Economics of the Law

This subject addresses the economic principles underlying various areas of the law and which are relevant to legal practice. Three main issues will be studied. The first is competition law and consumer protection. The second is property rights, including intellectual property. The third main area concerns issues of damages and compensation. The course will develop economic tools to analyse these legal issues. These include incomplete contracting, oligopoly analysis and incomplete information.

• 1Specify a microeconomic policy issue
• 2Select and justify appropriate economic theories for analysing the issue
• 3Specify benefits and costs expected to result from the policy intervention
• 4Identify alternative economic policies for achieving the policy object if appropriate.