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The Structure of Payments in Technology Transfer Contracts: Evidence from Spain

I analyze a sample of contracts for the acquisition of technology by Spanish firms, where I observe firm and technology characteristics, as well as the type of scheduled payments, whether fixed and/or variable. I find first that technology type influences the chances of the parties reaching an agreement, and second, that the explanations for observed payments based on moral hazard or risk aversion alone are not satisfactory. I argue that all these theories fail to take into account the fact that the contractual relationship is extended along time and that the parties will choose the kind of payments that better estimate the value of the relationship.