The Economics of Lawmaking

Francesco Parisi is a Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School and a Professor of Economics at the University of Bologna, Department of Economics. In 2002, he was appointed Professore Ordinario per Chiara Fama at the University of Milan (Statale) where he held a Chair in Private Law. From 1993 to 2006, he taught at George Mason University where he served as Professor of Law & Director of the Law and Economics Program and as an Associate Director of the J.M. Buchanan Center for Political Economy. Professor Parisi received his D.Jur. degree from the University of Rome "La Sapienza", an LL.M., a J.S.D. and an M.A. degree in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D in Economics from George Mason University. He is the author of ten books and over one-hundred and fifty papers in the field of law and economics. Professor Parisi currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Review of Law and Economics and the Supreme Court Economic Review. He is amember of the board of editors of the International Review of Law and Economics, the journal of Public Choice, and the American Journal of Comparative Law. Vincy Fon received her PhD in economics from the University of Kansas. Her research areas include law and economics and applied microeconomics. Among other courses, she teaches graduate microeconomics, undergraduate law and economics, and undergraduate game theory. She has served as a program director in the economics program at the National Science Foundation and as a consultant for the World Bank.

• Acknowledgements ; Introduction ; PART I ? Lawmaking through Legislation: Codified Law ; Chapter 1. ; Lawmaking through Legislation: An Introduction ; Chapter 2. ; Optimal Specificity of Laws: Rules versus Standards ; Chapter 3. ; Optimal Timing of Legal Intervention: Lawmaking under Uncertainty ; Chapter 4. ; Optimal Territorial Scope of Laws: Subsidiarity and Legal Harmonization ; PART II ? Lawmaking through Adjudication: Judge-Made Law ; Chapter 5. ; Lawmaking through Adjudication: An Introduction ; Chapter 6. ; Litigation and the Evolution of Legal Remedies ; Chapter 7. ; Judicial Path-Dependence and Legal Change ; Chapter 8. ; Theories of Legal Precedent: Stare Decisis and Jurisprudence Constante ; PART III ? Lawmaking through Practice: Customary Law ; Chapter 9. ; Lawmaking through Practice: An Introduction ; Chapter 10. ; Fostering the Emergence of Customary Law ; Chapter 11. ; Customary Law and Articulation Theories ; Chapter 12. ; Stability and Change in Customary Law ; PART IV ? Lawmaking through Agreement: Treaty Law ; Chapter 13. ; Lawmaking through Agreement: An Introduction ; Chapter 14. ; Formation and Accession to Treaties ; Chapter 15. ; Ratification and Reservations: The Effects of Reciprocity ; Chapter 16. ; The Hidden Bias of Treaty Law ; Conclusions