This volume examines new theoretical developments in labour contracts and relates them to the actual content of such contracts, and to differences in labour contracts which depend on the specifics of the institutional environment in which they are negotiated. This study is done from an international perspective, by comparing differences in labour contracts among European countries and between Europe, Japan and the US. The comparison consists of a careful description of selected characteristics of labour contracts and traits of the institutional environment and an explanation of their national emergence. The novelty of the study lies in the integrated approach of practical specification of labour contracts and theoretical analysis based on economic principles of efficiency. Existing contract theory in labour economics is used and extended when necessary to explain the occurrence of certain contract clauses, the division between legal and private arrangements, the role and function of institutions in the labour market and so on.