Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- General editors' preface -- Preface -- Contributors -- Abbreviations -- General abbreviations -- Introduction and Conclusions -- Case studies: abbreviations by country -- Austria -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- From the common law to the civil law: the experience of Israel -- Note on translations of foreign language statutory provisions -- 1 Introduction -- A. The Common Core Project -- 1. Aim and method -- a. Aim -- b. Method -- 2. Methodological criticism -- a. Functionalism -- b. Neutrality, scientific method and the politics of comparative law -- B. The precontractual liability project -- 1. General -- 2. The questionnaire -- a. Precontractual liability -- b. Legal formants -- 3. The cases -- 4. The national reports -- 2 Case studies -- Case 1: Negotiations for premises for a bookshop -- Case 1 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- Case 2: Negotiations for renewal of a lease -- Case 2 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- Case 3: Mistake about ownership of land to be sold -- Case 3 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations.

Case 4: An architect's preparatory work for a contract which does not materialise parallel negotiations -- Case 4 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- Case 5: A broken engagement -- Case 5 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- Case 6: An express lock-out agreement -- Case 6 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- Case 7: Breakdown of merger negotiations -- Case 7 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- Case 8: A shopping centre without a tenant -- Case 8 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- Case 9: Breakdown of negotiations to build a house for a friend -- Case 9 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- Case 10: Public bidding -- Case 10 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France.

Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Where B's bid was the lowest -- Where B's bid was not the lowest -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- Case 11: A contract for the sale of a house which fails for lack of formality -- Case 11 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- Case 12: Confidential design information given during negotiations -- Case 12 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- Case 13: Misrepresentation or silence about a harvester's capacity -- Case 13 -- Discussions -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- Editors' comparative observations -- 3 From the common law to the civil law: the experience of Israel -- The dilemma -- Israeli law under the common law: no rule of precontractual liability -- Section 12 of the Contracts Law -- Rule of precontractual liability -- Civil law impact -- Section 12 and other grounds of precontractual liability -- Nature of liability under section 12 -- Evaluation of section 12 -- Analysis of cases -- Case 1 Negotiations for premises for a bookshop -- Case 2 Negotiations for renewal of a lease -- Case 3 Mistake about ownership of land to be sold -- Case 4 An architect's preparatory work for a contract which does not materialise -- parallel negotiations -- Case 5 A broken engagement.

Case 6 An express lock-out agreement -- Case 7 Breakdown of merger negotiations -- Case 8 A shopping centre without a tenant -- Case 9 Breakdown of negotiations to build a house for a friend -- Case 10 Public bidding -- Case 11 A contract for the sale of a house which fails for the lack of formality -- Case 12 Confidential design information given during negotiations -- Case 13 Misrepresentation or silence about a harvester's capacity -- From a standard to rules: two categories of bad faith -- Misrepresentation -- Broken promises and frustrated expectations -- Was there a price to be paid for the move? -- 4 A law and economics perspective on precontractual liability -- The problem -- Law and economics models of precontractual liability -- Craswell's model: liability as an incentive for efficient reliance -- Katz's model: the efficiency of 'promissory estoppel' -- Bebchuk and Ben-Shahar's model: searching for an efficient 'intermediate' rule -- An economic perspective on eight hypothetical cases -- Case 1 Negotiations for premises for a bookshop -- Case 2 Negotiations for renewal of a lease -- Case 3 Mistake about ownership of land to be sold -- Case 4 An architect's preparatory work for a contract which does not materialise -- parallel negotiations -- Case 5 A broken engagement -- Case 6 An express lock-out agreement -- Case 8 A shopping centre without a tenant -- Case 9 Breakdown of negotiations to build a house for a friend -- Conclusion -- 5 Conclusions -- The problem of precontractual liability -- Peculiarity of the precontractual phase -- Imposing liability in the precontractual phase: balancing the arguments -- The negotiations: a legally significant relationship? -- Expectation, reliance and shifting the economic risk of the negotiations -- Placing the liability: contract, tort or tertium quid?.

Two (extreme?) illustrations: English law and Dutch law -- English law: the most restrictive? -- Dutch law: the most expansive? -- The range of solutions: similarity and difference in particular cases -- Similarities of result? -- Differences of result -- Drawing together the threads -- Different techniques in dealing with the precontractual phase -- Influence of other legal practices and policies -- Commercial context and risk allocation -- Superficiality of similarity and difference in results -- A common core? -- Bibliography -- 1. General bibliography, introduction and conclusions -- 2. Case studies: bibliography by country -- Austria -- Denmark -- England -- Finland -- France -- Germany -- Greece -- Ireland -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Norway -- Portugal -- Scotland -- Spain -- Sweden -- Switzerland -- 3. From the common law to the civil law: the experience of Israel -- Index.