These cases can occur when (1) agency relationships are not embedded in networks of social relations, (2) relationships are episodic rather than continuing, (3) principals are "one-shotters" and agents "repeat-players," (4) principals cannot evaluate agent performance (because they lack access or expertise, are literally incompetent, or are committed to futures transactions and necessarily await delivery on agent promises), (5) agents have actual possession of principals' property (and, therefore, exit may not be a viable option for aggrieved principals), or (6) agency offerings are not easily rescinded or reversed (e.g., surgery).

XREF: Connects to principal-agent theory literature in economics and organizational behavior, and to one-shotter/repeat-player dynamics familiar from game theory and legal scholarship.

Shapiro, Susan P., The Social Control of Imper…, loc. 55