Economics and Law: From Posner to Postmodernism

Author: McCrorey
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Over the past few decades, law and economics has evolved from a niche and esoteric research branch within the fields of economics and law into a highly influential academic movement. This movement has played a positive role in reinterpreting law and extending economic research methods to important economic explanations in the judicial domain, while also holding significant implications for other adjacent disciplines, particularly those that inherently study various fields of law, such as political science and sociology. Each school of thought within law and economics contributes to redefining legal research and highlighting the important applications of economics in the field of law. These academic ideas include the Chicago School of Law and Economics, Public Choice Theory, Institutionalism and New Institutional Law and Economics, the New Haven School, Modern Civic Republicanism, and Critical Legal Studies. This book provides a concise review of these perspectives and different traditions. By offering non-critical descriptions of the main outlines of each school of thought to the readers, the author expresses a unique understanding of the key factors that these related yet distinct traditions possess. "You can't tell the players their scores without a scorecard," as a basketball game spectator once said. McCrorey and Mandelbaum not only provide the scorecard in this book but also more: the mainstream intellectual history and framework provided by opponents of the Chicago School and the New Haven School, the Public Choice School and the Civic Republicanism School, the Institutional and New Institutional Economics School, and the Critical Legal Studies School, which serves as a postmodern counterbalance to various different economic research traditions. — Paul H. Blitstein, Valparaiso Law Review This book offers a brilliant introduction to the main outlines of law and economics. It is particularly recommended to readers interested in concise and rich reviews of various aspects of the discipline. — Hans-Bernhard Sch?fer, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics Economics and Law objectively elaborates on the main ideas of various schools of thought within the field of law and economics. This book does not attempt to support or oppose any specific viewpoint; instead, it aims to summarize what each school of thought seeks to express. The book introduces the competing yet complementary Chicago School, Public Choice Theory, Institutional and New Institutional Law and Economics, the Yale School, Modern Civic Republicanism, and Critical Legal Studies within the movement of law and economics. A concise introduction to different schools of thought within law and economics. It is of great help for domestic researchers, scholars, and students to understand the development of law and economics.