Law & Economics Workshop

Course Description:

This seminar will cover “critical perspectives on law and economics.” Law and economics has been very influential in legal academia and, to a somewhat lesser extent, ‘the real world,’ for the last generation. To caricature:
it makes heroic (some say heartless) assumptions about how people are
(“rational”) and what they want (“money and power”). Because people are
rational, they respond to incentives – something the law should keep in
mind more than it sometimes appears to. Law and economics has always had
vociferous critics; some of these critics have labeled their field Behavioral Law and Economics. In this seminar, we will be exploring some express critiques of law and economics, by leading scholars who would describe themselves as doing Behavioral Law and Economics; we will also look at some implicit critiques, by scholars whose methodology presents a challenge to Behavioral Law and Economics as well as Law and Economics itself.

After a few introductory sessions, the seminar will consist of paper
presentations by prominent scholars in the field. Students will be
required to write short critiques/commentaries on the papers. A student's seminar grade will be based 75% on her papers, and 25% on her class participation.

In 2006, the field was Behavioral Law and Economics. In 2007, the field was Corporate Governance.


 

Course Number: 6865

Credits: 2

Prerequisites: None

Satisfies Senior Writing Requirement: Yes