Stefan Grundmann - Böcker

This book introduces and develops Contract Governance as a new approach to contract theory. While the concept of governance has already been developed in Williamson's seminal article, it has, ironically, not received much attention in general contract law theory. Indeed, Contract Governance appears to be an important and necessary complement to corporate governance and in fact, as the second, equally important pillar of governance research in the core of private law. With this in mind, Grundmann, Möslein, and Riesenhuber provide a novel approach in setting an international and interdisciplinary research agenda for developing contract law scholarship. Contract Governance focuses particularly on the ways in which a governance perspective leads to research questions that have been neglected in traditional contract law scholarship, and how, from a governance perspective, the questions are dealt with in a different manner and style. Combining substantive chapters and commentaries, this collection of essays addresses an array of topics, including: third party impact and contract governance problems in herd behaviour; governance of networks of contracts; governance in long-term contractual relationships; contract governance and rule setting; and contract governance and political dimensions.

Choice is a key concept of our time. It is a foundational mechanism for every legal order in societies that are, politically, constituted as democracies and, economically, built on the market mechanism. Thus, choice can be understood as an atomic structure that grounds core societal processes. In recent years, however, the debate over the right way to theorize choice - for example, as a rational or a behavioral type of decision making - has intensified. This collection provides an in-depth discussion of the promises and perils of specific types of theories of choice. It shows how the selection of a specific theory of choice can make a difference for concrete legal questions, in particular in the regulation of the digital economy or in choosing between market, firm, or network. In its first part, the volume provides an accessible overview of the current debates about rational versus behavioral approaches to theories of choice. The remainder of the book structures the vast landscape of theories of choice along with three main types: individual, collective, and organizational decision making. As theories of choice proliferate and become ever more sophisticated, however, the process of choosing an adequate theory of choice becomes increasingly intricate. This volume addresses this selection problem for the various legal arenas in which individual, organizational, and collective decisions matter. By drawing on economic, technological, political, and legal points of view, the volume shows which theories of choice are at the disposal of the legally relevant decision-maker, and how they can be operationalized for the solution of concrete legal problems.The editors acknowledge the kind support of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation for an exploratory conference on the subject of the book.

This book introduces and develops the paradigm of the organisational contract in European contract law. Suggesting that a more radical distinction should be made between contracts which regulate single or spot exchanges and contracts that organize complex economic activities without creating a new legal entity, the book argues that this distinction goes beyond that between spot and relational contracts because it focuses on the organizational dimension of contracting and its governance features. Divided into six parts, the volume brings together a group of internationally renowned experts to examine the structure of long-term contractual cooperation; networks of contracts; knowledge exchange in long-term contractual cooperation; remedies and specific governance rules in long-term relationships; and the move towards legislation. The book will be of value to academics and researchers in the areas of private law, economic theory and sociology of law, and organizational theory. It will also be a useful resource for practitioners working in international contract law and international business transaction law.

New Private Law Theory opens a new pathway to private law theory through a pluralistic approach. Such a theory needs a broad and stable foundation, which the authors have built here through a canon of nearly seventy texts of reference. This book brings these different texts from different disciplines into conversation with each other, grouping them around central questions of private law and at the same time integrating them with the legal doctrinal analysis of example cases. This book will be accessible to both experienced and early career scholars working on private law.

New Private Law Theory opens a new pathway to private law theory through a pluralistic approach. Such a theory needs a broad and stable foundation, which the authors have built here through a canon of nearly seventy texts of reference. This book brings these different texts from different disciplines into conversation with each other, grouping them around central questions of private law and at the same time integrating them with the legal doctrinal analysis of example cases. This book will be accessible to both experienced and early career scholars working on private law.

