Economics 360
Fall 2011
Marietta College
Dr. Delemeester
SYLLABUS
Course:
Office:
Office Hours:
Email:
Course Home Page:
Law and Economics
118 Thomas Hall (phone: 376-4630)
MTWT 2:00 – 3:00pm
greg.delemeester@marietta.edu
http://www.marietta.edu/~delemeeg/econ360
Course Description and Objectives
Law and economics is a natural marriage. Economics is the science of rational choice in a world in which resources are
limited relative to human desires. The legal environment, in turn, determines the "rules of the game" as played by rational
agents. Thus it is quite natural for economists to question the origin, nature, and consequences of the "rules of the game"
as they pertain to individual and group behavior.
Among the important issues that we will address throughout this course are:
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How does the legal system shape economic incentives in ways that lead to socially optimal behavior?
How does one measure the benefits and costs of changes in legal rules?
What is the nature of private property and public goods in a market economy?
What is the appropriate role of a legal system in settling private disputes?
This course has a strong policy orientation. Topics include intellectual property law, product liability law, contract law,
and the economics of crime. Upon completing this course you should be able to:
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understand the effects of the legal system on economic behavior.
understand discussions involving law and economics.
ask good questions, both to yourself and to others.
make good conjectures regarding the answers.
Text/Websites
We will be using Law and Economics, by Robert Cooter and Thomas Ulen, 6th edition (Addison-Wesley, 2012). The web
site for the text is http://wps.aw.com/aw_cooterulen_lawecon_6/.
Course Requirements and Policies
1. Exams. There will be three exams given. Exams will consist of essay, analytical, and true-false-explain questions
and be based on the readings, lectures, problem sets, and experiments. Make-up exams will not be offered without
a college-approved excuse.
2. Problem Sets. There will be three problem sets distributed. You will submit answers to selected questions prior
to each exam. Several exam questions may come directly from the problem sets. I encourage you to work together
on homework. However, I ask that each person write up his or her own answers separately. That is, you should
feel free to discuss the questions and answers and come to a consensus on what you feel the right answers are; but
then each person should go back and write up those answers individually, rather than passing around one set of
answers for everyone to copy. Also, if you do work with other people, please list who you worked with on the
first page of the homework.
3. Moot Court. You will participate in a mock trial involving a fictitious legal dispute as part of either the plaintiff
or defense team. The plaintiff and defense are required to submit a written brief to the instructor summarizing
their respective arguments prior to their oral arguments.
4. Class Attendance and Participation. An active learning approach is essential to doing well in this course.
Consequently, you should expect to actively ask and answer questions during class. See the section on
Responsibilities below.
5. Academic dishonesty is a breach of the trust that the instructor and your fellow classmates place in you and will
not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, theft, or improper manipulation of laboratory
or research data or theft of services. A substantiated case of academic dishonesty may result in disciplinary action,
including a failing grade on the project, a failing grade in the course, or expulsion from the College" (Marietta
College Undergraduate Programs, 2011-2012 Catalog, p. 121). All suspected cases will follow the procedures
outlined in the Marietta College Catalog. Copyright violations are also quite serious breaches of the law. Please
visit the MC copyright tips page for further details.
6. Academic support services and resources are available at Marietta College's Academic Resource Center (ARC)
located on the third floor of Andrews Hall.
7. Students with documented disabilities should notify the instructor and the Academic Resource Center to discuss
their individual needs for accommodation in a timely manner.
8. Co-curricular probation for those on academic probation is in effect. Please refer to the college catalog for
details (Marietta College Undergraduate Programs, 2011-2012 Catalog, p. 127).
9. Your grade will be determined as follows:
Grades are allocated as follows:
Exams (average of three exams)
Grades will be assigned according to the following plus/minus system,
using standard rounding methods:
75%
Problem Sets (average of your
best 8 scores)
15%
Moot Court
10%
Grade
==>
Percent
Score
A+ A
A- B+ B
B- C+ C
C- D+ D
D- F
97 93- 90- 87- 83- 80- 77- 73- 70- 67- 63- 6059+ 96 92 89 86 82 79 76 72 69 66 62
Responsibilities
I see my primary responsibility to lead, guide, and motivate a group of committed and dedicated students in the
learning process, and to determine the extent to which students have mastered the material covered in this
course. I am committed to this task. By signing up for this course, you have accepted the responsibility of being
an active learner and of participating in the classroom discussion. Most importantly, students are expected to
be committed to learning the subject matter. If you are not open to new ideas, or are not committed, expect
your grade to reflect this.
