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Empirical Analysis

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Encyclopedia of Law and Economics
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Synonyms

Empirical law and economics; Empirical legal research; Empirical legal science; Empirical legal studies

Definition

Empirical analysis uses empirical research methods from economics and the social sciences in an attempt to provide answers to research questions in the field of law, i.e., in order to investigate the operative and functional aspects of law and legal consequences. The goal of empirical legal research is to make a contribution to all subjects and phenomena that are of interest to legal scholars and for which no methods have previously been available. The use of empirical methods in legal science can therefore lead to results that cannot be achieved by traditional law research with the methods at its disposal. The ultimate aim of the approach is to contribute to a systematic understanding of our legal system based on empirical data.

In empirical analysis research methods from the social sciences are used to examine research questions in the legal sciences in order to...

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Correspondence to Alexander J. Wulf .

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Wulf, A.J. (2019). Empirical Analysis. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7753-2_161

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