Law and Economics:How can laws promote an

economically efficient outcome?

Vindelyn Smith-Hillman

Tom Bain

Phil Nash

Objective

To better equip graduates for work in the Civil Service – Focus on law-economics relationship.

Context

1600 economists currently work across 30 government departments and agencies

2000 lawyers currently work across 30 government department and agencies

Parliament produces 50-80 Acts each session + there are 1000 Statutory instruments - each has to be accompanied by an impact assessment

Impact Assessment????

An Impact Assessment is:

a continuous process to help the policy-maker fully think through and understand the consequences of possible and actual Government interventions in the public, private and third sectors; and

a tool to enable the Government to weigh and present the relevant evidence on the positive and negative effects of such interventions, including by reviewing the impact of policies after they have been implemented.

Higher education intervention

The introduction of a new cross disciplinary module to address identified deficiencies in the economist-lawyer work relationship.

Deficiencies????

Problematic areas

Understanding of economic concepts– Costs and benefits; transfers; distributional effects

Awareness of information sources– ONS statistics; Research centres

Understanding of legal principles– Structure of the legal system; procedural highlights

Methodological divergence– Law focus on the specific, economics – the general

How would the module sit within existing structure/framework?

Elective that can be taken in any year No tie-ins, i.e specific to a particular faculty or

subject to any pre-requisites Content:

– Basic micro economic concepts related to market failure– Basic legal concepts relating to legal procedure– Case study application using cost benefit analysis

Providers? Joint civil service-academia?

A lawyer who has not studied economics is very apt to become…. a public enemy.

Justice Brandeis (1916)

Sources

“Delivering High Quality Impact Assessments” available at

http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/0809/high_quality_impact_assessment.aspx

Impact Assessment Library available at

http://www.ialibrary.berr.gov.uk/