This volume investigates the profound influence of the property rights approach to firm boundaries and incomplete contracting on modern economic theory. The editors, all prominent scholars in the field, compile a series of seminal papers and critical essays that evaluate how the 1986 Grossman-Hart framework transformed the modeling of firm behavior. By analyzing the shift from traditional transaction cost economics to formal incomplete contract theory, the text provides a comprehensive assessment of how these concepts have reshaped institutional economics.

Experts recognize this collection as a vital resource for understanding the development of contract theory in the late 20th century. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is intended for advanced students and professional economists familiar with formal modeling.