This book introduces and develops the paradigm of the organisational contract in European contract law. Suggesting that a more radical distinction should be made between contracts which regulate single or spot exchanges and contracts that organize complex economic activities without creating a new legal entity, the book argues that this distinction goes beyond that between spot and relational contracts because it focuses on the organizational dimension of contracting and its governance features. Divided into six parts, the volume brings together a group of internationally renowned experts to examine the structure of long-term contractual cooperation; networks of contracts; knowledge exchange in long-term contractual cooperation; remedies and specific governance rules in long-term relationships; and the move towards legislation. The book will be of value to academics and researchers in the areas of private law, economic theory and sociology of law, and organizational theory. It will also be a useful resource for practitioners working in international contract law and international business transaction law.

In 2012, at the height of the sovereign debt crisis, European decision makers pushed for developing an ‘ever closer union’ with the formation of a European Banking Union (BU). Although it provoked widespread debate, to date there has been no coherent discussion of the political and constitutional dimensions of the European Banking Union. This important new publication fills this gap. Drawing on the expertise of recognised experts in the field, it explores banking union from legal, economic and political perspectives. It takes a four-part approach. Firstly, it sets the scene by examining the constitutional foundations of banking union. Then in parts 2 and 3, it looks at the implications of banking union for European integration and for democracy. Finally it asks whether banking union might be more usefully regarded as a trade-off between integration and democracy. This is an important, timely and authoritative collection.

In 2012, at the height of the sovereign debt crisis, European decision makers pushed for developing an ‘ever closer union’ with the formation of a European Banking Union (BU). Although it provoked widespread debate, to date there has been no coherent discussion of the political and constitutional dimensions of the European Banking Union. This important new publication fills this gap. Drawing on the expertise of recognised experts in the field, it explores banking union from legal, economic and political perspectives. It takes a four-part approach. Firstly, it sets the scene by examining the constitutional foundations of banking union. Then in parts 2 and 3, it looks at the implications of banking union for European integration and for democracy. Finally it asks whether banking union might be more usefully regarded as a trade-off between integration and democracy. This is an important, timely and authoritative collection.

Over the last decade, the time period that is also covered by the two editions of this book, European company law has been re-written completely. Virtually no EU measure remained unchanged and most of them have undergone fundamental reform. This is astonishing since almost half of these measures only came into existence after the turn of the millennium.In the last five years 'modern' European company law has been characterized by a strong foundation of accounting law, i.e. the basic information scheme in international models (IFRS), the practicability and reality of cross-border mobility in its different types, the considerable success - at last - of European company types, namely in the form of the European Company which has been adopted by many blue chip companies, and finally by governance, governance and governance. The latter also experiencing a remarkable renaissance of shareholders' rights, namely voting right schemes. In times of crisis this is the equipment with which the challenges have to be met. This book discusses the EC/EU law first including all instruments through which it is transposed into the national law systems.However, where no EC/EU law exists, a comparative law discussion and policy aspects, namely law and economics, fill the gaps. The whole organism of (limited liability) company law is thus covered.In addition to organization, accounting, finance and the closely related capital market law European Company Law covers the cornerstones of EC/EU corporate tax and insolvency law. This broad scientific perspective of the 'European' in company law remains unique and is of greatest value for top-level practice and highly-ranked policy discussions. About this edition'With expert works like this one by professor Grundmann, richly referenced and fairly open to auxiliary sciences (such as the economic analysis of law), the doctrine should be able to rationalise and effectively guide the discussion. From within France we should wish - and act -so that this scientific systematisation effort does not become [...] the monopoly of our colleagues from across the Rhine; colleagues to whom we are grateful for their careful pioneering.'Louis D'Avout in RTDeur (2012) lxxAbout the first edition'Both the general reader [...] and those interested more specifically in company law and corporate finance will benefit from this book.It makes valuable reading for academics, practitioners and regulators/policy makers, and is very stimulating and welcome.'Thomas Papadopoulos in Common Market Law Review 2009 (1019).

