ELE 3786 Economic Analysis of Law
ELE 3786 Economic Analysis of Law
How can effective contracts be designed? When should you sue a supplier? How can businesses operate in countries with weak legal systems? How can economic theory help us explain and understand existing law?
This course provides an introduction to the economic analysis of law. We will analyze how individual firms can best adapt to legal rules and how the legal system influences markets. We will also use economic theory to explain why our legal rules exist. Economic analysis is a powerful tool for interpreting and understanding existing law and can be used to formulate compelling legal arguments.
The teaching will be based on cases that may vary from year to year.
By the end of the course, students should:
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Have acquired knowledge about the field of economic analysis of law
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Have acquired basic knowledge of tort law, contract law, environmental law, criminal law, and civil procedure.
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Be familiar with key concepts and methods in the economic analysis of law:
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Economic efficiency
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Coase theorem
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Bargaining theory
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Basic game theory
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After completing the course, students should be able to:
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Conduct an economic analysis of a legal rule.
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Analyze:
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How the legal rule affects economic behavior: How individual firms can best adapt to the legal rule and how other actors can be expected to respond.
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What the consequences of the legal rule are for economic efficiency.
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How existing law can be understood and interpreted based on the goal of efficient use of society's resources.
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Read and understand legal opinions that use economic arguments.
After completing the course, students should have an overview of the field of economic analysis of law, be comfortable with applied microeconomic analysis, and be able to think systematically about the effects of legal rules on economic decisions.
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Contracts. How can effective contracts be designed? How can businesses operate in countries where contracts are difficult to enforce? What is the economic explanation behind contract law?
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Economic crime. How does the legal system affect incentives to commit criminal acts such as tax evasion, money laundering, fraud, and corruption? How can businesses avoid being involved in economic crimes?
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Environmental law. How should the law be designed to combat environmental problems most effectively?
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Tort law. When is it profitable to enter with a lawsuit? How much compensation will the plaintiff be entitled to? How can tort law be explained with economic theory?
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Civil procedure. Is litigation too expensive in Norway? When should settlements be reached? What are the consequences of procedural rules for actors' incentives to comply with the law? Why are procedural rules designed the way they are?
The course will consist of interactive lectures, group discussions, and solving exam-relevant tasks in groups. Three out of five submissions must be approved to take the exam. The teaching uses cases that may vary from year to year.
Det kreves ingen spesielle forkunnskaper.
| Assessments |
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Exam category: School Exam Form of assessment: Written School Exam - digital Exam/hand-in semester: First Semester Weight: 100 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 3 Hour(s) Exam code: ELE 37861 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 30 Hour(s) | |
Submission(s) | 50 Hour(s) | |
Student's own work with learning resources | 100 Hour(s) | |
Prepare for teaching | 20 Hour(s) |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 7,5 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 200 hours.