New paper on Legal Institutions, Innovation and Growth

Legal Institutions, Innovation and Growth

ABSTRACT: We analyze the relationship between legal institutions, innovation and growth. We compare a rigid (law set ex-ante) legal system and a flexible one (law set after observing current technology). The flexible system dominates in terms of welfare, amount of innovation and output growth at intermediate stages of technological development - periods when legal change is needed. The rigid system is preferable at early stages of technological development, when (lack of) commitment problems are severe. For mature technologies the two legal systems are equivalent. We find that rigid legal systems may induce excessive (greater than first-best) R&D investment and output growth.



LUCA ANDERLINI, Georgetown University - Department of Economics
Email: la2@georgetown.edu
LEONARDO FELLI, London School of Economics - Department of Economics, CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research), Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
Email: lfelli@econ.lse.ac.uk
GIOVANNI IMMORDINO, Università degli Studi di Salerno - Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF)
Email: GIIMMO@TIN.IT
ALESSANDRO RIBONI, University of Montreal - Department of Economics
Email: alessandro.riboni@umontreal.ca

Google search for 'Microjustice' - June 2011

Form time to time, I google certain concepts just to see how much they have taken off. From a term nonexistent in 2005, 'microjustice' today has11.400 entries, the top few which are as follows:

• www.microjustice.org/
• www.odemagazine.com/doc/62/microjustice/
• www.microjusticeinitiative.org/
• microjusticeworkplace.net/
• papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1022936
• www.linkedin.com/groups/Microjustice-Initiative-63732
• microjustice.net/wiki/Main_Page
• http://www.innovatingjustice.com/index.php?pageID=5&innovationID=16
• www.microjustice4all.org/web/?option=com_content
• www.microjusticeuganda.org/
• http://www.tilburguniversity.edu/research/institutes-and-research-groups/tisco/research/projects/micro/
• http://www.innovatingjustice.com/index.php?pageID=34&partnershipID=35
• http://internetbar.org/tag/micro-justice/

Call for Papers: 2011 Law and Development Institute Conference

The Law and Development Institute (LDI) has put out a call for paper proposals for its 2011 annual conference, entitled, "Law and Development at the Microlevel: From Microtrade to Current Issues in Law and Development". The conference will be co-hosted with and held at the Seattle University School of Law in Washington on December 10, 2011. The LDI calls for papers on any aspect of microtrade, which is a new system of international trade designed to alleviate populations of least-developed countries of extreme poverty (for a concept paper, click here) as well as for papers on other law and development issues that can be considered broadly at the "micro level", including but not limited to: microfinance, microinsurance, green growth and development, etc.



Paper proposals should be limited to a 500 word abstract, which must be received by June 30 at the latest. Accepted conference papers should be completed by November 15 for circulation among the participants in advance of the conference. All proposals must be sent by email to the Law and Development Institute. The paper proposals will be peer-reviewed by members of the editorial board of the Law and Development Review. It is anticipated that paper selection will be completed by July 31, 2011. The selected authors will be invited to present their papers at the Conference. The invited speakers are expected to cover their own expenses to attend the conference. For more information, including contact emails, click here.

Call for Papers: Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) conference to be held 20-22 October 2011

Submissions are due 30 May 2011 for the upcoming Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) conference to be held 20-22 October 2011. The theme is "Capitalism and the Common Good" The call can be found here.

Keynote Speaker:
- B.S. Chimni (Centre for International Legal Studies School of International Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Confirmed speakers include:
- Antony Anghie (Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law at the University of Utah)
- Tayyab Mahmud (Professor of Law and Director, Center for Global Justice at Seattle University School of Law)
- Balakrishnan Rajagopal (Associate Professor of Law and Development and Director, MIT Program on Human Rights and Justice at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Publication Opportunities:
Select papers will be published in the Oregon Review of International Law. We are also investigating the possibility of a TWAIL book volume.

Call for Papers: 2011 Law and Development Institute Conference

Following last year's success, the Law and Development Institute (LDI, www.lawanddevelopment.net) is pleased to announce a call for paper proposals for the 2011 annual conference, entitled, "Law and Development at the Microlevel: From Microtrade to Current Issues in Law and Development". The conference will be co-hosted with Seattle University School of Law on December 10, 2011. The LDI calls for papers on any aspect of microtrade, which is a new system of international trade designed to alleviate populations of least-developed countries of extreme poverty (for a concept paper, see http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1524185), as well as for papers on other law and development issues that can be considered broadly at the "micro level", including but not limited to: microfinance, microinsurance, green growth and development etc.

