Hung Chi Chen has posted Consideration as Structural Completion: A Directional and Sequential Account of Contract Formation on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This article presents a structural reconstruction of contract formation that clarifies the distinct roles of acceptance, bargained-for correspondence, and consideration. Rather than treating consideration as an exchange of value, the article argues that consideration is the legal recognition of a promissory structure that has reached closure through an induced response.
Using unilateral contracts as the primary analytical lens, the article demonstrates that traditional formulas such as “promise plus consideration” obscure the structural steps by which contractual obligation arises. Acceptance identifies the moment of structural alignment between the parties’ positions and describes the correspondence between the promisor’s proposed framework and the promisee’s responsive position. Consideration, in turn, explains why this completed structure is legally binding.
By distinguishing formation, structural correspondence, and enforceability, the article offers a unified account that clarifies the boundary between bargain and reliance and explains both bilateral and unilateral contracts within a single structural model. Unilateral contracts, often treated as exceptional, are shown instead to reveal the underlying architecture of contractual obligation in its clearest form.