Target group

The course is designed for PhD students in law who wish to draw inspiration from theories of law and economics, and/or to include a law and economics perspective in their thesis. The course is open to all Nordic PhD students of law. PhD students in economics are welcome as well.

Basic aims

The course aims to introduce students to game theory and to demonstrate how this theory can throw light on questions of law, including  the students’ own research questions.

Learning objectives

The course aims to provide the student with an understanding of: 

1. basic game theoretic concepts, such as  utility-functions, expected utility maximisation, Nash-equilibrium, prisoner’s dilemma, moral hazard, and adverse selection.      
2. the applicability of these concepts to the analysis of select questions in contract law, in legal procedure and in tort law, and to the student’s own project
3. some basic concepts and theories of law and economics, such as the theory of contractual and delictual compensation,  the Coase theorem, and the theory of litigation
4. the applicability of some of those theories to the student’s own project
5. the use of social welfare functions in the analysis of law, mainly concerning the role of fairness and efficiency
6. modern developments in economic analysis of importance to law, mainly concerning the incorporation of psychology (reciprocity and self-beliefs)
   
   

Course schedule

Venue

Copenhagen Business School, Solbjerg Plads 3, 2000 Frederiksbjerg

Basic reading

1. Analytical Methods for Lawyers, by Jackson, Kaplow, Shavell, et al. Foundation Press, 2003. Chapter 1-3, 6.5 – 6.8, 7.
2. Economic analysis of accident law, Steven Shavell, chapter 2.
3.  A note on the Coase theorem, Henrik Lando.
4. The Craft of Research, by Booth, Colomb and Williams. Chapter 1-10 (inclusive), mainly 2-10.

Supplementary reading (not required)

1. Incorporating Fairness into Game Theory and Economics, Matthew Rabin, The American Economic Review, Vol. 83, No. 5 (Dec., 1993), pp. 1281-1302
2. Over My Dead Body: Bargaining and the Price of Dignity, Jean Tirole and Roland Benabou, American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 2009, 99:2, 459– 465 (see here)
3. An Introduction to Law and Economics, Mitch Polinsky.
4. Identity, Dignity and Taboos; Beliefs as Assets, Jean Tirole and Roland Benabou IZA Discussion Paper No. 2583 (can be downloaded from the internet). The article is very advanced and only recommended to the reader who has gained familiarity with more basic texts.
5. Calabresi, G. and D. Melamed. 1972. Property rules, liability rules, and inalienability: one view of the cathedral. Harvard Law Review 85(6), 1089–128.

Before the course

Before the course, participants are required to:

• Study the required readings above
• Formulate their basic research questions, if they have not yet done so. It is for this purpose that students should read `The Craft of Research´; this text will not be explained but its ideas are likely to become clear when we discuss the research questions.
• Also, the participants should formulate, for the main situation or game addressed by their research question:
  
  • who the `players´ (the main actors) are
  • what their preferences are (what are they trying to achieve?, are they risk averse or risk neutral?, do they care about fairness and if so, in what way?)
  • what strategies the players can choose

The participants should send their research questions and the description of the game, even if unfinished, to hl.jur@cbs.dk three weeks before the course. If this proves difficult, please contact us.

ECTS

2.5 ECTS

Course organiser

Henrik Lando, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen.

Lecturers

• Professor of law and economics, PhD Henrik Lando, CBS
• Associate Professor, PhD and dr. philos, Gunnar Norden, HSN

Course fee

PhD students from JurForsk institutions or Høgskolen i Sørøst-Norge:
850 DKK for refreshments during the course and one joined dinner for faculty and students on the first course day.

Other participants will be charged a full course fee of DKK 3.250.

Registration

Register by sending an e-mail to tml.jur@cbs.dk.