So let it be written, so let it be done

One, three out of.

Over, out of the way, here's the (20th version of) the abstract:

Transaction cost economics helps explain the existence of economic institutions such as market structure or contract form by considering these to be intelligent governance mechanisms. The focus on governance ignores the institutional environment in which contracts are written. Using data on 20 years of coal procurement in the US, I show that changes in the institutional environment - in the form of the reorganization of the railroads, and the Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990- enables a switch to fi xed price contracts, by changing the transaction
characteristics of relationship speci fic investments and frequent ex-post adaptation. This enables me to derive causal estimates of these transaction characteristics. I find that ignoring the role of the institutional environment can lead to biased estimates of the e ffect of relationship specifi c investments; and ex-post adaptation appears a more important determinant of contract choice than relationship specifi c investment.

I hope I haven't quite sunk that abstract in a morass of academic-speak. Although there ought to be at least a smidgeon of difficult language. Because otherwise, if I reduced everything into commonplace utterances people could understand, they might get the wrong idea. Some camouflage in dense verbiage and mathematical mysticism is actually useful because it makes the reader work a bit to understand what the hell the writer's going on about.

This is why I don't agree with the usual dictum of 'being easy to read'. Because - notice, readers, notice - being easy to read is very easy to confuse with being simplistic. The end result is a temptation to advertise falsely, although the falsity comes in because you're trying be an easy writer. Oy, we aren't writing bestsellers. If you wanted to do that, why do a PhD?

If you want to get me, you're going to have to work at it, at least a little bit. Free riding isn't useful here, babe.

"Now it seems everyone wants to discuss me,
But it must mean that I'm disgusting"