Economic Foundations of Private Law (2 credits)

Considers the micro-economic foundations of torts, property, contracts, and litigation, focusing on using economic intuition to understand legal relationships. Topics include the efficiency of the common law, the deterrence and insurance functions of the law, the Coase Theorem and property rights, and bargaining.

Required Text:
David D. Friedman, Law's Order: What Economics Has To Do with Law and Why It Matters (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001) ISBN: 0-691-09009-2.

Recommended Texts:
Richard A. Posner, Economic Analysis of Law, 6th ed. (New York: Aspen Law & Business, 2002) ISBN: 0-735-53474-8

Richard A. Posner and Francesco Parisi, eds., Economic Foundations of Private Law (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2002) ISBN: 1-843-76071-1