Business & Economics Research for Law Librarians

Paul BrothersTodd Hines

Business Reference LibrariansAngelo Bruno Business Library

“A lawyer who has not studied economics…is very apt to become a public enemy.” Justice Brandeis, Illinois

Law Review, “The Living Law” (1916) (Law and Economics, preface)

“THE INTERFACE BETWEEN LAW AND ECONOMICS”

• 1st meeting – lawyers sought expert witness, some of whom were economists

• Most active area of cooperation for economists – Antitrust field• Other areas of law that sought economists:

– Criminal justice– Pollution– Poverty– Racial discrimination– Land use planning– Accident prevention– Landlord-tenant relations– Urban governments– Etc. (Law and Economics, pg. 2)

Law & Economics – the merger

“The interaction between lawyers and economists gained scope in the early 1980’s when many business decisions appeared to be made in the courthouses rather than in boardrooms. Some of these court decisions can have a bigger impact on sales and earnings than the marketplace itself.” (Law & Economics, pg.2).

Assets

• Law Librarians usually have access to better asset sources than business librarians– LexisNexis

• Personal property• Real property• Judgments & liens• Accurint (owned by LexisNexis)

– Westlaw• Asset locator

Assets (cont.)

• Public companies– Check salary & bonus– Company stock & stock options– Insider trading– IPO registrations

• Private companies– Acquired by public company– Compare to similar public company– Business press articles

Looking for Officers?

• Alabama Virtual Library (AVL)– Business Source Premier– Company Profiles– Enter name of company OR lookup– Click on “Datamonitor Report”– See “Key Employees”

Other sources for “Officers”

• Hoovers.com (good amount of FREE data)– Enter company name – Click on “People”

• Print directories such as;• Ward’s Business Directory• Dunn & Bradstreet Million Dollar Directory• Directory of Corporate Affiliations

Statistics

• What two areas are you most interested in?– Financial data (stock & bond prices including

delisted & obsolete securities)– Economic statistics (CPI, trade deficit, etc.)– Accounting statistics/information (financial

statements)– Market research statistics (Who uses Clairol

Herbal Essences shampoo? What are the best selling shampoos?)

– Industry statistics (How big is the payday loan industry?). 

Business & Law pubs.

• European Journal of Law & Economics

• World Competition: Law and Economics Review

• Law and Policy in International Business

• ABA and Business Law Today (BLT)

• Antitrust Law and Economics Review

• American Business Law Journal

Google Scholar

• Covers scholarly literature• Easy way to determine

– Who is a leading academic expert in this area?

• Google Scholar does a pretty good job of determining whose research is highly cited.– Ex. backdating of stock options– Ex. private equity

• Note: you might not be able to get to a full text copy

Business Source Premier (BSP)

• Great place for industry overview

• Click on “Industry Profiles”– Enter name of Industry, e.g. “publishing”– Datamonitor reports are provided

BSP

BSP

• Great place for company overview

• Not only can you find officers and other employees but also:– S.W.O.T. analysis– Top competitors– Locations and subsidiaries– Etc.

BSP

• Great place for articles – can limit to scholarly

BSP

• Also includes Trade Publications:

Business & Company Resource Center

• Available through Alabama Virtual Library

• Selected content– Company overviews– Industry overviews– Market share– Trade publications

Intersection of Business & Law

• Journal of Business & Technology Law – increasing area of interplay due to intellectual property rights

• Some schools have interplay between entertainment and law

• Venture capital – laws that can mimic a Silicon Valley

• Law and insurance - how economics play a part

Works Cited

• Law and Economics: An Introductory Analysis, 2nd ed. Werner Z. Hirsch, Dept. of Economics, Univ. of California, Los Angeles. Academic Press, Inc.1988.