Networks as Connected Contracts: Edited with an Introduction by Hugh Collins (International Studies in the Theory of Private Law) - Hardcover

Teubner, Gunther

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1849461740 ISBN 13: 9781849461740

Publisher: Hart Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

Business networks consist of several independent businesses that enter into interrelated contracts, conferring on the parties many of the benefits of co-ordination achieved through vertical integration in a single firm, without creating a single integrated business such as a corporation or partnership. Retail franchises are one such example of a network, but the most common instance is a credit card transaction between a customer, retailer, and the issuer of the card. How should the law analyse this hybrid economic phenomenon? It is neither exactly a market relationship - because that overlooks the co-ordination, relational qualities and interdependence of the contracts - nor is it a type of business association or company, since it lacks a centralised co-ordinating authority that receives the residual profits.

This book is a translation of Gunther Teubner's classic work on networks, setting out his novel legal concept of 'connected contracts'. In it he explains how this concept addresses the problems posed by networks, such as the question whether the network as a whole can be held legally responsible for damage that it causes to third parties such as customers. A substantial introduction by Hugh Collins explains the analysis of networks in the context of German law and the systems theory from which Teubner approaches the topic. The introduction also explores how far the concept of connected contracts might assist in the common law world, including the UK and the USA, to address the same problems that arise in cases involving networks. As well as making a contribution to comparative law and legal theory, the book will be of interest to scholars interested in contract law, commercial law and the law of business associations.

About this title

About the Authors

Gunther Teubner is Professor Emeritus of Private Law and Legal Sociology at the Faculty of Law, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Hugh Collins is the Cassel Professor of Commercial Law at the London School of Economics, and Emeritus Vinerian Professor of English Law at the University of Oxford, UK. Previous books include Justice in Dismissal, Marxism and Law, Employment Law 2nd edn, Human Rights at Work (with Bogg, Davies, and Mantouvalou), Labour Law 3rd edn (with Ewing and McColgan), and Philosophical Foundations of Labour Law (ed with Lester and Mantouvalou).

Photo courtesy of Faculty of Law, University of Oxford.

Michelle Everson is a Research Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence.

Christian Joerges was Professor of Law and Society at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, and Co-Director of the Centre of European Law and Politics at the University of Bremen.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1849461740
• ISBN 13: 9781849461740
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 314