European Contract Law in the Digital Age offers an overview of the interactions between digital technologies and contract law and takes into account the two (late) 2015 EU Commission proposals on digital contracting and digital content. The book goes beyond these proposals and is grouped around the three pillars of an architecture of contract law in the digital age: the regulatory framework; digital interventions over the life-cycle of the contract; and digital objects of contracting.The discussion of the regulatory framework looks at the platforms used for digital contracting such as Airbnb which are particularly important instruments for the formation of digital contracts. In describing the life-cycle of the contract, this book shows how four key technologies (digital platforms, Big Data analytics, artificial intelligence, and blockchain) are being used at different stages of the contractual process, from the screening for contractual partners to formation, enforcement and interpretation. Furthermore, digitally facilitated contracting increasingly relates to digital content for instance software or search engines as the object of the contract but while this area has notably been shaped by the proposed Directive on Contracts for the Supply of Digital Content, this work shows that important questions remain unanswered.This book highlights how the digital dimension opens a new chapter in the concept of contracting, both questioning and revisiting many of its core concepts. It is a reliable resource on topical developments for everyone interested in digital technologies and contract law.

The European Banking Union, with its own EU supervisory institutions such as the ECB, has had us forget that banking law mainly consists of transactions with and between clients. It is to a large extent (European) contract law. This volume investigates how the post-crisis supervisory regime of the EU and the Eurozone impacts on bank managers' duties and on market transactions: in their relationship to the large range of stakeholders, including the public as such, in current lending and investment transactions, in the phase of recovery and resolution (with bail-ins triggering changes of contractual rights), but also in adjudication, namely in banking related ADR schemes. It concludes with a look at the ongoing endeavour to extend the banking union to a capital market and more generally a financial union.

The book provides a broad and topical perspective of the sources of modern contract law. It examines the creation of contract law as a multi-pronged occurrence that involves diverse types of normative content and various actors. The book encompasses both a classical perspective on contract law as a state-created edifice and also delves into the setting of contractual rules by non-state actors. In so doing, the volume thoroughly analyses present-day developments to make sense of shifting attitudes towards the overall regulatory paradigm of contract law and those that reshape the classic view of the sources of contract law. The latter concerns, in particular, the digitalisation of markets and growing trends towards granularisation and personalisation of rules.The book builds on the EU private law perspective as its primary point of reference. At the same time, its reach goes far beyond this domain to include in-depth analysis from the vantage points of general contract theory and comparative analysis. In so doing, it pays particular attention to theoretical foundations of sources of contract law and values that underpin them. By adopting such diversified perspectives, the book attempts to provide for a better understanding of the nature and functions of present-day contract law by capturing the multitude of social and economic dynamics that shape its normative landscape.The volume gathers a unique and distinguished group of contributors from the EU, USA and Israel. They bring research experience from various areas of private law and contribute with diverse conceptual perspectives.

Equality has been seen as the core of any quest of justice since Aristotle’s Nicomachian Ethics. Reaching not only situational equality, but equality in status, however, had not been achieved until modern times. The father of ethics and his systematic enquiry into the concept of justice did not have any problems with foreigners without rights, women as second-class citizens and enslaving people – nor did antiquity at large, medieval era or even the high renaissance. While suum cuique (treating equal issues equally and unequal issues unequally) had been in place since antiquity and Cicero, personal status still had to wait to be recognised as a target of equality concerns. Related to this, no agenda was designed for achieving a paradigm reaching beyond mere formal equality, which only implies treating same things formally the same, and the material quest for equality has come to the fore as a vision only very recently. This book explores these issues – from general equality to equality also in personal status, hence also anti-discrimination, and the change from formal to material concepts of equality – in time and in theoretical approaches. In time, it describes firstly how the equality of indigenous people in Latin America was originally developed as a postulate on the basis of the Bible (all men are similar to God) and from that also as a postulate of equality in law. It further describes how this postulate became a rule of natural law and then a powerful political value, also for the masses and daily reality, in the French Revolution (and in the US), then as posited law. In the theory and history of philosophical thought, two questions are discussed in particular. The first is how and whether ‘more material protection’ cannot only be conceived for freedom at all, but as well for equality, even if it is so contingent in times and diverse societies (‘what is equal’)? The second is whether – beyond personal status – an absolute equality right exists nowadays, namely absolutely equal dignity for human beings? This discussion is followed by how to integrate equality into economics, so targeted towards differentiation in all matters, and efficiency of selection. It is further followed by how sociology’s prime quest nowadays might well be the very core of the question: the search for more material protection, namely against systemic discriminations, and such a search even in the toughest contexts such as digitalization.

