Adaptation, adjudication, and private ordering: Contractual Relations through the Williamson Lens

Abstract

Williamson's legacy will be permanently, and deservedly, linked with the theory of the firm. As important, however, is his contribution to our understanding of contracting. My aim here is to describe Williamson's conception of contracting, how it differs from other approaches to contracting, and some implications of that approach for contract design and enforcement. I argue that Williamson's ‘process orientation’ – in which the main dimension along which contracts vary is the extent to which contract adjustments are effected through court ordering versus private ordering – provides alternative interpretations of some conventional contract terms but also sheds light on some otherwise puzzling contractual phenomena.

Some Reflections on the Request for Quotations in Russian Public Procurement

“…В 2019 г. окончательная трансформация запроса котировок в электронную форму непосредственно оказала влияние на интерес к данному способу закупок со стороны заказчиков в 2019-2020 гг. В 2021 темпы падения применения запроса котировок снизились, а затем начинается восстановление роста количества и общей стоимости извещений, что можно охарактеризовать как институциональную адаптацию[17,18] заказчиков к новым правилам электронного запроса котировок, которая подтверждается, в том числе, и на данных за три первых квартала 2023 года, когда за этот период времени было размещено на 58% извещений больше, чем за такой же период 2022 года (239 182 шт. в 2023 г. и 151 088 в 2022 г. соответственно)[19].…”

Introduction to the Oliver E. Williamson memorial issue

“…In 'Adaptation, Adjudication, and Private Ordering: Contractual Relations through the Williamson Lens', Scott Masten (2021), another prominent student of contracting, picks up many of the same threads in Williamson's work. Like Gibbons, he emphasizes Williamson's 'process orientation', in which 'the main dimension along which contracts vary is the extent to which contract adjustments are effected through court ordering versus private ordering'.…”