1983 Articles

Implicit Contracts and Fixed Price Equilibria

Stiglitz, Joseph E.; Azariadis, Costas

This introductory essay offers a brief guided tour of the main developments in the theory of implicit contracts, from its inception to the present. It is not intended as a survey but, rather, as an appraisal of the progress that has been made, the difficulties that remain, and as an outline of the microeconomic and macroeconomic issues that seem to invite additional work.