Die Frage nach der Privatautonomie und ihren Grenzen spielt seit jeher eine bedeutende Rolle in den nationalen Vertrags- und Privatrechten. Auf europäischer Ebene dominieren Regeln, die zwar die Informationenpreisgabe zwingend vorschreiben, die Bestimmung des Vertragsinhalts dann jedoch wieder den Parteien überantworten. Dieses Grundsatzthema über Geist und Funktionieren des Binnenmarktes, mit dem nach einer möglichst weitgehenden Erhaltung von Freiheit bei gleichzeitiger Verbürgung der notwendigen Schutzziele gefragt ist, ist Gegenstand des vorliegenden Bandes. Es wird hier von Rechtswissenschaftlern und Ökonomen aus verschiedenen Mitgliedstaaten und den U.S.A. erörtert.Zentraler Betrachtungsgegenstand ist die Informationsregel und ihre Ausgestaltung. Insgesamt vereint der Band zweierlei, zum einen die Grundsatzdiskussion - rechtswissenschaftlich, europarechtlich und ökonomisch - zum Regelungsansatz im Recht des Binnenmarkthandels und zum wichtigsten Instrument, der Informationsregel mit ihrer freiheitserhaltenden Grundausrichtung. Andererseits bietet er eine dogmatische Aufbereitung wesentlicher Teile des Rechts des Binnenmarkthandels, des Europäischen Schuldvertragsrechts.

Band 1/1 enthält die Einleitung und die Kommentierung der §§ 1-16; 104a und umfasst damit die Vorschriften zu Kaufleuten sowie diejenigen zum Handels- und Unternehmensregister.

Band 15 enthält die Kommentierung der gesamten CMR von Fabian Reuschle.

Das Recht des Binnenmarktes ist bislang kaum erschlossen und in seiner Systematik schwer zu durchschauen. Daher ist Systembildung nötig. In diesem Band entwickeln Rechtswissenschaftler, Ökonomen und Praktiker Richtlinien für die künftige Gesetzgebung und Rechtsprechung in allen Strukturfragen der Rechtsgebiete, die Europäischen Vorgaben folgen. Daraus entsteht ein Gesamtentwurf für das Kerngerüst eines neuen Organisations- und Transaktionsrechts des Binnenmarktes.

Das Zusammenspiel von Rechtswissenschaften, Rechtspraxis und Sozialtheorie bildet eine Gretchenfrage interdisziplinärer Forschung. Die Notwendigkeit und die Grenzen einer solchen Interaktion standen auf der Marburger Tagung der Gesellschaft für Rechtsvergleichung 2013 im Zentrum der Verhandlungen der Grundlagenabteilung. Zunächst wird rechtsvergleichend ein Blick auf die Praxis in den großen Zentren von den USA über Europa bis nach Japan geworfen. Hinzu treten exemplarische Quer- bzw. Längsschnitte: zum Kartellrecht als einem Gebiet gelebter Interdisziplinarität sowie zur historischen Entwicklung von Finanzmarktinstrumenten. Ein Generalreferat zieht aus deutscher und international-interdisziplinärer Perspektive die Summe.

