Real Estate, edition 1, pages 35-55, Springer.
    2. Gaétan de Rassenfosse & Kyle Higham, 2024. "Decentralising the patent system," Chapters, in: Walter G. Park (ed.), Handbook of Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights, chapter 8, pages 120-138, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Olivier Meier & Aurélie Sannajust, 2021. "The smart contract revolution: a solution for the holdup problem?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1073-1088, August.
    4. Joshua S. Gans & Richard Holden, 2022. "Mechanism Design Approaches to Blockchain Consensus," Papers 2206.10065, arXiv.org.
    5. Günnewig, Maximilian & Georgiadis-Harris, Alkis & Mitkov, Yuliyan, 2024. "Smart Banks," VfS Annual Conference 2024 (Berlin): Upcoming Labor Market Challenges 302331, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Andrea Canidio, 2023. "Auctions with Tokens: Monetary Policy as a Mechanism Design Choice," Papers 2301.13794, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2023.
    7. Joshua S. Gans, 2019. "The Fine Print in Smart Contracts," NBER Working Papers 25443, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Cong, Lin William & Li, Ye & Wang, Neng, 2022. "Token-based platform finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 972-991.
    9. Alkis Georgiadis-Harris & Maxi Guennewig & Yuliyan Mitkov, 2024. "Smart Banks," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2024_540, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    10. Mamageishvili, A. & Schlegel, J. C., 2019. "Optimal Smart Contracts with Costly Verification," Working Papers 19/13, Department of Economics, City University London.
    11. Massimiliano Vatiero, 2018. "Smart contracts and transaction costs," Discussion Papers 2018/238, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    12. Alexander Karaivanov, 2021. "Blockchains, Collateral and Financial Contracts," Discussion Papers dp21-03, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    13. Chod, Jiri & Lyandres, Evgeny, 2023. "Product market competition with crypto tokens and smart contracts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(1), pages 73-91.
    14. Olivier Meier & Aurélie Sannajust, 0. "The smart contract revolution: a solution for the holdup problem?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-16.
    15. Jiri Chod & Nikolaos Trichakis & S. Alex Yang, 2022. "Platform Tokenization: Financing, Governance, and Moral Hazard," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6411-6433, September.
    16. Anil Savio Kavuri & Alistair Milne, 2019. "FinTech and the future of financial services: What are the research gaps?," CAMA Working Papers 2019-18, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law
    • K12 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Contract Law

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