To operationalize the Aokian framework to analyze contract farming from a Comparative Institutional Analysis perspective (CIA), I make a case for unraveling the contracting problem into its constituent stages, of whether to contract, choosing contractual partners, determining the features of the contract, of honoring contracts and of contract enforcement. Each of these stages contains elements of friction that define the substantive features of the arrangement. The rest of the book takes up each of these stages. This chapter also elaborates on the Indian field data that will be used to anchor discussion in the rest of the book.