INTRODUCTION to LAW & ECONOMICS, sponsored by LEANZ in conjunction with the Law Foundation

To enrol, fill out and submit the enrolment form

See the course flyer

Venue: Decima Glenn Room, Owen Glenn Building, University of Auckland, starting 29th August at 8am

Goals of the Course

This course is designed to give participants a solid understanding of, and experience with, the application of economic models to law and organization, and legal aspects of public policy.  The seminar series will provide a comprehensive coverage of the field of law and economics for law and economic policy practitioners.

Upon successful completion of this course, participants should be able to apply an appropriate economic model to a range of topics in property, contracts and torts, and identify the economic consequences of alternative legal rules.

Course Outline

The course will cover the economic analysis of law and organization, and the application of economics to property rights, patents and natural resource management. Topics include: contracts, transaction cost analysis, classical contracting, long-run contracts, enforcement, the role of market forces, risk aversion, remedies for breach, the economic theory for torts, negligence rules, strict liability, multiple torts, product liability, crime, insider trading, business law and competition policy.

Learning and Teaching

The course will be conducted over eight weeks on Monday mornings from the 29th of August 2011 to 7th November (missing 5th September, 17th and 24th of October), from 8.00am to 9.30am—cutting as little as reasonably possible out of the working day.

Seminar Presenter

Dr Basil Sharp, Professor and Chair of Economics Department, University of Auckland

Course fees

$300 for LEANZ members and staff of corporate members, $350 for non-members.  Detailed payment instructions are included on the enrolment form.

Venue

Decima Glenn Room, Owen Glenn Building, University of Auckland

Course materials

The lectures will be recorded and published on the LEANZ website, the audio recording synchronised with the lecture slides. The recording will be available free to course participants.

There is no required text but the following books will be helpful for those who want to study further:

Cooter, Robert and Thomas Ulen, Law and Economics, 3rd edition, Reading, Mass:Addison-Wesley, 2000.

Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson, Ludwig von Mises Institute, ISBN: 9781933550213

Gene Callahan, Economics for Real People, Ludwig von Mises Institute, ISBN: 9780945466413