Instructor: Robin D. Hanson, Assoc. Professor, Economics
(rhanson@gmu.edu, http://hanson.gmu.edu)
Office Hours: Officially Tuesdays 9:15-10:15am, but I'm usually in at Carow Hall 10A. Email or call ahead (703-993-2326) if you want to be sure I'll be in.
Catalog Entry:
Econ 415 Law and Economics. Credits 3 Prerequisite: ECON 306 or permission of instructor. An economic analysis of the law. Topics include an introduction to legal institutions and legal analysis; application of economic concepts to the law of property, contracts and torts, criminal law, and constitutional law; the economic efficiency of the common law; and a public choice perspective on the evolution of the law.Required Text:
David D. Friedman, Law's Order: What Economics Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters, Princeton Univ. Press 2001, ISBN 9780691090092. Free online!Recommended Texts:
A. Mitchell Polinsky, Introduction To Law and Economics, 4th Edition Aspen Publishers, 2011, ISBN 9780735584488.
Robert Cooter and Thomas Ulen, Law and Economics, Sixth Edition, Addison Wesley 2013, ISBN 9780132540650. Free here!Goal of Class
Gain familiarity with basic facts and issues in the economics of law, and an ability to use basic economics to argue for particular legal outcomes.Assignments:
Week | Text Chapters | Lecture Topics | Notes | |
29,31 Aug | F1-3, P1-2, C1-2 | Law Intro, Econ Review | ||
5,7 Sep | No Class This Week | |||
12,14 Sep | C3 | Law and Legal Institutions | ||
19,21 Sep | F4, C4 | Coasean Analysis | ||
26,28 Sep | F5,10, P4, C4 | Property | Quiz Tuesday | |
3,5 Oct | F11, C5 | Property Continued | ||
10,12 Oct | Contract | No Class Tuesday | ||
17,19 Oct | F12, P5, C6 | Contract continued | ||
24,26 Oct | F13, P8, C7 | Tort | Quiz/Paper Thursday | |
31 Oct, 2 Nov | F14, P6, C8 | Tort Continued | ||
7,9 Nov | F14, P7, C9 | Legal Process | ||
14,16 Nov | C10, P16 | No class Tuesday, Quiz/Paper Thursday | ||
21 Nov | F15, P10, C11 | Legal Process, Crime | No Class Thursday | |
28,30 Nov | F18, P11, C12 | Crime continued | ||
5, 7 Dec | F17 | Private Law | Paper Thursday | |
19 Dec | Final Exam, 10:30am-1:15pm. |