Das zweibändige Werk ist ein Lesebuch zu "Klassikern der Privatrechtstheorie" und zugleich ein Manifest für eine zeitgemäße Privatrechtstheorie, die den Pluralismus der Gesellschaft und der Gesellschaftswissenschaften reflektiert. Zentral für das Buch ist: Eine zeitgemäße Privatrechtstheorie muss sich für die Erkenntnisse anderer Disziplinen zu den Grundproblemen des Privatrechts öffnen und diese Erkenntnisse anhand privatrechtlicher Wertungen rekonstruieren.Vergleich bereichert die Theoriebildung. Daher werden die Theoriediskussionen anderer europäischer Länder, aber auch der Vereinigten Staaten, durchgehend mit einbezogen, und daraus wird in den umfangreichen Diskussionsteilen ein Gesamtbild entwickelt, gestützt auf einen Kernbestand an "Klassikern": Knapp 70 Leittexte der Privatrechtstheorie bringt das Buch zusammen - als Quintessenz einer langjährigen Diskussion mit Kollegen aus unterschiedlichen Ländern und Disziplinen. Damit liegt das Kernstück eines "Kanons" europäischer und US-amerikanischer moderner Privatrechtstheorie vor, der unsere heutige Sicht von den theoretischen Grundlagen des Privatrechts geformt hat.

,Religiöse Werte im Recht' sind sowohl ein historisches Phänomen mit jahrtausendealter Tradition als auch ein komplexer Gegenstand theoretischer Reflexion. Moral und Recht, Geld und Recht - dies sind Begriffspaare, die ohne Religion nicht denkbar sind, wie auch das Nebeneinander oder Gegeneinander von Recht verschiedener Provenienz verschiedene religiöse Prägungen nebeneinander oder gegenüber stellt. Die Beiträge dieses Bandes untersuchen historische Beispiele und theoretische Konzepte für Koexistenz und Konflikte von Recht und Religion. Dies erfolgt im Sinne vertikaler und horizontaler Rechtsvergleichung durch Vergleich von funktional äquivalenten Problemen und deren ähnlichen oder konträren Lösungen.

Während in den Technikwissenschaften teils behauptet wird, der technologische Fortschritt mache rechtliche Institutionen überflüssig, weil Vertragsdurchsetzung zunehmend durch technische Vorrichtungen "geregelt" werden könne, ist das Vertragsrecht in Wirklichkeit keineswegs eine quantité négligeable für die Entstehung von Innovation. Eigeninitiative und freie Willensverwirklichung als zentrale Triebkräfte von Innovation zeichnen nämlich gerade auch das Rechtsgebiet des Vertragsrechts mit seinem Leitmotiv der Privatautonomie aus. Umso erstaunlicher ist der Befund, dass gerade dieses Gebiet in der rechtswissenschaftlichen Innovationsforschung bisher weitgehend ausgeklammert blieb. Der vorliegende Band verfolgt vor diesem Hintergrund das Ziel, das Thema Innovation und Vertragsrecht erstmals in seinen zahlreichen Facetten auszuleuchten.

Der vorliegende Band präsentiert die Beiträge der Tagung zum Thema "Elektronische Wertpapiere", die das Institut für das Recht der Digitalisierung (IRDi) 2021 in Berlin veranstaltete. Das "Gesetz über elektronische Wertpapiere" (eWpG) folgt dem Weg anderer Staaten hin zur Dematerialisierung des Wertpapierrechts, indem es das Erfordernis einer traditionellen Wertpapierurkunde aufgibt und damit einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Modernisierung und Digitalisierung des deutschen Wertpapierrechts leistet. Ein besonderer Fokus liegt auf den mittels Distributed Ledger-Technologien emittierten sog. Kryptowertpapieren, für die das eWpG einen kodifizierten rechtlichen Rahmen geschaffen hat. Die Verfasser des Tagungsbandes sind Spezialisten aus Wissenschaft und Praxis. Sie unterziehen das eWpG einer kritischen Analyse für praxisgerechte Regulierungen. Der Tagungsband berücksichtigt neben zivil- und aufsichtsrechtlichen Aspekten auch die ökonomischen und internationalen Bezüge.