Mutually beneficial agreements might fail if the parties fear contractual opportunism. Litigation is supposed to be a remedy, but gives scope for another kind of opportunistic behavior which we call litigational opportunism: Even knowing that the opponent has fulfilled his obligations, a party...

Die empirische Prüfung theoretischer Forschungsergebnisse wirft in der Ökonomie - wie bei jeder Sozialwissenschaft - Probleme auf. Anders als in den Naturwissenschaften können kaum volkswirtschaftliche Labors errichtet werden. Seit einigen Jahren nutzen Ökonomen die Erfahrungen der...

Before joining the European Union countries from Central and Eastern Europe have to adopt the acquis communautaire, i.e. the system of legal rules developed in the Union. The paper outlines an economic theory of optimum legal areas, that is used to determine the optimal size of the Union as well...

In this article a simple game is used to develop a concept of trust that takes account of boundedly rational behavior. Even if a first mover in a sequential game is protected against opportunism by legal means or means of private ordering there remains a risk that the second mover does not...

The paper argues in favor of the economic analysis as a method of international comparison of legal systems. It demonstrates that the legal rules governing the termination of employment contracts in the US are not "weaker" than in Germany. Arguing in terms of expected damages, the probability of...

A university system has both efficiency and equity objectives. Efficiency requires the adoption of a tuition fee system that maximizes net social benefits. These benefits take two main forms: clear cut wealth benefits, and a more diffuse range of benefits to society like the improvement of...