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Are both 주어요 and 줘요 equally correct and exactly equivalent ways to write the 해요체 form of 주다?
I have read that such contractions are 'optional' after a consonant but I'm not sure if they have any other effect. Is one perhaps less formal? Does the contraction change the pronunciation at all?
Would it be the same for 주었습니다 and 줬습니다?
Their meanings are exactly the same, but their usages are a little different. Shortened forms tend to be more dominantly used in casual speech, and longer forms, which is the "original form", is more preferred in formal writing by some people, although using shortened forms in formal writing is not considered "wrong". This applies to all shortened forms.
Yes, 줬습니다 is just an abbreviation of 주었습니다. And I think 주었습니다~ form is rarely used.
Both 주어요 and 줘요 is grammatically correct terms. To detail into the grammatical part, 주어요 can be split to 주(stem)+어(connecting suffix)+요(supplementary postpositions for honorifics), and 주+어 can be merged and abbreviated into 줘.
In this case it is considered optional to contract, but there are cases where it is not optional. For example, contracting 가 (go) + 아 >> 가 is considered to be required. According to my source(s), all roots with the final vowel of 아, 어, 여 as well as all roots with the final syllable of 오 and 우 are always contracted when conjugating with 아/어/여.
There are also some cases where contraction is not allowed.
