In this paper 'Scaffolding: Using Formal Contracts to Build Informal Relations in Support of Innovation', we first present examples of this phenomenon from our interview respondents, and then consider how conventional models of relational contracting can be enriched to take account of a very different role for formal contracting, independent of formal enforcement. In particular, we propose that formal contracting-meaning the use of formal documents together with the services of an institution of formal contract reasoning-serves to coordinate beliefs about what constitutes a breach of a highly ambiguous set of obligations. This coordination supports implementation of strategies that induce compliance -despite the presence of substantial ambiguity ex ante at the time of contracting-with what is fundamentally still a relational contract.
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