Books by Henrik Ballebye Olesen

Cooperatives and cooperative payment schemes, cost and profit sharing rules, are found in all sectors of society - including law and consultancy, insurance and finance, health, housing, utility, and, of course, in agriculture. The book develops an economic framework for assessing different cooperative payment schemes. First, a number of relevant criteria (properties) are defined, then the book analyses how well different schemes fulfil these criteria under alternative production and market conditions. The book is aimed at professionals involved in the design and use of payment schemes as well as students and researchers at universities. The book includes a number of practical examples from the agro-industrial sector. The criteria and schemes are also illustrated with simple numerical examples and graphics. For the more technically minded, there are specially highlighted sections containing formalised mathematical presentations.

In this book, the authors allow theory and practice to interact. They develop a holistic theoretical framework for contract analysis based on coordination theory, transaction cost theory and principal agent theory. This framework is used to analyze existing contracts. Actual contracts can be just as advanced as recent progress in contract theory. The ingenuity varies considerably between contracts, however, and contracts typically evolve through costly trial-and-error processes. Hence, learning from best practices and a theory-based approach, can improve contract design. The book is aimed at decision-makers, students and researchers. Decision-makers can use the analytical framework and the synthesis of contracting practices to evaluate contracts. Students can use the book as an introduction to applied contract theory. Researchers will be inspired by the interaction between contract theory and contracting.