Law and Economics: A Guide to Research Sources

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Law and EconomicsA Guide to Research Sources

• Robin Gault
• Associate Director, Research Center
• Fall 2007

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• For the rational study of the law the black
  letter man may be the man of the present, but the
  man of the future is the man of statistics and
  the master of economics.
• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., The Path of the Law,
  10 Harvard Law Review 457, 469 (1897).

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Introduction

• Why law and economics?
• Providing a scientific basis for law.
• Influence of other social sciences.

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Overview of Law and Economics

• Introductory sources in print copy
• Robert Cooter and Thomas Ulen, Law and Economics,
  4th ed. (2004)
• K 487 E3 C665 2004
• David, D. Friedman, Laws Order What Economics
  Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters (2000)
  Reserve HB 171 F768 2000, also e-book
• Jeffrey L. Harrison, Law and Economics in a
  Nutshell, 3d ed. (2003) Reserve K 487 E3 H37
  2003
• Richard A. Posner, Economic Analysis of Law, 7th
  ed. (2007) Reserve KF 385 P65 2007
• Steven Shavell, Economic Analysis of Law (2004)
  Reserve K 487 E3 S528 2004

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• Introductory information on the Web
• Law and Economics in
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• http//www.iep.utm.edu/l/law-econ.htm
• Law and Economics in
• The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics (The
  Library of Economics and Liberty)
• http//www.econlib.org/library/ENC/LawandEconomic
  s.html
• David D. Friedman, Laws Order What Economics
  Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters
• http//www.daviddfriedman.com/laws_order/

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Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

• The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the
  Law (1998)
• K 487 E3 N48 1998
• Encyclopedia of Law and Economics
• K 487 E3 E23 2000
• http//encyclo.findlaw.com/

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Locating Journal Articles

• All of the important journals covering law and
  economics are indexed in EconLit.
• Major economics journals also have back issues
  available through JSTOR. Some of the journals on
  law and economics also have back issues available
  on Hein Online.

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Major Journals in Law and Economics

• Journal of Law and Economics
• (v.40-current Westlaw and Lexis v. 37-current
  JSTOR v. 1-43)
• Journal of Legal Studies
• (v. 26-current Westlaw and Lexis v. 23-current
  JSTOR v.1-36 Hein Online v. 1-31)
• Journal of Law, Economics Organization
• (v. 13-present Westlaw v. 10-present JSTOR and
  Hein Online v. 1-13)
• Supreme Court Economic Review
• (Westlaw 1995-current Lexis 1997-current JSTOR
• v. 1-9, 1982-2001 Hein Online v. 1-10,
  1982-2003)

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Internet-Only Journals

• Social Science Research Network (SSRN) Legal
  Scholarship Network Law and Economics series
  (including FSU College of Law)
• Berkeley Electronic Press Review of Law and
  Economics

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Economics Research

• National Bureau of Economic Research
• http//nber.org/
• NBER is the leading nonprofit research
  organization in the U.S. Its mission is to
  undertake and disseminate unbiased economic
  research to guide policy-making in government and
  business.

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Law and Economics Links

• Findlaw Law and Economics links
• http//lawecon.lp.findlaw.com/
• University of Chicago Law School Law and
  Economics links
• http//www.law.uchicago.edu/Lawecon/links.html

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Sources of Economics Statistics

• U.S. Department of Commerce
• Bureau of Economic Analysis
• http//bea.gov/
• The Bureau of Economic Analysis collects,
  analyzes, and disseminates statistical
  information about the nations economy.

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• U.S. Department of Health
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• http//www.cdc.gov/DataStatistics
• The CDC collects and disseminates health and
  medical data.

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• U.S. Department of Labor
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• http//www.bls.gov/
• The BLS collects a wide array of data on
  employment and consumer spending.

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• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Filings
  (EDGAR) http//www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
• All publicly-traded companies doing business in
  the U.S. are required to file periodic reports
  with the SEC. These are available to the public
  through EDGAR.

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• Other federal government sources
• FedStats home page has links to all agencies,
  indexed in a variety of ways
• http//www.fedstats.gov/

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A Few Blogs

• The Becker-Posner Blog
• http//www.becker-posner-blog.com/
• Law and Econ Prof Blog
• http//lawprofessors.typepad.com/law_econ/
• University of Chicago Law School Faculty Blog
• http//uchicagolaw.typepad.com/
• Not limited to law and economics but includes
  many well-known scholars in the field.

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Statistics Review

• DVD Course
• Meaning from Data Statistics Made Clear, taught
  by Michael Starbird, Distinguished Teaching
  Professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
  (Law Library Reserves AVTP 403)