Course Description

Law and economics is currently one of the fastest-growing areas of applied microeconomics. It uses the standard microeconomic tools and concepts to explain legal rules and social norms and other legal institutions. Our perspective will be that of the economist trying to understand these institutions by reference to purposeful human choice. The economic analysis of law involves both positive and normative aspects. The positive analysis of law looks at the impact of law on society whereas the normative analysis asks what laws are most desirable for society. This course applies this methodology to examine the role that formal law, legal principles, and informal norms play in the development of nations. Focus will rest on the ways in which law promotes or hinders positive social change, human flourishing, and economic development. Although we will discuss some public international law issues such as human rights and trade law, the course will largely focus on legal regimes within nations. Among other issues, we will discuss the legal-origins literature, rule of law and governance concerns, the role of judiciary in development, international cooperation and legal transplant, as well as legal enforvement. The goal will be to develop a richer understanding of the complex role that legal rules play in economic development. If we regard development as a comprehensive institutional reform of a society, a number of informal rules are binding and restrict the attitudes and behaviors of its members. So, it is sometimes difficult for societies to reform their institutions for themselves when they are heavily burdened by the conventions maintained by the strict regimes. As the international societies have been more and more globalizing, it is becoming duties for each society to assist others to undertake their institutional reform. Although it would be hard to expect the international societies to establish the world government, we should be able to keep security by getting the global governance, which consists of the good governance of each state in the world. Efficient governance may be obtained through the institutional reform led by the efficient government, markets and firms, and civil societies, which are mutually assisted and assisting in their own functions. The course analyze how the law may be a strong measure to facilitate such an institutional reform to get “good” governance, and the legal assistance activities among nations should promote the global governance, which might be the only path to the international security and peace.

Teachers

PORTUESE, Aurélien (doctoral researcher)

Pedagogical format

Conference-seminaire

Course validation

Oral participation : 50%

Required reading

Buscaglia, E. (2000), Law and Economics of Development, In B. Bouckaert and G. De Geest (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, Volume I, The History and Methodology of Law and Economics, Amsterdam, Edward Elgar Publishing
Barron, G. (2005), The World Bank & Rule of Law Reforms, Working Paper Series; 4 Development Studies, Institute of the London School of Economics, N 5-70
Trubek, D.M. (2007), The Nature of Law and Development: The Owl and the Pussy-Cat. Is There a Future for "Law and Development"? Wisconsin International Law Journal, vol. 25, p. 235
Sherman, C. (2009), Law and Development Today: The New Developmentalism, German Law Journal, vol. 10, p. 1257-1273
World Bank (2011), Doing Business Report 2011, Executive Summary

Additional required reading

to be defined