How should judges interpret statutes? Like many others, we begin with the premise that statutory interpretation is a quest by judges to use the best available theory and information to determine “what statutes mean.” When seen in this light, two attributes of statutes merit attention. ·...

The paper contrasts Lipset’s modernization hypothesis and Przeworski- Limongi hypothesis that entries into democracy are random with respect to income. We use data on income and democracy going back to 1820, multiple definitions of democracy, and non-parametric testing focusing on the...

Punitive damages are one of the most controversial aspects of tort litigation and have been the subject of various theoretical, empirical, and experimental studies. One criticism of punitive damages refers to the effect that they have on civil litigation processes. In particular, Polinsky (1997)...

Some thoughtful questions and linear answers to the economic, social, and political consequencs that comes with restrictive regulating laws. 'Regulatory law is where Socialism meets Liberalism; or what might be called the highest form of Liberalism, the lowest form of Socialism.'

In this article, we provide an interpretation for the voluntary independence requirements contained in the Italian Corporate Governance Code (Preda Code) checking them against a proxy for international best practice, the independence criteria provided in the EC Recommendation on non-executive...

Common Law, as practiced around the world, permits what it doesn't prohibit. Compared to Roman Law practice, which prohibits what it doesn't permit, the Common Law makes economic innovation easy. Easy economic innovation, in turn, promotes rapid economic adaptation -- broad technological...

This paper summarizes Hayekian Law and Economics.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate two new anti-merger instruments, innovation markets and unilateral effects, on the basis of economic theory and evidence. I first discuss how the economics of antitrust has developed over the years, with the intention of characterizing the intellectual...

This paper is the sequel to chapter 30 of the 1999 first edition of The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics (ed. J. Backhaus). A new section has been added entitled 'An application of Hayekian law and economics: the comparative analysis of alternative monetary and banking regimes'.