# Oliver Hart ![jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/hart/files/1st_hart_uprof_002.jpg?itok=gogWhAet) [Vitae](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/2025-12/cv_revised_12-03-2025%20%282%29_0.pdf "CV Hart 120325") [Journal of Finance bio](/file_url/143) Sir Oliver Hart is currently the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1993. He is the 2016 co-recipient of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Hart’s research centers on the roles that ownership structure and contractual arrangements play in the governance and boundaries of corporations. His recent work focuses on how parties can write better contracts, and on the social responsibility of business. He has published a book (*Firms, Contracts, and Financial Structure*, Oxford University Press, 1995) and numerous journal articles. He has used his theoretical work on firms and contracts in several legal cases. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, and the American Finance Association, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, and has several honorary degrees. He has been president of the American Law and Economics Association and a vice president of the American Economic Association. He was made a Knight Bachelor in the King’s Birthday Honours List, 2023. ## Recent Publications Download 8 citations download- [BibTeX](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=8&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=bibtex) - [EndNote X3 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=8&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=endnote8) - [EndNote 7 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=8&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=endnote7) - [Endnote tagged](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=8&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=tagged) - [Marc](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=8&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=marc) - [PubMedId](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=8&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=pubmed_id) - [RIS](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=8&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=ris) ### 2026 Hart, Oliver, Helene Landemore, and Luigi Zingales. 2026. *[How To Implement Shareholder Democracy](/publication/how-implement-shareholder-democracy)*. Forthcoming Harvard Business Law Review. Hart, Oliver, Helene Landemore, and Luigi Zingales. 2026. *[How To Implement Shareholder Democracy](/publication/how-implement-shareholder-democracy)*. Forthcoming Harvard Business Law Review. - [ picture\_as\_pdfShareholder Democracy 060...](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/2026-06/Shareholder%20Democracy%20060426_0.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfShareholder Democracy 060...](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/2026-06/Shareholder%20Democracy%20060426_0.pdf) ### 2024 Hart, Oliver, David Thesmar, and Luigi Zingales. 2024. “[Private Sanctions](/publications/private-sanctions)”. *Economic Policy January 2024*, 203-68. Hart, Oliver, David Thesmar, and Luigi Zingales. 2024. “[Private Sanctions](/publications/private-sanctions)”. *Economic Policy January 2024*, 203-68. - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://academic.oup.com/economicpolicy/article/39/117/203/7462771) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/hart/files/private_sanctions_jan2024.pdf) - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://academic.oup.com/economicpolicy/article/39/117/203/7462771) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/hart/files/private_sanctions_jan2024.pdf) Frydlinger, David, and Oliver Hart. 2024. “[Overcoming Contractual Incompleteness: The Role of Guiding Principles](/publications/overcoming-contractual-incompleteness-role-guiding-principals)”. *The Journal of Law, Economics and Organization. 40, (3): 625-647*. Frydlinger, David, and Oliver Hart. 2024. “[Overcoming Contractual Incompleteness: The Role of Guiding Principles](/publications/overcoming-contractual-incompleteness-role-guiding-principals)”. *The Journal of Law, Economics and Organization. 40, (3): 625-647*. - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://academic.oup.com/jleo/article/40/3/625/7000797) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/overcoming_contractual_incompleteness_111824.pdf) Transactions of any complexity between buyers and sellers are supported by long-term contracts and these contracts are inevitably incomplete. We propose an approach for overcoming contractual incompleteness based on the idea that most people are inclined... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://academic.oup.com/jleo/article/40/3/625/7000797) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/overcoming_contractual_incompleteness_111824.pdf) Hart, Oliver, and Maija Halonen-Akatwijuka. 2024. “[More Is Less: Why Parties May Deliberately Write Incomplete Contracts](/publications/more-less-why-parties-may-deliberately-write-incomplete-contracts)”. *Cambridge Elements in Law, Economics, and Politics 2024*. Hart, Oliver, and Maija Halonen-Akatwijuka. 2024. “[More Is Less: Why Parties May Deliberately Write Incomplete Contracts](/publications/more-less-why-parties-may-deliberately-write-incomplete-contracts)”. *Cambridge Elements in Law, Economics, and Politics 2024*. - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/more-is-less-published_092324.pdf) Why are contracts incomplete? Transaction costs and bounded rationality cannot be a total explanation since states of the world are often describable, foreseeable, and yet are not mentioned in a contract. Asymmetric information theories also have... - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/more-is-less-published_092324.pdf) ### 2022 Broccardo, Eleonora, Oliver Hart, and Luigi Zingales. 2022. “[Exit Vs. Voice](/publications/exit-vs-voice-0)”. *Published in Journal of Political Economy, December 2022*. Broccardo, Eleonora, Oliver Hart, and Luigi Zingales. 2022. “[Exit Vs. Voice](/publications/exit-vs-voice-0)”. *Published in Journal of Political Economy, December 2022*. - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/720516) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/hart/files/exit_vs_voice_dec2022.pdf) - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/720516) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/hart/files/exit_vs_voice_dec2022.pdf) Hart, Oliver, and Luigi Zingales. 2022. “[The New Corporate Governance](/publications/new-corporate-governance)” 1 (1): 195-216. Hart, Oliver, and Luigi Zingales. 2022. “[The New Corporate Governance](/publications/new-corporate-governance)” 1 (1): 195-216. - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://businesslawreview.uchicago.edu/2022/10/31/the-new-corporate-governance/) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/hart/files/hart-zingales_august_2022.pdf) - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://businesslawreview.uchicago.edu/2022/10/31/the-new-corporate-governance/) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum10571/files/hart/files/hart-zingales_august_2022.pdf) ### 2020 Frydlinger, David, Oliver Hart, and Kate Vitasek. 2020. “[An Innovative Way to Prevent Adversarial Supplier Relationships](/publications/innovative-way-prevent-adversarial-supplier-relationships)”. *Harvard Business Review* . Frydlinger, David, Oliver Hart, and Kate Vitasek. 2020. “[An Innovative Way to Prevent Adversarial Supplier Relationships](/publications/innovative-way-prevent-adversarial-supplier-relationships)”. *Harvard Business Review* . - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://hbr.org/2020/10/an-innovative-way-to-prevent-adversarial-supplier-relationships?ab=hero-subleft-3) - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://hbr.org/2020/10/an-innovative-way-to-prevent-adversarial-supplier-relationships?ab=hero-subleft-3) Halonen-Akatwijuka, Maija, and Oliver Hart. 2020. “[Continuing Contracts](/publications/short-term-long-term-and-continuing-contracts)”. *Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization* 36 (2): 284-313. Halonen-Akatwijuka, Maija, and Oliver Hart. 2020. “[Continuing Contracts](/publications/short-term-long-term-and-continuing-contracts)”. *Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization* 36 (2): 284-313. - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://academic.oup.com/jleo/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jleo/ewz022/5717393?guestAccessKey=3064583f-6d17-4d84-ba35-dd789f2c81a5) Parties often regulate their relationships through “continuing” contracts that are not fixed term but roll over: employment is a leading example. Our premise is that parties apply fairness when they revise a continuing contract and that prior terms... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://academic.oup.com/jleo/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jleo/ewz022/5717393?guestAccessKey=3064583f-6d17-4d84-ba35-dd789f2c81a5) [ More arrow\_circle\_right ](/publications)