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Caterina, Raffaele --- "Comparative Law and Economics" [2006] ELECD 165; in Smits, M. Jan (ed), "Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law

Editor(s): Smits, M. Jan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845420130

Section: Chapter 14

Section Title: Comparative Law and Economics

Author(s): Caterina, Raffaele

Number of pages: 11

Extract:

14 Comparative law and economics*
Raffaele Caterina


In 1994, Ugo Mattei celebrated `the methodological wedding between the
two most interesting recent general attempts to understand the law:
Comparative Law and Law and Economics' (Mattei, 1994, p. 18). In 1997
the same author predicted a bright academic future for the new field of
comparative law and economics (Mattei, 1997, p. x). Since 1997, new
important contributions to the field have been published (see, for instance,
Hansmann and Mattei, 1998; Mattei and Cafaggi, 1998; Ogus, 1999, 2002;
Van den Bergh, 2000). A group of scholars who form the Comparative Law
and Economics Forum has held annual meetings under the leadership of
Robert Cooter. The first anthology on comparative law and economics was
recently published (De Geest and Van den Bergh, 2004a).
However, it can be said that comparative law and economics is still a rela-
tively marginal field. Several factors have contributed to this. Law and eco-
nomics is still largely an American phenomenon, and comparative law
plays a relatively marginal role in the American legal universe. On the other
hand, in many European countries both comparative law and law and eco-
nomics play marginal roles in the academy. Also (as we will see) Chicago law
and economics is not a natural ally of comparative law and economics; and
while some comparative law and economics literature has pointed out
important affinities with other approaches (especially with neo-institutional
economics), not much work has been done in exploring these potentially
fruitful intersections.

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