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Encyclopedia of Law and Economics pp 1243–1248Cite as

Law and Economics

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Synonyms

Economic Analysis of Law

Definition

Law and Economics is economics applied to the analysis of statutory law systems or subsystems or to legal policy proposals.

Historical Remarks

To talk about Law and Economics or, equally, of the Economic Analysis of Law is to refer to the application of economic science tools to national and international systems of statutory law, as well as to legal policy proposals.

Positive analysis is to be distinguished from normative analysis. Within the framework of positive analysis, economic science is employed within a system of statutory law to explain and predict the consequences of the application of one or more sets of judicial system rules in questions concerning human conduct. It consists, therefore, in elucidating the manner in which people react to the enactment, enforcement, abolition, or reformation of such rules of law. In this sense, the Economic Analysis of Law is a system of theories regarding human behavior. The key question...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

    Pablo Salvador Coderch

  2. Stanford Law School, Stanford, CA, USA

    Antoni Terra Ibáñez

Authors
  1. Pablo Salvador Coderch
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  2. Antoni Terra Ibáñez
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Pablo Salvador Coderch or Antoni Terra Ibáñez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. MRE and University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Alain Marciano

  2. Faculté d’Economie, Université de Montpellier and LAMETA-UMR CNRS, Montpellier, France

    Alain Marciano

  3. DiGSPES, University of Eastern Piedmont, Alessandria, Italy

    Giovanni Battista Ramello

  4. IEL, Torino, Italy

    Giovanni Battista Ramello

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Salvador Coderch, P., Terra Ibáñez, A. (2019). Law and Economics. 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_284

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