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The collection of all scholarly commentary on law, economics, and more

Showing archive for:  “Law & Economics”

The Law and Economics Revolution in Securities Law, Part V

Law Review Editors…take note.  You may get an opportunity to catch this one in February if you play your cards right. I’ve been blogging updates of my research for a new article developing what the economic analysis provisions of the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996 requires of new SEC rulemaking.  Blog colleague Prof. ... The Law and Economics Revolution in Securities Law, Part V

Attention Economists and Economics Graduate Students: Want to Go to Law School?

I have recently joined my colleague Bruce Johnsen as a co director of the Robert A. Levy Fellowship in Law and Liberty at GMU Law.  It is a very generous fellowship — a tuition waiver plus a generous stipend —  for economists who have their PhD’s or “ABD” status to come to law school on ... Attention Economists and Economics Graduate Students: Want to Go to Law School?

Nobel Speculation: Armen Alchian, Harold Demsetz and Benjamin Klein Should Win the Prize in 2011

Its time to dust off (and slightly update) an old post for its annual republication around this time each year.   With the start of the school year comes another fall tradition here at TOTM: Nobel speculation. More specifically, every fall I yell from the rooftops that some combination of Armen Alchian, Harold Demsetz and Ben ... Nobel Speculation: Armen Alchian, Harold Demsetz and Benjamin Klein Should Win the Prize in 2011

Hazlett & Wright on The Law and Economics of Network Neutrality

Thomas Hazlett and I have posted The Law and Economics of Network Neutrality: The Federal Communications Commission’s Network Neutrality Order regulates how broadband networks explain their services to customers, mandates that subscribers be permitted to deploy whatever computers, mobile devices, or applications they like for use with the network access service they purchase, imposes a ... Hazlett & Wright on The Law and Economics of Network Neutrality

Research Handbook on the Economics of Family Law

Edward Elgar has published the Research Handbook on the Economics of Family Law — available here and here or here — co-edited by myself and Lloyd Cohen.  While a bit outside my normal intellectual strike zone, its an area with such a diverse and important set of topics, a lot of cool data, and application ... Research Handbook on the Economics of Family Law

Cooper and Kovacic on Behavioral Economics and Regulatory Agencies

There is an embarrassing blind spot in the behavioral law and economics literature with respect to implementation of policy whether via legislation or administrative agency.  James Cooper and William Kovacic — both currently at the Federal Trade Commission as Attorney Advisor Commissioner, respectively — aim to fill this gap with a recent working paper entitled ... Cooper and Kovacic on Behavioral Economics and Regulatory Agencies

TOTM on the Rise

Its been just over a year since TOTM remodeled and merged with Larry Ribstein’s Ideoblog.  There have been a few other major changes between then and now: some changes in personnel and a  few major blog symposia to start with.  Its always difficult to judge how a blog is “doing.”  At least part of a ... TOTM on the Rise

FairSearch’s Non-Sequitur Response

Our search neutrality paper has received some recent attention.  While the initial response from Gordon Crovitz in the Wall Street Journal was favorable, critics are now voicing their responses.  Although we appreciate FairSearch’s attempt to engage with our paper’s central claims, its response is really little more than an extended non-sequitur and fails to contribute ... FairSearch’s Non-Sequitur Response

The FTC Makes its Google Investigation Official, Now What?

No surprise here.  The WSJ announced it was coming yesterday, and today Google publicly acknowledged that it has received subpoenas related to the Commission’s investigation.  Amit Singhal of Google acknowledged the FTC subpoenas at the Google Public Policy Blog: At Google, we’ve always focused on putting the user first. We aim to provide relevant answers ... The FTC Makes its Google Investigation Official, Now What?

Debiasing: Firms Versus Administrative Agencies

Daniel Kahnemann and co-authors discuss, in the most recent issue of the Harvard Business Review (HT: Brian McCann), various strategies for debiasing individual decisions that impact firm performance.  Much of the advice boils down to more conscious deliberation about decisions, incorporating awareness that individuals can be biased into firm-level decisions, and subjecting decisions to more ... Debiasing: Firms Versus Administrative Agencies

THIS THURSDAY: The Law and Economics of Search Engines and Online Advertising at GMU Law

The Henry G. Manne Program in Law & Economics Studies and Google present a conference on The Law and Economics of Search Engines and Online Advertising to be held at George Mason University School of Law, Thursday, June 16th, 2011. The conference will run from 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. OVERVIEW: This conference is organized ... THIS THURSDAY: The Law and Economics of Search Engines and Online Advertising at GMU Law

Ninth Circuit Moves Tying Doctrine in the Right Direction. Will SCOTUS Follow?

The Ninth Circuit recently issued a decision that pushes the doctrine governing tying in the right direction.  If appealed, the decision could provide the Roberts Court with an opportunity to do for tying what its Leegin decision did for resale price maintenance:  reduce error costs by bringing an overly prohibitory liability rule in line with economic learning.  First, some ... Ninth Circuit Moves Tying Doctrine in the Right Direction. Will SCOTUS Follow?