LAW 435

This seminar will apply economic principles to analyze legal principles. Topics covered will include the economic analysis of major areas of the common law, namely, property law, tort law and contract law. Other topics include (i) the economic approach to corporate law, (ii) bankruptcy, and (iii) competition law. As the various topics are covered, students will see how the law might be addressing certain kinds of recurring economic problems, including prisoners' dilemmas, transaction costs, externalities, asymmetric information, principal-agent problems, and free-rider problems. A previous background in economics is not required.