Braided Agreements and New Frontiers for Relational Contract Theory

Jennejohn, Matthew

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Braided Agreements and New Frontiers for Relational Contract Theory

45 J. Corp. L. 101 (2020)

30 Pages Posted: 11 May 2020

See all articles by Matthew Jennejohn

Matthew Jennejohn

Brigham Young University - J. Reuben Clark Law School; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Date Written: April 15, 2020

Abstract

This Article, written for a symposium at Wharton celebrating Ron Gilson's scholarship, assesses Gilson, Sabel & Scott's "braided contracting" thesis, presented in their 2010 article, Braiding: The Interaction of Formal and Informal Contracting in Theory, Practice, and Doctrine. Focusing particularly on the application of the braiding thesis to preliminary agreements, this Article presents new evidence of a preliminary negotiation process called "alpha contracting," used from time to time by the Department of Defense in sole-source situations, that exhibits many of the key characteristics of braided contracting's logic. The piece then turns to the limits of the braiding thesis, identifying a number of new questions for relational contracting research to explore.

Keywords: contract design, contract law, preliminary agreements, innovation, defense contracting, government procurement

JEL Classification: K12, K20

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Jennejohn, Matthew, Braided Agreements and New Frontiers for Relational Contract Theory (April 15, 2020). 45 J. Corp. L. 101 (2020), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3577290