2025 Relational Contracts Conference
The 2025 Relational Contracts Conference brought together theoretical, empirical, and applied perspectives from across disciplines. Alongside research presentations by economists, the workshop featured commentary from legal scholars engaged in relational contracts and contractual governance.
The conference has two main objectives: 1) identify interesting yet under-appreciated real-world features of relational contracts that will enrich scholars’ understanding of this phenomenon and provide novel insights for theoretical modeling; 2) encourage scholars of relational contracts in different areas and disciplines to collaborate.
This conference is by invitation only. If you have any questions, please reach out to bfi-events@uchicago.edu.
PHOTO GALLERY
Agenda
Registration and Breakfast
Welcome Remarks
Session 1: Relational Contracts and Policy
Joel Watson, University of California, San Diego (Moderator)
Coalitions and Recurrent Negotiation in Multilateral Relational Contracts | David Miller, University of Michigan
Cooperation and Asymmetries in Common-pool Resources | Maija Halonen-Akatwijuka, University of Bristol
Exploitation Payoffs and Incentives for Exploration | William Fuchs, University of Texas, Austin
Lunch
1st Floor Dining Room
Session 2: Rules, Flexibility and Renegotiation of Relational Contracts
Alan Schwartz, Yale University (Moderator)
Optimal Rule Enforcement | Hanzhe Li, University of Hong Kong
Contract Renegotiations in Public-Private Partnerships: Balancing Commitment and Flexibility | Emmanuelle Auriol, Toulouse School of Economics
Break
Session 3: Managing Contractual Relationships
Nicholas Argyres, Washington University, Saint Louis (Moderator)
Intelligent Contracts | Omer Pelled, Bar-Ilan University
Building Relational Norms in Interorganizational Relationships: A Joint Problem-Solving Approach | Hagay Volvovsky, Tel Aviv University
Break
Session 4: Relational contracts and Politics
Marta Troya-Martinez, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona & New Economic School (Moderator)
Relational Contracts and the Theory of Autocracy | Scott Gehlbach, University of Chicago
Norms and Dynamics of Power Alternation | Zhaotian Luo, University of Chicago
Shuttle to Dinner
Conference Dinner
By Invitation Only
Breakfast
Session 1: Relational Contracts and Environmental Changes
W. Bentley MacLeod, Yale University (Moderator)
Gender Differences in the Response to Incentives: Evidence from Academia | Erina Ytsma, Carnegie Mellon University
Acquisitions and Relational Management Practices | Ameet Morjaria, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Break
Roundtable I: Agency Costs and Authority in Enterprise Negotiations
Danny Ertel, Vantage Partners (Speaker)
Lisa Bernstein, University of Chicago (Chair)
Giorgio Zanarone, University of Lausanne (Respondent)
Lunch
Roundtable II: Contract Variation: A Real World View
Susan Helper, Case Western Reserve University (Speaker)
Alan Schwartz, Yale University (Chair)
Nicholas Argyres, Washington University, St. Louis (Respondent)
Roundtable III: Where to Go From Here
Brad Peterson, Mayer Brown LLP
Robert Gibbons, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lisa Bernstein, University of Chicago