Law and Economics: The Road Not Taken

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Abstract
For the rational study of the law the black-letter man may be the man of the present, but the man of the future is the man of statistics and the master of economics.Oliver Wendell Holmes (1921: 83)I do not see how one can grasp the meaning of law within society except from the vantage point of social science.Lawrence M. Friedman (1986: 780)Since both law and society and law and economics apply social science concepts and methods to the problems of the legal system, one might think that the two disciplines are natural allies. Indeed, with the largely empirical focus of law and society and the strong emphasis on theory in law and economics, the benefits from collaboration between the two would seem to be particularly great. Perhaps surprisingly, though, they have often been at odds with one another, with both groups willing to concede only grudgingly that the other has made useful contributions to the study of legal and public policy issues. The hostility is reflected in the fact that, at recent law and society meetings, very few devotees of law and economics have been in attendance, either as speakers or as members of the audience. What then can explain this chill?

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