Law & Economics
Objectives
The course introduces the students to the field of law and economics. Part I describes critically the main concepts and introduces the students to the most promising contemporary approaches. Part II focuses on the significance of several economic concepts in a variety of legal contexts.
This course is unique in its approach to the discipline of law and economics. The purpose of the course is two-fold. First, it equips students to critically engage with economic analysis. Second, it teaches students to identify economic problems that the law addresses in a variety of different contexts.
General characterization
Code
27102
Credits
4
Responsible teacher
Fabrizio Esposito
Hours
Weekly - 3
Total - 36
Teaching language
English
Prerequisites
Not Applicable
Bibliography
*Cooter, Robert andUlen, Thomas, Law & Economics, 6.ª edição (Berkeley Law Books: 2016) - http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=books
*Devlin, Alan, Fundamental Principles of Law and Economics (Routledge: 2015)
*Faure, Michael, and Partain, Roy, Environmental Law and Economics: Theory and Practice (CUP: 2019)
*Friedman, David D., Law's Order (Princeton University Press, 2000) - http://www.daviddfriedman.com/laws_order/
*Esposito, Fabrizio and Cserne, Peter (eds.), Economics in Legal Reasoning (Palgrave: 2020)
*Esposito, Fabrizio, The Consumer Welfare Hypothesis in Law and Economics (Edward Elgar: 2022)
*Farnsworth, Ward, The Legal Analyst: A Toolkit for Thinking about the Law (University of Chicago Press: 2007)
*Feldman, Yuval, The Law of Good People (Cambridge University Press: 2018) - chapter 1 available here: https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/upload_documents/Feldman%20The%20Law%20of%20Good%20People.pdf
*Kwak, James, Economism: Bad Economics and the Rise of Inequality (MIT Press: 2017)
*Shavell, Steven, Foundations of Economic Analysis of Law (Harvard University Press: 2004) - http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/olin_center/papers/
Additional materials are indicated or posted on Moodle.
Teaching method
A mix of theoretical lectures and individual and group reflections in class and on Moodle.
Evaluation method
Final exam
The final exam will consist of two questions - one theoretical and one practical - on the content of the lectures.
Continuous evaluation: 50%
The grade can only complement that of the final exam
- Attendance: 50% ensures 10 in the continuous evaluation, 75% 12, 90% 13
- Class participation: active discussion and engagement, including on Moodle
- Individual assignment: Apply any of the notions studied in class to an existing legal framework. Examples include: explain how a certain provision avoids a tragedy of the commons; criticize a certain provision from a behavioural ethics perspective; explain why the central proposal of Radical Markets is legally too alien; reject a claim as a form of economism
Subject matter
1 Introduction
Part I: Basic ideas
2 Foundational concepts
3 Efficiency and the law: the basic ideas
4 Different approaches
5 Enforcement
6 Efficiency, distribution and the law: a long-lasting dilemma
Part II: Transactions and the Legal-Economics Nexus
7 Transaction costs and the law I: Without externalities
8 Transaction costs and the law II: With externalities
9 Bargaining power and theories of harm