Objective: The Special Workshop aims to provide a comprehensive exploration of the philosophical (methodological, epistemological, and ideological) fundamentals of law and economics, delving into the diverse schools of thought and approaches to the economic analysis of legal rules and institutions. By bringing together international legal philosophers and experts in the field, the workshop purports to promote a deeper and nuanced understanding of the main theoretical, conceptual, and ideological underpinnings and philosophical assumptions that guide the several strands in the law and economics movement.

Main Themes: The SW will deal particularly with the following approaches to law and economics:

• The Chicago School: Delving into the foundational principles of the Chicago School, examining its emphasis on economic efficiency and the market-pattern as guiding criteria for legal rules. Exploring how this approach shapes policy recommendations and its implications for the role of government in the legal system based on the fundamental concepts of efficiency (Pareto, Kaldor Hicks, Wealth maximization, etc.), externalities, and cost/benefit analysis. Promoting a reflection on the strong conception of property rights and the market mimicking method endorsed by the proponents of the Chicago approach vis-à-vis the New Haven paradigm.

• Public Choice Theory: Analyzing the insights of Public Choice Theory in its drive to explaining the political and legal decision-making processes. Exploring how public choice analysis sheds light on the incentives and behavior of actors within the legal and political systems, with a focus on the game-theoretic assumptions of the models.

• New Institutional Economics: Investigating the contributions of the New Institutional Economics to the field, with a focus on how legal institutions and rules are viewed as responses to transaction costs and as a way of preventing wastage. Discussing the implications for the design and effectiveness of legal frameworks in various contexts. Exploring the empirical strategies used by the New Institutional Economics and their conceptual assumptions.

• Behavioral Law and Economics: Exploring the integration of behavioral and cognitive psychology into law and economics, considering how insights into human behavior challenge and complement the traditional rationality assumptions of neoclassic economics and standard principles of the marginalist models. Discussing the implications of the behavioral approach for both policymaking and for the conception of law-making, considering biases, heuristics, nudging, and noise.

Format: The workshop will feature a combination of keynote presentations and interactive sessions. Each theme will be explored through presentations by leading scholars in the respective fields of expertise, followed by open discussions meant to encourage cross-disciplinary dialogue and collaboration. The expected number of speakers is 8-12 (depending on the available time and the quality of proposals). Speakers will be encouraged to participate and selected through a Call for Papers.

Organizers: Pierluigi Chiassoni (Full Professor at the University of Genoa), Alessio Sardo (Full Professor at the University of Genoa - PI of the ERC STG HABITAT), Giovanni Tuzet (Full Professor at Bocconi University - Milano)

Speakers
Pierluigi Chiassoni (University of Genoa)
Alessio Sardo (University of Genoa)
Giovanni Tuzet (Bocconi Milano)
Wojciech Załuski (Jagiellonian University – Kraków)
Angelika Kaczmarek (Jagiellonian University – Kraków)
Brian Bix (University of Minnesota Law)

A call for papers will be open.