Courts are willing, in commercial contests, to enforce promises even without consideration when enforcement supports a norm of reciprocity -- a norm which recognizes that such promises are seldom totally gratuitous, but are often made in furtherance of reciprocal, long-term, trust-based...

In a real-effort experiment, we investigate how the timing of discretionary bonuses affects the relationship between workers and managers. Average output is substantially higher if bonuses are paid in the middle rather than upfront or at the end, as workers increase first-period output to signal...