Econ 522 – Economics of Law – Fall 2007

Tuesdays and Thursdays
1:00-2:15 pm
6102 Social Science
 
Office Hours:
Mondays 10-11
Wednesdays 11-12
7428 Social Sciences
 
FINAL EXAM: Tuesday December 18, 10:05 a.m., in Social Sciences 5231
OFFICE HOURS BETWEEN NOW AND THEN: Monday 10-12 (and afternoon by appointment)
 
 
Syllabus

(Now includes links to all listed papers.)

Homework 1, Part 1 – due 1 p.m., Thursday October 11

Homework 1, Part 2 – due 1 p.m., Tuesday October 23

Homework 3 – due 1 p.m., Tuesday December 4

Introduction/Economics Review

Lecture 1 (Overview, Efficiency, Common and Civil Law Traditions, Whaling)

Lecture 2 (Econ Review: Consumers, Producers, and General Equilibrium)

Lecture 3 (Econ Review: Efficiency, Game Theory, Uncertainty and Insurance)

Property Law

Lecture 4 (Coase, Bargaining, How and Why Property Rights Develop)

Lecture 5 (Transaction Costs, Normative Hobbes and Normative Coase, Injunctions vs Damages)

Lecture 6 (Public and Private Goods, Intellectual Property)

Lecture 7 (More IP, Fugitive Property/Establishing and Proving Ownership, Adverse Possession and Estray)

Lecture 8 (Exceptions: Bequests and Perpetuities, Private Necessity, Inalienability, Unbundling; Remedies)

Lecture 9 (Takings, Regulation)

Contract Law

Lecture 10 (Why Contracts, the Bargain Theory, Information, Breach, Reliance)

Lecture 11 (Efficient Breach and Efficient Reliance; Gaps and Default Rules; Regulations)

Lecture 12 (Duress, Necessity, and Other Ways to Get Out of a Contract; Repeated Games)

Lecture 13 (Remedies for Breach, Incentives, Selling Your Farm While Drunk)

Lecture 14 (More on Remedies for Efficient Breach and Reliance)

Lecture 15 (Formation Defenses, Performance Excuses, Low-Cost Risk Bearers, Knowledge and Control)

Tort Law

Lecture 16 (Harm, Causation, Breach of Duty)

Results of an In-Class Experiment

Lecture 17 (Precaution; Strict Liability, Negligence, and Incentives)

Lecture 18 (Activity Levels, the Hand Rule, and the Effects of Errors)

Lecture 19 (Schwartz (does it all matter?), Relaxing Assumptions/Extending the Tort Model)

Lecture 20 (Compensatory Damages, Viscusi on Valuing Lives, Punitive Damages)

Legal Process and Criminal Law

Lecture 21 (Overview, Why Sue, Settling Out of Court, Exchanging Information)

Lecture 22 (Pretrial Bargaining, Trials, Fee-Shifting Rules, Appeals, Efficiency Revisited)

Lecture 23 (Crime and Punishment – Theory)

Lecture 24 (Crime and Punishment – Empirical)

Wrap-Up

Lecture 25 (Recap/Review)

Lecture 26 (Bonus Material: Behavioral Law and Economics; Unenforced Laws)