{"title":"11. Beyond Law and Economics: Legitimate Distribution without Legislation?","authors":"Nicole Hassoun","doi":"10.1515/9781501759284-012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501759284-012","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":159015,"journal":{"name":"Law, Economics, and Conflict","volume":"156 ","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114098126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Beyond Law and Economics","authors":"Nicole Hassoun","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0012","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter reflects on various special themes and policy problems discussed in the book using the broader brush of moral philosophy. It argues that law and economics, while themselves multidisciplinary, have a basis in an even broader disciplinary mooring, that of philosophy. Drawing on classic works in law, economics, and philosophy, the chapter then raises important questions about the concept of legitimacy in the context of the kinds of interventions discussed in the previous chapters, such as central bank policies and antitrust regulations. While much of standard law and economics deals with the direct economic consequences of legal interventions, we often overlook the fact that many of these decisions taken by lawyers, policy economists, and technocrats can have sweeping consequences. What gives technocrats the legitimacy to take these actions? What makes these kinds of sweeping decisions, with large human consequences, “morally permissible”? Some of these big topics do not have easy answers and are, by their nature, open ended.","PeriodicalId":159015,"journal":{"name":"Law, Economics, and Conflict","volume":"47 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122822983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"4. Overreliance on Law: Rural Credit in India, 1875–2010","authors":"A. Swamy","doi":"10.1515/9781501759284-005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501759284-005","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":159015,"journal":{"name":"Law, Economics, and Conflict","volume":"75 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123865177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Overreliance on Law","authors":"A. Swamy","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0005","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter evaluates rural credit in India, assessing why the law has fared so poorly in regulating the rural credit market and enhancing farmer welfare. It begins by detailing the regulation of rural credit and the rise of the microfinance industry since the celebrated economic reforms of 1991 in India. The chapter notes that the levels of farmer stress is at an all-time high in India, with many farmers driven to levels of debt that they clearly cannot pay back in their lifetimes, and that there has been a large increase in the incidence of farmer suicides. It then brings evidence and analysis to show that the numerous credit laws and regulations have failed to do much to alleviate the problems because of the failure to recognize that credit markets are interlinked with other features of the rural economy. Ultimately, the chapter makes a pointed recommendation — the need to strengthen agricultural insurance and the state's willingness to absorb some of the shocks stemming from productivity fluctuations.","PeriodicalId":159015,"journal":{"name":"Law, Economics, and Conflict","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121352774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"8. Why Economics Is a Moral Science: Lifting the Veil of Ignorance in the Right Direction","authors":"G. Giraud","doi":"10.1515/9781501759284-009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501759284-009","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":159015,"journal":{"name":"Law, Economics, and Conflict","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124476060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"7. Law and International Monetary Policy Regimes","authors":"Yair Listokin","doi":"10.1515/9781501759284-008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501759284-008","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":159015,"journal":{"name":"Law, Economics, and Conflict","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122236586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exchange Configurations and the Legal Framework","authors":"P. Cornelisse, E. Thorbecke","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0010","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter explores the idea of “exchange configuration,” which allows a detailed analysis of various forms of exchange in different settings and at different levels of aggregation or disaggregation in developing and developed countries alike. This approach aims to identify the very building blocks of transactions and to explain how transactions obtain their form and content. It should be emphasized that one of these building blocks and key determinants affecting the form and content of transactions is the prevailing legal framework, which can vary enormously across different settings. The chapter begins by discussing some alternative approaches to the exchange process. Briefly summarizing important prior developments, such as New Institutional Economics and Transactions Cost Economics, it examines the role of law and regulation for tackling not just market failures (such as the inadequate provision of public goods and our inadequate handling of the environment) but also equity and income distribution.","PeriodicalId":159015,"journal":{"name":"Law, Economics, and Conflict","volume":"279 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123150042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Forgotten Markets","authors":"M. Bos, S. Carter, P. M. Skiba","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter focuses on pawnshops and the institutions of pawnbroking. Studies show that large numbers of poor people and especially those who are unbanked use pawn loans by leaving collateral. This institution has existed for centuries and while attention has shifted away from it, the informal pawn broker remains a source of survival for the very poor. And this is not unconnected to what happens in the larger, formal economy. After the global financial crisis that began in the United States in 2007–2008, quickly engulfed the world, and became the protracted Great Recession, the pawnbroking industry in the United States and Sweden grew by an astonishing 20 percent per year, as poor people were forced to turn to informal credit for their survival. Despite this industry's importance, pawnbroking has characteristically received little attention and also little regulation. The chapter then raises a host of questions regarding the welfare consequences of these informal lending markets in rich countries and how they could be regulated.","PeriodicalId":159015,"journal":{"name":"Law, Economics, and Conflict","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114235719","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Interim Balance Sheet of Democracy","authors":"Célestin Monga","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter discusses the “global economy of anger” and the “great discordance” that has been the collateral offshoot of technological progress and globalization. It shows that what is often overlooked is that these “advances” have been slowly eroding the foundations of global democracy, enabling political leaders in big and powerful countries to take actions that have no legitimacy or legal basis and are sanctioned by none other than themselves, which is anathema to the very idea of democracy. Given the long history of democracy, which goes back to Athens and its surrounding territories of sixth century BCE, we often act as though we have an adequate understanding of its structure and modalities. The chapter argues that this is far from the truth. Given the intertwining of democracy with technology and institutions that are continuously evolving, our understanding is quite minimal, and the weaknesses are showing up in a stark fashion in today's globalized world. The chapter then lays out the importance of independent research and suggests a research agenda for law and economics.","PeriodicalId":159015,"journal":{"name":"Law, Economics, and Conflict","volume":"294 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127158075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Law and International Monetary Policy Regimes","authors":"Yair Listokin","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759383.003.0008","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter assesses one aspect of the large political economy of multi-country policy interventions, that which works through the money markets, liquidity, price controls, and overall macroeconomic policy. This is an important area of research and policy activism involving important multilateral organizations, like the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of International Settlements. There have been debates about exchange-rate policies (which by definition, have effects on other countries), about capital controls (which may block money from entering one nation but also blocks the movement of money from other countries), and price controls (which is often treated as a no-go area). Capital controls and interventions in the price system have also been politically divisive topics. The creation of the European Union helped stimulate these debates, since there were immediate policy spillovers that directly affected human well-being, from Britain and Germany to Greece and Ireland. The chapter then puts forward some radical proposals with special commentary on the European Union.","PeriodicalId":159015,"journal":{"name":"Law, Economics, and Conflict","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127600849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}