Jevons Institute – University College London
2009 Colloquium on Antitrust and Regulation
The Role of Behavioral Economics in Consumer
Protection and Competition law
Douglas H. Ginsburg, June 3, 2009
NCAA v. Board of Regents of
University of Oklahoma,
Supreme Court (1984)
“Congress designed the Sherman Act as a
consumer welfare prescription. A restraint
that has the effect of reducing the importance
of consumer preference in setting price and
output is not consistent with this
fundamental goal of antitrust law.”
2
Success of Plaintiffs and Defendants by Decade
100%
80%
36%
45%
50%
60%
Plaintiff and
defendant wins /
Total cases
100%
40%
64%
55%
50%
20%
0%
0%
1967-1976 (44)
Plaintiff (%)
Defendant (%)
1977-1986 (42)
1987-1996 (18)
Decade (# of cases)
1997-2006 (13)
3
Supermajority (2/3 or greater) of the U.S. Supreme Court
100%
89%
90%
85%
80%
Of all cases
decided, the
percentage in
which a plaintiff
or defendant
won by a
supermajority
70%
60%
69%
55%
50%
44% 44%
36%
40%
30%
85%
80%
33%
25%
20%
10%
0%
0%
1967-1976 (44)
1977-1986 (42)
1987-1996 (18)
1997-2006 (13)
Decade (# of cases)
Plaintiff (%)
Defendant (%)
Total (%)
4
United States’ Position as Amicus in Private Cases
by Presidential Administration
100%
89%
82%
80%
75%
71%
67%
60%
53%
50% 50%
47%
40%
33%
29%
25%
18%
20%
11%
0%
Johnson (8)
Nixon-Ford
(18)
Carter (14)
Reagan (20)
Bush I (10)
Clinton (3)
Bush II (10)
Decade (# of cases)
Plaintiff (%)
Defendant (%)
5
Percentage of Supreme Court Antitrust Decisions
Citing Law & Economics Works
100%
78%
80%
Decisions citing
Law & Economics
work / Total cases 60%
(works by Phillip
Areeda, Ward
Bowman, Robert
Bork, and Richard
Posner)
77%
60%
40%
30%
20%
0%
1967-1976 (44)
1977-1986 (42)
1987-1996 (18)
1997-2006 (13)
Decade (# of cases)
6
Number of Articles with
“behavioral economics” in the text
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
19801984
19851989
19901994
19951999
20002004
20052009
7
Number of Articles with
“behavioral economics” in the title
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
19801984
19851989
19901994
19951999
20002004
20042009
8
Behavioral Economics in law review articles
Years
Number of citations
in text
Number of citations
in title
1980-84
2
0
1985-89
11
0
1990-94
10
0
1995-99
97
16
2000-04
546
28
2004-May 09
755
24
9
Herbert Hovenkamp, “Enterprise in
American Law 1836-1937”
“Elite American judges generally absorb
the thinking of elite American intellectuals.
Classical constitutional doctrine followed
after the political economy that prevailed in
America's best universities”
10
Herbert Hovenkamp, “Enterprise in
American Law 1836-1937” (cont.)
“When the dominant American economic
ideology changed -- not until the first three
decades of the twentieth century -- the
legal ideology followed close behind.”
11