Grades are a carrot that encourages learning. While I will not hesitate to give a poor grade when your
performance indicates that you have not learned the material, I want to see everyone do well. Thus, I will do
my best to help you understand the topics and to do well on the exams. I realize that you have a busy schedule
and often face difficulty in getting in enough time to study. This makes it all the more important to get involved
while you are here. We are going to have fun but expect to work hard. In the past I have found that students in
my courses experience unpleasant surprises on tests because they mistake my easy-going personality for an
easy-going tester. I don't want this to happen to you, so for your sake put in the time that you need to really
know the material. More than anything, this means reading the book before class and doing problems. Just
coming to class (and cramming a little before the tests) is not going to work very well for you in this course.
Finally, while my easy-going nature makes for a relaxed classroom atmosphere, I expect you to show respect
to your surroundings and your classmates. Among other things, please ensure that you turn off all cell phones,
iPods, etc., before class begins.
Econ 360 Course Schedule: Fall 2011
Day
August 30
September 1
September 6
September 8
September 13
September 15
September 20
September 22
September 27
September 29
October 4
October 6
October 11
October 13
October 18
October 20
October 25
October 27
November 1
November 3
November 8
November 10
November 15
November 17
November 22
November 24
November 29
December 1
December 6
December 8
December 13
Reading
1,2
3
4
4
5
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
9
9
10
11
11
12
12
13
13
8:30am
Topic/Event
Intro/Microeconomics Review
Legal Institutions
Economic Theory of Property
Economic Theory of Property-- Experiment 1
Topics in Property Law
Topics in Property Law
Topics in Property Law
Exam 1
Economic Theory of Contract
Economic Theory of Contract
Topics in Contract Law
Four Day Break
Topics in Contract Law
Economic Theory of Tort
Economic Theory of Tort
Topics in Tort Liability
Topics in Tort Liability
Exam 2
Economic Theory of the Legal Process
Topics in the Economics of the Legal Process
Topics in the Economics of the Legal Process
Economic Theory of Crime and Punishment
Economic Theory of Crime and Punishment
Thanksgiving Break
Topics in Crime and Punishment
Topics in Crime and Punishment
Moot Court
Exam 3
Note: I am trying to arrange a field trip to the Washington County Common Pleas Court to observe, first-hand, a real legal
case. The timing of this trip may affect the course schedule listed above.
Moot Court Project
The objective of this exercise is to construct the opposing arguments in a legal case on the basis of both
economic and legal considerations. Arguments are to be based on the facts presented in each of the case
descriptions and any other materials or information that the parties consider relevant and which is readily
accessible in the public domain. Grades will be assigned to the members of the teams representing the plaintiff
and the defendant in each case on the basis of briefs submitted by each team, the quality of the team’s
presentation, and evaluations of each team member’s performance by the other members of the team. On the
date of the trial, each team will have 10 minutes to present its case, 5 minutes to formulate a rebuttal of the other
group’s testimony, and 5 minutes to offer rebuttal testimony.
Each case involves two teams: plaintiff and defendant. Each team is composed of two students. The remaining
students will serve as a panel of judges and render a verdict based upon the testimony presented by each side.
Judges will have 5 minutes to deliberate and render a verdict.
The following cases involve disputes over property rights, a contract, and an alleged tort. It has been
determined that each case should be decided in such a manner that the economically efficient solution prevails.
Preparation of the Brief
The written brief that is prepared by each of the parties in each case must include the following elements:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
An overview and summary of the facts of the case.
The party’s position with respect to the facts and allegations.
Economic justification for the party’s position regarding the appropriate disposition of the case.
Brief summary
A summary of the contributions of each of the team members to the preparation and delivery of the team’s
case and the preparation of the brief.
The written brief must be typed, double-spaced, fully-justified, 12pt font, 1” margins, and should be no more
than 6 pages long.
Each team member’s grade will be determined according to the following formula:
Percent Score = 0.75(written brief) + 0.25(oral presentation)
The Moot Court will be held in class on December 6. The legal brief is due at the beginning of class.
Moot Court Brief
Assessment Criteria
Name: _____________________
Content
1. Paper responds fully to the assignment, i.e.,
paper includes required elements (overview,
parties’ positions, economic analysis, summaries)
Low
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
High
9 10
2.
Overview does a good job of setting up the paper
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
3.
Parties’ positions are described clearly and correctly
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
4.
Economic analysis is correct; reasoning is
clearly explained and internally consistent
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
5.
Recommendation(s) are supported by the analysis
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
6.
Overall assessment of content
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Writing quality, grammar, spelling
7. Sentence structure is good
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
8.
Paper makes correct use of punctuation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
9.
Paper is free of spelling errors
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
10. Paper is free of errors in word choice
Percent score: _____
Your grade will be calculated as a weighted average of scores assigned to items 1-10. Items 1
and 7-10 are worth 3 percent each. Item 2 is worth 5 percent. Item 3 is worth 10 percent. Item 4
is worth 30 percent. Item 5 is worth 15 percent. Item 6 is worth 25 percent. Your percentage
score on the paper is determined by calculating your weighted score as a percentage of ten.