In this episode of the LSE Beverage Report podcast, we are delighted to have a conversation with Sir Oliver Hart, a British-born American economist and Nobel laureate. Sir Oliver is the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University, and one of the leading experts on contract theory. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2016, together with Bengt Holmström, for his contributions to the theory of incomplete contracts.
We talk to Sir Oliver about his life and career, from his early days as a student, to his groundbreaking research on the roles that ownership structure and contractual arrangements play in the governance and boundaries of corporations. We also discuss his influential work on the hold-up problem, the property rights approach to the theory of the firm, and the implications of incomplete contracts for public policy and institutional design. Sir Oliver shares with us his insights on how he came up with his seminal ideas and what challenges he faced along the way.
This is part one of a two-part interview with Sir Oliver Hart. Stay tuned for part two, where we will explore some of his more recent research topics, such as corporate social responsibility, reference points, and behavioral contracts.