MPP_EACP Economic analysis of civil law

Faculty of Economics and Administration
Autumn 2016
Extent and Intensity
2/2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
JUDr. Marcela Fryštenská, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
JUDr. Marcela Fryštenská, Ph.D.
Department of Law – Faculty of Economics and Administration
Contact Person: Lenka Hráčková
Supplier department: Department of Law – Faculty of Economics and Administration
Prerequisites
The course builds on the basic knowledge in the area of: basics of private law (New Civil Code). Students get the above mentioned knowledge in the following course: the Introduction to Law. Note:Students can meet all the demands placed on them within the scope of economic analysis of civil law without completed course the Introduction to Law provided intensive self-study under the guidance of a teacher .
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The main objective of the the Economic Analysis of Civil Law is to introduce the economic analysis of the law as a method of access to the law , which measure the costs and benefits. This can be used in the interpretation and application level. Another goal of this interdisciplinary subject is to show students that the method of costs and benefits is possible to use to analyze all the legal rules of the private sector. The course should contribute to a better understanding the economic context of the law and realization that behind many legal standards is economic thinking , or what can be called a common sense.
Syllabus
  • 1. WHAT IS THE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF LAW? (Law and Economics, the difference in the thinking of lawyers and economists, positive and normative economic analysis of law, historical background, economic analysis of law in the Czech Republic) Students are introduced to the economic analysis of law as a method of interpretation and application of the law by using the criteria of cost-benefit and outlined the role of this method in the Czech legal system. Briefly describes the genesis of this method in the US and Europe, introduced the main representatives of the economic analysis of law and their major works. 2. RATIONALITY, VALUE, EFFICIENCY (Axiom "Man is a rational and wants to maximize his/her utility," the three pillars of rational decision-making, the theory of self-interest, controversy about rationality, efficiency - Pareto improvement, Pareto efficiency, Kaldor-Hicks criterion) Students become familiar with the terms rationality, utility, effectiveness and homo economicus as a rational man who is trying to maximize his/her benefit. 3. SOME ISSUES OF PROPERTY RIGHTS AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS (The legal theory of property rights, the shift of resources to a more valuable benefit, transaction costs, a problem common grassland externalities, Coase theorem, ownership rights vs. the law of obligations) Students are explained the role of property rights in terms of efficient allocation of resources. In the course there are analyzed the effects of different forms of ownership on efficiency and distribution. Students are introduced into the issue of externalities and the need for their internalisation. Students get to know the Coase theorem. 4. CONTRACTUAL RIGHT AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS (The concept of a contract, Why the parties conclude a contract?, freedom of contract, complete and incomplete contract and transaction costs, rebus sic stantibus, exchange of information, good faith and opportunism, productive and unproductive information, asymmetric information and good faith, business conditions, e-contracts a standard form contract, the price clause, liability for breach of contract, contractual penalty and economic analysis, critique of "efficient" breach of contract, warranty, enforcement of performance of the contract) Students are introduced to the legal norms and institutions of contract law in terms of efficiency. Students are introduced to the three rules applied by the courts in filling gaps in the contract: the rule of "the cheapest cost avoider", the rule "the cheapest Insurer" and the rule "the superior risk bearer". On specific institutes of the Contract law students in a broader context can see that behind many of them is economic analysis. 5. TORT LAW AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS (The introduction to the tort law, subjective and objective responsibility in the economic context, bilateral responsibility, due care and Learned Handová rule limitation of damages, the market for lemons, compensation for pain and suffering, punitive damage in private law, the price of special popularity) Students are justified the role of the tort law through the application of the economic analysis of law. Students analyse and try to find the answer to the question: Who and what amount has to pay for the damage? Students are introduced the rule "the cheapest cost avoider" applicable for the liability for damage caused by the wrongful act and the rule Learned Hand. 6. SELECTED ASPECTS OF FAMILY LAW AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS (The marriage market and the marriage contract, polygamy and monogamy, incomplete information and divorce, division of household work, § 688 and 689 of the Civil Code, women in the labor market, the demand for children, human capital and the state budget, altruism in the family and rotten kid theorem , maintenance obligations of parents towards children) Students discusse some family legal institutions such as marriage contract, divorce, adoption, alimony etc. from the perspective of economic analysis. Attention is paid to the marriage market position of women in the labor market, the division of household chores, the decline in the birth rate and increase in divorce rate. Students try to answer the question of whether state interventions in the family are effective. 