Law and
Economics
Chuck
Stull
Winter 2014
Course Description: Law and Economics studies the
interaction between the legal system and the market system. It examines whylaw is necessary for markets to function and it uses
economic principles to analyze laws. This course uses basic tools of
economics to understand avariety of legal
issues. Topics covered include property and contracts, civil vs. criminal
law, antitrust, environmental regulation, and international tradepolicy.
Textbook: Law's Order: What
Economics Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters by David Friedman;
There will be three exams, as follows:
Exam I Friday January 31 (4th week, in class)
Exam II Wednesday
February 26 (8th week, in class)
Exam III during the scheduled final exam period (Tuesday March
18, 8:30 am)
Material covered on each exam will be discussed in class. Topics from
last year are still available:
Topics for Exam One
Topics for Exam Two
Topics for Final Exam
Course
Outline
I. Introduction (Friedman: Introduction, Chapter 1)
II. Fundamental ideas
A. Economic Concepts (Chapters 2, 3, 4)
B. Property and Liability Rights (Chapters 5, 6, 7)
C. Strategic behavior (Chapter 8)
D. Compensation (Chapter 9)
III. The US Legal system (Intermezzo)
IV. Legal concepts
A. Property Law (Chapter 10)
B. Intellectual Property (Chapter 11)
C. Contracts (Chapter 12, 13)
D. Tort Law (Chapter 14)
E. Crime and Punishment (Chapter 15, 18)
V. Applications
(as time permits)
A. Antitrust (Chapter 16)
B. International markets and the law
C. Environmental Law
VI. Conclusion (Chapter 19, Epilogue)
Links by topic
I. Introduction
A. Economic Concepts
B. Property and Liability Rights
C. Strategic behavior
D. Compensation
II. The Legal system
Michigan Courts
Federal Judicial
Branch
A. Property Law
B. Intellectual Property
OpposingCopyright Extension
Prof.Lawrence
Lessig (Internet Law)
Should
there be a shorter period of patent protection for prescription drugs ?
Project Gutenberg(Public
domain e-books)
C. Contracts
Contract briefs
D. Tort Law
Tort
briefs
E. Crime and Punishment
Criminal briefs
III. Applications
A. Antitrust
Should the antitrust exemption for baseball be eliminated?
B.
International markets and the law
C. Environmental Law
General law and economics links
Econ 280 Term papers from2005
Econ 280 Term paper topics from 2003.
Law and Economics Linksfrom WebEc
Cooter and Ulen's Law and EconomicsWebsite
D. Friedman 's Class outline
for: Economic Analysis
of Law
Department of Economics homepage
Questions, problems, or comments?
email: cstull@kzoo.edu