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A short description of the Center |
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The Center for the Study of Law and Economics has been founded in July 1993 at the Department of Economics, Universität des Saarlandes. Director of the research unit is Prof. Dr. Dieter Schmidtchen The Center organizes conferences and workshops, invites scholars from all over the world, and gives advise to private and public authorities. The publication of a discussion paper series provides an opportunity for the presentation of research results. The focus of the Center's research activities is on the Law and Economics of international Transactions, Constitutional Economics, the legal protection of intellectual property, and the evolution of legal rules and conventions in the shadow of the law. |
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The economic analysis of the law is the intersection of two disciplines: economics and law. The institutions analyzed are those of the law, and the method of research is that of economic theory. The economic analysis of the law deals with the questions of how law evolves, what its effects are, what economically efficient law looks like, and how one can implement it. The matter is not only substantive law and all its facets (private law, criminal law, administrative law, constitutional law) but also procedural law. Recently, other problems are also being dealt with that evolved from the territoriality of the law. This is leading to international private law and public international law becoming another focus. Therefore the discussion about the harmonization of law in Europe is receiving impulses from this direction. The starting point of this inter-disciplinary approach is the insight that legal prohibitions and duties influence people's actions, since they represent constraints (as prices and budgets do similarly), which have to be considered in decision making - not only by economic agents but also by lawyers, judges and politicians. By choosing this focus, the economic analysis of the law has, in recent years, earned a permanent position in the judicial faculties of many American universities, and also influenced the judicial practice in the United States. On the other hand, in Europe, especially in Germany, this direction of research has been and still is underrepresented. Dispite the existence of the European Association of Law and Economics which is an association bringing together jurists and economists who do research on these subjects, there still is a lack of institutional facilities at the various uni-versities which would be prerequisite to promote the fruitful exchange of ideas. Therefore, the Center for the Study of Law and Economics has been founded in the summer of 1993. It is supposed to be a forum for the cooperation of scientists dealing with these topics. The Center wants to invite researchers to conferences, workshops, and individual stays in Saarbrücken. It also offers analytical and empirical support both to private sector institutions and public sector bodies. The topics of research are the role of law in an international context, constitutional and institutional economic questions of the European Union, as well as problems of the legal protection of industry, and intellectual property. The possibility of presenting new research results will be provided by regularly published discussion papers. |
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