7. LABOR LAW AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS (Asymmetry of information and market power of employers, Svarc system, human capital vs. labor law protection from competition, performance of work tasks, objective and subjective responsibility, minimum wage, trade unions and efficiency, three views of anti-discrimination legislation in economic terms) Students are explained how labor law overcomes with greater or lesser success shortcomings of the labor market, such as information asymmetry Parties and the market power of the employer. Students get to know the rule, "the Least Cost information gathering rule" that the economic analysis of law applied in situations where the law comes to the opposite conclusion. At the end of the lecture the students debate the effectiveness of anti-discrimination legislation. 8.DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS (Methods of dispute resolution and efficiency, and effectiveness of the judicial system - supply and demand of judicial decisions, alternative methods of dispute resolution, mediation) Students are introduced to ways of resolving disputes in terms of efficiency for both litigants and the state. They try to find the answer to the question: Which method of dispute resolution is the best way for a party that wants to maximize his/her benefit and minimize his/her cost. Students analyze the key factors of supply and demand affecting the efficiency of the judicial system. 9. THE ECONOMIC ACCESS TO THE LAW AND JUDICIAL DECISIONS (Constitutional Court and the protection of privacy, the Constitutional Court and vaccination, the Supreme Administrative Court and price regulation Prague taxi service, the European Court of Justice and the ban on discrimination in insurance) Czech courts, but also the judicial authorities of the European Union make references to economic concepts (and possibly economic or legal-economic literature) rather sporadically. This does not mean that their decisions absent economic logic. Students analyse certain judgments of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Court of Justice of the European Union and so on.
Literature
    required literature
  • FRYŠTENSKÁ, Marcela. Ekonomická analýza civilního práva. Masarykova univerzita Brno, 2015, 311 s. ISBN 978-80-210-7880-2.
    recommended literature
  • MATHIS, Klaus. Efficiency Instead of Justice? Searching for the Philosophical Foundations of the Economic Analysis of Law. University of Lucerne, Faculty of Law, 2009, 219 s. ISBN 978-1-4020-9797-3.
  • BECKER, A. Gary. Treatise on the Family. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993, 424 s. ISBN 0-674-90698-5.
  • ŠÍMA, Josef. Ekonomie a právo. Praha: Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze: Fakulta národohospodářská., 2004, s. 207. ISBN 80-245-0749-8.
  • DAU-SCHMIDT, G. Kenneth, HARRIS, D. Seth, ORLY, Lobel. Labor and Employment Law and Economics. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2009, 361 s. ISBN 978 1 847207296.
  • BINMORE, Ken. Teorie her. Praha: Argo a Dokořán, 2014, 230 s. ISBN 978-80-7363-549-7.
  • POSNER, A. Richard. Economic analysis of law. 8. Vyd. New York: ASPEN Publisher, 2011, s. 1009. ISBN 978-0-7355-9442-5.
  • SCHÄFER, Hans-Bernd, OTT, Claus. The Economic Analysis of Civil Law. Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2004, 473 s. ISBN 1 84376 277 3.
  • LEONI, Bruno, BASTIAT, Frédéric. Právo a svoboda/Zákon. Liberální institut, 2007, s. 336. ISBN: 978-80-8638-950-9.
  • MACKAAY, Ejan. Law and Economics for Civil Law Systems. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2014, s. 533. ISBN 9781848443099.
  • COOTER, Robert, ULEN, S. Thomas. Law & Economics. 6. vyd., Courier Westford, Inc., 2011, s. 555. ISBN 978-0132540650.
  • SHAVELL, S. Economic analysis of contract law. [online]. Working paper 9696, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, 2003 [cit. 7.3.2015]. Dostupné z: http://www.nber.org/papers/w9696, kap. 15, str. 2.
  • EPSTEIN, Richard Allen. Právo, ekonomie a politika. Praha: Wolters Kluwer Česká republika, 2010, 288 s. ISBN 9788073575298. info
Teaching methods
Lessons take the form of lectures and seminars. There are explained main thesis of the course within lectures, which are further discussed and aplicated during seminars. Solving examples, analysis of case studies are a part of seminars. Certain issues are introduced through the movie trailers.
Assessment methods (in Czech)
Předmět je ukončen kolokviem. Podmínkou úspěšného absolvování kolokvia je stanovená účast na seminářích a úspěšné absolvování průběžného kontrolního testu.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2016, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2016, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/econ/autumn2016/MPP_EACP