Economics and the Law: From Posner to Post Modernism

Abstract

This text presents a concise overview of the current perspectives and varied traditions that constitute the evolving field of and economics. The authors make it clear that the field is not a homogenous movement by illuminating the several competing and yet complementary traditions within it, including the Chicago School of Law and Economics, Public Choice Theory, Institutional and Neo-Institutional Law and Economics, the New Haven School and Modern Civic Republicanism, as well as the Critical Legal Studies' challenge to Law and Economics. By providing readers with a noncritical description of the broad contours of each school of thought, the authors convey a strong sense of the important elements of these interrelated yet varied traditions. The authors define law and economics broadly to include the application of economic theory (primarily microeconomics and the basic concepts of welfare economics) to the formation, structure, processes and economic impact of and legal institutions. Since the and the economy interact across a variety of fronts, the fundamental insights of their burgeoning field have important implications, not only for economics, but also for those in such contiguous disciplines as political science, public administration and sociology.