An Overview of Behavioral Law and Economics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Zamir ◽  
Doron Teichman
Keyword(s):  
External Validity ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Economic Analysis Of Law ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
Legal Studies ◽  
Disciplinary Perspective ◽  
History Of ◽  
Behavioral Law And Economics

The chapter introduces behavioral law and economics. It is divided into three sections. The first section describes the history of behavioral law and economics since the late 1970s. The second section discusses the methodologies used in this sphere, including the emergence of empirical legal studies. Empirical legal studies include lab-experimental, observational, and field-experimental studies—the last category comprising randomized field experiments and natural experiments. Finally, the chapter analyzes the challenges facing this emerging, cross-disciplinary perspective. These challenges include critiques of the psychological studies that form the basis of behavioural law and economics, such as the issues of external validity of laboratory experiments. They also include difficulties in integrating behavioural insights into economic analysis of law.

Behavioral Law and Economics

2014 ◽  
pp. 124-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Engel
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Empirical Methods ◽  
Traditional Use ◽  
Legal Studies ◽  
Legal Psychology ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Behavioral Law And Economics

This chapter deals with empirical methods as applied in behavioral law and economics. It first reflects on the traditional use of a behavioral perspective in legal psychology and criminal law, as well as how behavioral law and economics differs from traditional law and economics. It also emphasizes the importance of scientific empirical evidence to law and economics. The chapter then discusses empirical methods for behavioral legal analysis by using data from the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, focusing on the use of field data, surveys, vignettes, and lab experiments, along with alternative approaches such as field experiments and simulations. It describes and analyzes the methodological variance and cites publications from other peer-reviewed legal journals. In conclusion, it outlines potential paths for future methodological development.

Behavioral Law and Economics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Zamir ◽  
Doron Teichman
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Bounded Rationality ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Securities Regulation ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Entire Body ◽  
Economic Analysis Of Law ◽  
Behavioral Law And Economics ◽  
The Impact

In the past few decades, economic analysis of law has been challenged by a growing body of experimental and empirical studies that attest to prevalent and systematic deviations from the assumptions of economic rationality. While the findings on bounded rationality and heuristics and biases were initially perceived as antithetical to standard economic and legal-economic analysis, over time they have been largely integrated into mainstream economic analysis, including economic analysis of law. Moreover, the impact of behavioral insights has long since transcended purely economic analysis of law: in recent years, the behavioral movement has become one of the most influential developments in legal scholarship in general. Behavioral Law and Economics offers a state-of-the-art overview of the field. The book surveys the entire body of psychological research underpinning behavioral analysis of law, and critically evaluates the core methodological questions of this area of research. The book then discusses the fundamental normative questions stemming from the psychological findings on bounded rationality, and explores their implications for establishing the aims of legislation, and the means of attaining them. This is followed by a systematic and critical examination of the contributions of behavioral studies to all major fields of law—property, contracts, consumer protection, torts, corporate, securities regulation, antitrust, administrative, constitutional, international, criminal, and evidence law—as well as to the behavior of key players in the legal arena: litigants and judicial decision-makers.

8. Experimental Research

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Halperin ◽  
Oliver Heath
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Experimental Research ◽  
External Validity ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
The Common ◽  
Internal And External Validity

This chapter explores the principles of experimental research design as well as the issues and problems associated with different aspects of the approach. In particular, it considers the issue of internal and external validity, the common obstacles associated with experimental research, and what can be done to try and avoid or minimize them. The chapter first describes the five steps involved in the classic version of the experimental design before discussing three types of experimental design: laboratory experiments, field experiments, and natural experiments. It also examines the ethical issues that arise from experimental research and concludes by highlighting some of the advantages of experimental research.

