This seminar will explore the current state of thinking about the relationship between identity, politics and legal regulation. In particular, attention will be paid during this upcoming semester to the situation in Puerto Rico. Among the topics that will be considered are the roles that race and colonial identity have played in leading to Puerto Rico's current political status ("foreign in a domestic sense"). We will also consider how these factors (and others) have played into the current debt crisis that the Commonwealth is facing. In addition to Puerto Rico, we will also have discussions of other topics connecting to the broader theme of Law, Identity and Politics such as the Gender Gap in Legal Employment, the future of the Voting Rights Act, and the litigation over the Travel Ban.

Every week, students will be asked to do reaction papers to presentations by guest speakers. These guests are a set of scholars who are doing some of the most current research on the above-mentioned topics.

The requirements for the class are completion of the reaction papers and active participation in the debates over the papers being presented. There will not be a final exam or final paper. There will be one class meeting most weeks; on one occasion though we will have two sessions.

This iteration of the Law, Economics and Politics seminar will focus primarily on the economics, law and politics of contracting (broadly defined).  Every week, the class will discuss a different research paper on the topic.  Most weeks, one of the authors of those papers will join us for the discussion.  Active participation in the discussions and engagement with the substance of the papers is a requirement (there will also be weekly writing requirements). Some of the guests who are scheduled to visit in the Fall 2018 semester include John Coyle (UNC), Anusha Chari (UNC), Glen Weyl (Yale), Benjamin Edelman (Harvard), and Alon Brav (Duke).  The instructors for this seminar are Mitu Gulati (Duke Law) and Tracy Lewis (Duke Econ/Business).

Every week, students will be asked to do reaction papers to presentations by guest speakers.  These guests are a set of scholars who are doing some of the most current research on the above-mentioned topics.

The requirements for the class are completion of the reaction papers and active participation in the debates over the papers being presented. There will not be a final exam or final paper.

This research seminar will involve discussing some of the latest research at the intersection of the fields of law, politics and economics. The research papers that we will read will look at the behavior of both individuals and institutions and will examine a range of scenarios that include the analysis of optimal regulation of financial markets, how to use legal regulation to improve the treatment of refugees, the impact of law on race and gender identity, and the evaluation of legal regulation in terms of its impact on happiness.  A central theme of this semester will be the relevance of “behavioral economics” to law and policy. The instructors for this course are Guy Charles, Mitu Gulati, and Matthew Adler.  

We will invite speakers who are doing some of the most cutting edge interdisciplinary work in law to present their ongoing work to the seminar. Students will be asked to prepare, in advance, short reaction papers to the presentations by the speakers. The requirements for the class are completion of the reaction papers and active participation in the debates over the papers being presented. There will be one class meeting each week.

This research seminar will involve discussing some of the latest research at the intersection of the fields of law, politics and economics. The research papers that we will read will look at the behavior of both individuals and institutions and will examine a range of scenarios that include the analysis of optimal regulation of financial markets, how to use legal regulation to improve the treatment of refugees, the impact of law on race and gender identity, and the evaluation of legal regulation in terms of its impact on happiness.  A central theme of this semester will be the relevance of “behavioral economics” to law and policy. The instructors for this course are Guy Charles, Mitu Gulati, and Matthew Adler.  

We will invite speakers who are doing some of the most cutting edge interdisciplinary work in law to present their ongoing work to the seminar. Students will be asked to prepare, in advance, short reaction papers to the presentations by the speakers. The requirements for the class are completion of the reaction papers and active participation in the debates over the papers being presented. There will be one class meeting each week.