The threat of sanctions is often insufficient to ensure compliance with legal norms. Recently, much attention has been given to nudges as a means to influence behavior without sanctions; but nudges are often ineffective and controversial. This Article explores the provision of information about...

This Handbook chapter critically reviews the contributions of several theoretical perspectives to the understanding and design of default rules in contract law—including autonomy-based theories, economic analysis, and social conceptions of contract law. It also notes the key challenges that...

When people make decisions on behalf of others, there is a risk that they would prioritize their own interests over those they are supposed to promote. According to common wisdom, transparency and accountability are the best cure for this problem. This Article argues, counterintuitively, that...

In recent years, numerous empirical studies have examined the prevailing attitudes toward nudges, but hardly any have examined the prevailing attitudes toward mandatory rules. To fill this gap, this article describes five studies (N=3,103)—mostly preregistered studies conducted with...

The article proposes a unified framework for the analysis of conformity obligations across different transactions (sale of goods, sale of real property, lease of movables and of land, contracts for services, and more) and different aspects of the contract object (its quantity, quality,...

This is the first chapter of a forthcoming book. It provides a systematic, up-to-date overview of the psychological phenomenon of loss aversion (LA), including a brief historical account, description of Prospect Theory and its critique, empirical evidence of LA, and the role of emotions in LA....

Building on Kahneman and Tversky's Prospect Theory, this paper presents a series of experiments designed to reveal people's preferences regarding attorneys' fees. Contrary to common economic wisdom, it demonstrates that loss aversion (rather than risk aversion or incentivizing the lawyer to win...

The general standard of proof in civil litigation is preponderance of the evidence. To prevail, the plaintiff must establish the case with a probability exceeding .5. We argue that since litigants tend to take the status quo as the reference point, dismissal of a claim is likely to be perceived...