Economic Methods for Lawyers

Responding to the growing importance of economic reasoning in legal scholarship, this innovative work provides an essential introduction to the economic tools which can usefully be employed in legal reasoning. It is geared specifically towards those without a great deal of exposure to economic thinking and provides law students, legal scholars and practitioners with a practical toolbox to shape their writing, understanding and case preparation. The book's clear focus on economic methods poses a refreshing change to conventional textbooks in this area, which tend to focus on content-related theories. Recognising that it is often difficult to derive adequate conclusions for legal arguments without first understanding the methodological limitations of economic studies, this book provides a comprehensive coverage of the most important economic concepts in order to bridge this gap. These include: * game theory * public choice and social choice theory * behavioural economics * empirical research design * basic statistics. Owing to its concise and accessible style, Economic Methods for Lawyers will provide an invaluable companion for legal scholars or practitioners who wish to utilise economic methods for developing legal argument.

Contents: Preface 1. Economic Methods and Legal Reasoning Niels Petersen and Emanuel V. Towfigh 2. The Economic Paradigm Emanuel V. Towfigh 3. Demand, Supply and Markets Alexander Morell 4. Game Theory and Collective Goods Stefan Magen 5. Contract Theory and the Economics of Contract Law Klaus Ulrich Schmolke 6. Public and Social Choice Theory Emanuel V. Towfigh and Niels Petersen 7. Empirical Research and Statistics Sebastian J. Goerg and Niels Petersen 8. Behavioral Law and Economics Markus Englerth Index