LAW AND ECONOMICS

Economics BEE 3019 2016

LecturersDr. Surajeet Chakravarty and Prof. David Kelsey

Office hours tba, Room 1.21, Streatham Court.

Assessment 30% essay, 70% examination

PrerequisiteBEE2016 and BEE2017 Intermediate Microeconomics I & II.

References

Textbooks

• Cooter and Ulen, (2012), Law and Economics, (6th edition), Pearson.

  • 5th edition available on-line at Law and Economics 5th ed.

• Posner, R., (2011), Economic Analysis of Law, (8th edition), Wolters Kluwer.

• Shavell, Economic Analysis of Accident Law, Harvard, 1987.

• Polinsky and Shavell (eds.), 2007, Handbook of Law and Economics, North Holland.

For textbook purchase, Cooter and Ulen is overall the best. The other books are more specialised reading for particular topics.

OverviewThe course covers a selection of advanced topics on economic analysis of legal institutions.

Course Outline and Reading List

1. Contract Law(SC)

   • *Cooter and Ulen, Chs. 8 and 9

   • Posner, Ch. 4.

2. Property Rights (DK)The Coase theorem, the tragedy of the commons, the anti commons.

   • *Cooter and Ulen, Chs. 4,5.

   • Posner, Ch. 3

   • Polinsky and Shavell (eds.), 2007, Handbook of Law and Economics, Ch. 3. ,

   • Coase, R., (1960), `The Problem of Social Cost' , Journal of Law and Economics, 3, 1-44.

3. Economics of the Legal Process(SC)

   • *Cooter and Ulen, Chs. 8 and 9

4. Tort Law (DK)Strict Liability, Negligence, Unilateral versus Bilateral accidents, Risk aversion and insurance.

   • *Shavell, (1987), Economic Analysis of Accident Law, Harvard, Ch. 2.

   • Cooter and Ulen, Chs. 6,7.

   • Posner, Ch. 6.

   • S. Shavell Liability for Accidents , in Polinsky and Shavell (eds.), 2007, Handbook of Law and Economics, North Holland, Ch. 2.

5. Intellectual Property Rights(DK)Patents, copyright and trade secrets.

   • Cooter and Ulen, pp. 116-135.

   • Scotchmer, S., (2006), Innovation and Incentives, MIT.

   • Menell, p., and Scotchmer, S., (2007), "Intellectual Property Law ," in Polinsky and Shavell (eds.), Handbook of Law and Economics, Elsevier.

   • Posner, pp. 48-59.

   • Belleflamme and Peitz, Industrial Organisation, Ch. 19, (more mathematical).

   • Pepall, Richards and Norman, (2008), Industrial Organization, Blackwell, Ch. 23.

6. *Corporate Law(SC)

   • `Corporate Governance and Law' , Handbook of Law and Economics eds. Polinsky and Shavell, Ch. 12

   • Posner, Ch. 14.

7. Health, Safety and Environmental Risks(SC)

   • *Polinsky and Shavell, Ch. 9.

* Denotes essential reading