Law and Economics is an established field of research and arguably one of the few examples of a successful interdisciplinary project. This book explores whether, or to what extent, that interdisciplinarity has indeed been a success. It provides insights on the foundations and methods, achievements and challenges of Law and Economics, at a time when both the continuing criticism of academic economics and the growth of empirical legal studies raise questions about the identity and possible further developments of the project. Through a combination of reflections on long-term trends and detailed case studies, contributors to this volume analyse the institutional and epistemic character of Law and Economics, which develops through an exchange of concepts, models and practices between economics and legal scholarship. Inspired by insights from the philosophy of the social sciences, the book shows how concepts travel between legal scholarship and economics and change meanings when applied elsewhere, how economic theories and models inform, and transform, judicial practice, and it addresses whether the transfers of knowledge between economics and law are symmetrical exchanges between the two disciplines.

This book is the first attempt to establish a collaborative and interdisciplinary field of economics and legal studies. It is designed to help readers – advanced undergraduate and graduate students, but also fellow scholars who are interested in interdisciplinarity – to think through the dual lenses of economics and law. “Econo-Legal Studies,” as we call it, is an economics that pays greater attention to the perspective and heritage of legal studies, and at the same time legal studies that fully utilize the views and methods of economics – while “law and economics” is just a one-way economic approach to law focusing on the effects of the latter on efficiency. The aim of this book is to encourage readers to think like economists and, at the same time, legal scholars as they analyze complex real-world issues. It presents stimulating discussions on the intersection of law and economics, the differences and unexpected similarities between the two perspectives, and the new insights to be gained when approaching a problem from both angles. For this purpose, the extensive corpus of knowledge produced within the framework of the Econo-Legal Studies interdisciplinary program at Kobe University can be capitalized on. Basic knowledge of both economics and law is also included in this volume, making it an engaging read for beginners in both fields as well.

Publisher Description

The economic analysis of legal and regulatory issues need not be limited to the neoclassical economic approach. Contributors to this work employ heterodox legal-economic theories to address a range of legal issues. They demonstrate how varied approaches can lead to different conclusions on the role of the law and legal intervention.

There are three basic institutional systems for governing the exchange of property. One is consensual: the exchange of property rights in ordinary markets. The other two, however, are nonconsensual: the involuntary exchange of entitlements in either civil or criminal liability cases. In The Exchange Order, Richard Adelstein argues that while markets, torts, and criminal justice are ostensibly different constellations of institutions, organizations and individuals, they are remarkably alike. Each governs a particular kind of exchange through a distinctive set of institutions, rules and procedures. They have all evolved over many centuries from the same root, a deep-seated human propensity to communicate with others through trade, to exchange goods for goods and costs for costs as a means of reconciling opposing interests and increasing personal welfare. They perform the same social function, facilitating individually efficient exchanges of rights and compensatory prices, in very different exchange environments that demand very different institutional responses to the problem all three are in place to solve: identifying efficient transfers and seeing that they are completed. The Exchange Order provides a sweeping historical, comparative, and philosophical analysis of how rights and objects, goods and harms, are exchanged in these apparently very different realms. What unites them is a core norm: take only what you can pay for, and pay for everything you take. In markets free exchange is governed by prices and the willingness to sell or buy. Tort and criminal law apply when consensual exchange is violated. The violation is the non-consensual seizure of entitlements and the payment is a liability price on the taker that compensates the victim for the costs imposed by the taking. Tit for tat, an eye for an eye, is the principle of exchange that unites markets, tort and crime.

The book juxtaposes economic analysis with moral philosophy, political theory, egalitarianism, and other methodological principles.

"Law and economics" involves the application of economic analysis to legal problems. Law and economics features in public policy debates as well as across the social sciences in fields such as political economy, constitutional economics, and political science. Concepts in Law and Economics: A Guide for the Curious provides a comprehensive integration of the fields of law and economics. In clear prose, Jim Leitzel challenges traditional approaches to law and economics and uncovers common themes that cut across the two fields, providing readers with a means of integrating their knowledge to examine problems through both a legal and economic lens. This book covers the major methods of law and economics and applies those methods to various issues, including art vandalism, sales of human kidneys, and the ownership of meteorites. Compact yet comprehensive, this is an ideal introduction to a vast number of concepts and controversies in the fields of law and economics. Economics students, law students, and those with a general interest in the social sciences will find Concepts in Law and Economics an interesting and engaging read, and will emerge with the necessary skills for thinking like a law and economics practitioner.