Paper proposals should be limited to a 500 word abstract, which must be received by June 30 at the latest. Accepted conference papers should be completed by November 15 for circulation among the participants in advance of the conference. All proposals must be sent by email to the Law and Development Institute, info@lawanddevelopment.net (with a cc to wtogeneva@hotmail.com). The paper proposals will be peer-reviewed by members of the editorial board of the Law and Development Review (www.bepress.com/ldr). It is anticipated that paper selection will be completed by July 31, 2011. The selected authors will be invited to present their papers at the Conference. The conference venue is Seattle University School of Law, located in Seattle, United States. The invited speakers are expected to cover their own expenses to attend the conference.

Berkman webcast: Academic Uses of Social Media: Exploring 21st Century Communications Webcast Event

Tuesday, May 312:00-2:15pm
Webcast Event; the live webcast of this event will be available at the following URL: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/webcastat 12pm on 5/3
Co-sponsored by the Office of Faculty Development & Diversity at Harvard and the Harvard Office of News and Public Affairs

Social media — from blogs to wikis to tweets — have become academic media, new means by which scholars communicate, collaborate, and teach. Hear from a distinguished faculty panel, moderated by John Palfrey, about how they are adopting and adapting to new communication and networking tools, following a keynote by social media thought leader danah boyd.

12:00PM Introductory remarks, John Palfrey, Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law; Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School; Faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society

12:10PM: Keynote: Embracing a Culture of Connectivity, danah boyd, Social Media Researcher at Microsoft Research New England and affiliate of the Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society

Many young adults have incorporated social media into their daily practices, both academically and personally. They use these tools to connect, collaborate, communicate and create. This talk will examine the different social media practices common among young adults, clarifying both the cultural logic behind these everyday practices, and the role of social media in academia.

1:00PM Faculty Panel: Academic Uses of Social Media, moderated by John Palfrey

Michael Sandel, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University
Professor Sandel's course "Justice" is the first Harvard course to be made freely available online and on public television. A website including lecture videos, discussion guides, poll questions, and other resources has generated discussion among students and other viewers around the world. The website is currently being updated to make greater use of social media tools.

Nancy Koehn, James E. Robison Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
So much of the information we receive and send on the overflowing river ways of social media is immediate and detached from a historical frame or often, from any kind of larger frame or context whatsoever. What does it mean for a society to increasingly default into reliance on immediacy and brevity and widespread access as the ne plus ultra in knowledge creation? Knowledge is more than access to information, and wisdom is more than knowledge accumulation. How can we use social networks to create strong foundations for right action and sound choices?

N. Gregory Mankiw, Professor of Economics, Harvard University
Over the past several years, Professor Mankiw has maintained a blog, originally aimed at students in his undergraduate course Ec 10, but eventually reaching a much larger audience. He will talk about the pros and cons of such academic blogging.

Harry R. Lewis, Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University

New book on Law and Development Perspective on International Trade Law

Law and Development Perspective on International Trade Law (Cambridge University Press)

Edited by: Yong-Shik Lee, The Law and Development Institute, Sydney
Edited by: Gary Horlick, Georgetown University Law Center
Edited by: Won-Mog Choi, Ewha Womans University School of Law, Seoul
Edited by: Tomer Broude, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

BOOK ABSTRACT: Economic development is the most important agenda in the international trading system today, as demonstrated by the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) adopted in the current multilateral trade negotiations of the World Trade Organization (the Doha Round). This book provides a relevant discussion of major international trade law issues from the perspective of development in the following areas: general issues on international trade law and economic development; and specific law and development issues in World Trade Organization, Free Trade Agreement and regional initiatives. This book offers an unparalleled breadth of coverage on the topic and diversity of authorship, as seventeen leading scholars contribute chapters from nine major developed and developing countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, China (including Hong Kong), South Korea, Australia, Singapore and Israel.

Contributors: Yong-Shik Lee, Tomer Broude, Bryan Mercurio, Maureen Irish, Faizel Ismail, Gary Horlick, Katherine Fennell, Andrew Mitchell, Joanne Wallis, Moche Hirsch, Mitsuo Matsushita, Anthony Cassimatis, Colin Picker, Caf Dowlah, Young-Ok Kim, