Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Law
Doing What You Say, Robert D. Cooter
Doing What You Say, Robert D. Cooter
Robert Cooter
Making wealth requires people to do what they say. In relationships and repeat transactions, reciprocity makes people do what they say, even without contract law. Relationships and repeat transactions, however, preclude competition. Competition involving transactions with strangers invigorates an economy and enables it to flourish. Making strangers do what they say requires them to commit legally. According to the contract principle for economic cooperation, the law should enable people to commit to doing what they say. When this principle is implemented, strangers can trust each other enough to work together even when money is at stake. Implementing this principle requires …
American Indian Law Codes: Pragmatic Law And Tribal Identity, Robert D. Cooter, Wolfgang Fikentscher
American Indian Law Codes: Pragmatic Law And Tribal Identity, Robert D. Cooter, Wolfgang Fikentscher
Robert Cooter
The United States has recognized the power of American Indian tribes to make laws at least since 1934. Most tribes, however, did not write down many of their laws until the 1960s. Written laws have subsequently accumulated in well-organized codes, but scholars have not previously researched them. Using written materials and interviews with tribal officials, we describe the scope, motivation, and interpretation of tribal codes. With respect to scope, we found nine main types of codes that cover almost all fields of law over which tribes have jurisdiction. Few tribes have all nine types of codes. Tribes have internal and …
The Misperception Of Norms: The Psychology Of Bias And The Economics Of Equilibrium, Robert D. Cooter, Mical Feldman, Yuval Feldman
The Misperception Of Norms: The Psychology Of Bias And The Economics Of Equilibrium, Robert D. Cooter, Mical Feldman, Yuval Feldman
Robert Cooter
This study combines the psychology of bias and the economics of equilibrium. We focus on two of the most discussed perceptual biases found by psychologists who studied the role social norms in ethical decision making. First, psychologists found a general tendency of people to over-estimate how many other people engage in unethical behavior. We show that this bias causes more people to violate the norm than if the bias were corrected. Second, psychologists found a general tendency of a person to over-estimate how many other people act the same as he does. We show that this bias does not change …
Bargaining With The State, Robert D. Cooter
Bargaining With The State, Robert D. Cooter
Robert Cooter
According to the economic theory of bargaining, each party to a voluntary agreement must receive at least the amount that he can get on his own (“threat value”), plus a share of the surplus from the bargain. Courts frequently monitor bargains between citizens and the state. To protect citizens, the courts should focus on the fairness and efficiency of the threat points of the citizens. Unfortunately, courts often focus on the terms of the agreement, not the threat points. The wrong focus leads courts to impose rules that block bargains that would benefit both parties. I analyze an example where …