Econ 522 – Economics of Law – Spring 2013

 

 
 
Lectures:
 
Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:30-3:45 p.m., 5208 Social Science
 
 
 
 
 
Professor:
 
Dan Quint, dquint@ssc.wisc.edu
 
 
 
7428 Social Science, 263-2515
Office hours Tuesdays, 2-4, other times by appointment
 
 
 
 
 
Teaching Assistant:
 
Nathan Yoder, ndyoder@wisc.edu
6413 Social Science
Office hours Mondays, 1-2 and Wednesdays, 4-5
 
 
 
 
 
Exam Dates:
 
Two in-class midterms March 4 and April 8
Final exam Sunday May 12, 5:05-7:05 p.m., location TBA
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Syllabus
 
Sample exam questions from past semesters   and a solution to one of them
 
Homework 1 – efficiency  due 11:59 p.m., Thursday February 7, via Learn@UW
Homework 2 – property law  due 11:59 p.m., Thursday February 28, via Learn@UW
Homework 3 – contract law  due 11:59 p.m., Thursday March 21, via Learn@UW
Homework 4 – tort law, criminal law, etc.  due 11:59 p.m., Thursday May 2, via Learn@UW
 
 
Introductory Material
 
Lecture 1 – overview, the common and civil law traditions, dead whales and baseballs
Lecture 2 – efficiency – what is it, and do we want it
               “fake homework” for Wed 1/30 (why are broad taxes “better” than narrow ones)
Lecture 3 – more on efficiency, some game theory, intro to property law
 
Property Law
 
Lecture 4 – motivating property law, foxes, and the Coase Theorem
Lecture 5 – transaction costs: what causes them, how should we deal with them?
Lecture 6 – injunctions versus damages (Calabresi and Melamed)
Lecture 7 – maximum liberty, fugitive property
Lecture 8 – dynamic games/sequential rationality, intellectual property
Lecture 9 – limitations and exceptions to property law
Lecture 10 – eminent domain, regulation; motivating contract law
 
Contract Law
 
Lecture 11 – introducing contracts; the Bargain Theory; breach
Lecture 12 – reliance and over-reliance; default rules and penalty defaults
Lecture 13 – ways to get out of a contract (formation defenses and performance excuses)
Lecture 14 – impossibility, contracts based on faulty information
Lecture 15 – remedies for breach of contract
Lecture 16 – repeated interactions and other stuff
 
Tort Law
 
Lectures 17 and 18 – intro, basic framework, incentives for precaution and activity levels
Lecture 19 – Shavell on accidents involving businesses, the Hand Rule for determining negligence
Lecture 20 – extending our basic model of tort law
Lecture 21 – wrapping up tort law
 
Other
 
Lecture 22 – thinking about the legal process
Lectures 23-24 – criminal law
Lectures 25 – behavioral economics and the law
 
 
 
Section handout 1
Section handout 2
Section handout 3
Section handout 4
Midterm review 1
Section handout – contracts 1
Section handout – contracts 2
Midterm review 2
Section handout – torts 1
Section handout – torts 2
 
 
You can also check out the course materials from this past fall, the course will be very similar.