312098 Ökonomische Analyse des Rechts II "Vertragstheorie" / Economic Analysis of Law II,"Contract Law" (V) (SoSe 2024)

Brief description
This course provides a further exploration of economic analysis and its application to legal rules and institutions. It begins with an introductory overview of Law and Economics, followed by economic theory of contract law and applications to the market (i.e., enforcement of credit rights and access to external financil resources on the capital market), which is the main core of this course. Finally, the course proposes an overview on the economic theory of the legal process, highlighting how the civil procedures can affect firms’ behavior on the market (i.e., alternative strategies to raise financial resources if firms are located in a poor legal enviroment).

Course objectives
Students will understand how microeconomic theory can be used to critically evaluate law and public policy; and they will be able to apply economic concepts and methods in the analysis of regulations and firms’ behavior on the market.

Organization
The course is split up between lectures on the core issues of the program and seminar sessions during which students have to contribute to the learning process by presenting scientific articles on selected relevant topics for the Law and Economics, and actively taking part in discussions concerning the proposed cases studies.

Assessment methods
Article presentation (during the course) and manuscript submission (at the end of the course).

Prerequisites
None

Materials
Cooter, R., & Ulen, T. (2016). Law and economics. Addison-Wesley.
Selected journal articles on the core areas of law: contracts and legal process.