Syllabus:
Lecture 1: Introduction
Lecture 2: Microeconomic paradigm and core concepts
Lecture 3: Economic theory of property law
Lecture 4: Economic theory of contract law (1/2)
Lecture 5: Economic theory of contract law (2/2)
Lecture 6: Economic theory of tort law (1/2)
Lecture 7: Economic theory of tort law (2/2)
Lecture 8: Economic theory of Crime
Lecture 9: Economics of litigation
Lecture 10: Economic theory of international law
Course Goals:
Upon successful completion of the course, participants should:
- obtain a general understanding of important law and economics concepts and methods;
- should possess the knowledge and skills to recognize the economic issue in a legal proplem;
- should be qualified to systematically engage a basic economic analysis of a legal problem.
The course
This course is designed to introduce students into a framework of institutions such as formal laws, contracts, and informal norms within which all economic activity takes place. Economic analysis will be applied to illuminate the common law areas such as torts, contracts, property or criminal law. It will examine the effect of legal rules on individual behavior, behavior of firms, consequent resource allocation, income distribution, economic growth. Furthermore, the economic analysis will examine whether these legal rules are in line with reaching socially optimum outcomes. Prior acquaintance with principles of economics is desirable, although brief overview of the relevant economic concepts is given in the introduction.
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
-understand the key concepts of the economic analysis of law (Coase theorem, incentives, efficient breach etc. )
-learn how legal arrangements enable or impede the functioning of markets
-acquire the skills to assess the role of legal rules in reaching socially efficient outcomes
Important information about the prerequisites: The course requires prior knowledge of economics at the level of an introductory microeconomics course (e.g., Mankiw, G.: Principles of Economics, chapters 1-19). For the Faculty of Law regular master students, this implies that they should have completed the course Theory of national economy I. Throughout the classes and exams, we will presume that the students have the requisite knowledge of this material.