8. Experimental Research

2020 ◽  
pp. 211-230
Author(s):  
Sandra Halperin ◽  
Oliver Heath
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Experimental Research ◽  
External Validity ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
The Common ◽  
Internal And External Validity

This chapter explores the principles of experimental research design as well as the issues and problems associated with different aspects of the approach. In particular, it considers the issue of internal and external validity, the common obstacles associated with experimental research, and what can be done to try and avoid or minimize them. The chapter first describes the five steps involved in the classic version of the experimental design before discussing three types of experimental design: laboratory experiments, field experiments, and natural experiments. It also examines the ethical issues that arise from experimental research and concludes by highlighting some of the advantages of experimental research.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Zamir ◽  
Doron Teichman
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Economic Analysis Of Law ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Behavioral Law And Economics ◽  
Systematic Synthesis

Standard economic analysis of law is based on rational choice theory. In recent decades, numerous experimental and empirical findings have established prevalent and systematic deviations from the assumptions of economic rationality. These findings have been gradually integrated into mainstream economic analysis, including economic analysis of law, to form behavioral law and economics. The introduction highlights the important contributions of behavioral studies to economic analysis of law and to legal analysis more generally. It describes the scope of the book and outlines its structure. It also mentions legal spheres in which the existing scholarship does not yet lend itself to systematic synthesis.

A Review of Steven Shavell's Foundations of Economic Analysis of Law

2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A Posner
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Review Essay ◽  
Applied Field ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Harvard University ◽  
Economic Analysis Of Law ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
New Directions ◽  
History Of

Steven Shavell's Foundations of Economic Analysis of Law (Harvard University Press, 2004) is a major theoretical contribution to “law and economics,” the applied field of economics that studies the economic properties and consequences of legal doctrines and institutions. It is a field of immense practical importance, but unfamiliar to many economists—a situation that Shavell's book bids fair to rectify. This review essay situates Shavell's book in the history of economic scholarship about law and uses the book as a springboard for speculation about new directions in that scholarship.

The Progress and Pitfalls of Using Survey Experiments in Political Science

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana C. Mutz ◽  
Eunji Kim
Keyword(s):  
Causal Inference ◽  
Political Science ◽  
External Validity ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Experimental Methods ◽  
Recent Analysis ◽  
Survey Experiments

Survey experiments are now quite common in political science. A recent analysis of the number of mentions of this term in political science journal articles demonstrates a dramatic increase from 2000 to 2013. In addition, the term survey experiment has been picked up by many other disciplines, by researchers in a variety of different countries. Given the large number of survey experiments already published, the goal here is not to review the numerous excellent studies using this methodology, because there are far too many, spanning too many different topics. Instead, this juncture—marked by both progress and the proliferation of this method—is used to highlight some of the issues that have arisen as this methodological approach has come of age. How might research using this methodology improve in political science? What are the greatest weaknesses of survey experimental studies in this discipline to date? The explosive growth of survey experiments in political science speaks to their popularity as a means of establishing causal inference. In his reflection on the origins of survey experiments, Paul Sniderman has suggested that their quick rise in popularity was due to two factors: a) their ability to meet expected standards of external validity within the discipline without sacrificing internal validity, and b) the lower marginal cost per study relative to studies that were representative national surveys. Collaborative data collection efforts such as the Multi-Investigator Project and Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences (TESS) made it possible for more scholars to execute population-based survey experiments at a lower cost per study than traditional surveys. Using shared platforms, researchers can execute many experiments for the price of one representative survey. These explanations make perfect sense in the context of a field such as political science, where external validity traditionally has been valued more highly than internal validity. It may be surprising to younger colleagues to learn that, not all that long ago, experiments were deemed completely inappropriate within the discipline of political science, unless they were field experiments executed in the real world. Experiments involving interventions in naturally occurring political environments were deemed tolerable, but only political psychologists were likely to find experimentation more broadly acceptable due to their strong ties to psychology. In political science, survey experiments were a means of promoting experimental methods in an external-validity-oriented discipline. Survey experiments freed political scientists from college sophomores as subjects and promised that external validity need not be sacrificed for strong causal inference. Times have obviously changed, and political scientists now embrace a much broader array of methodologies including both observational and experimental methods. This occasion provides an opportunity to re-evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this innovative method, in theory and in practice.

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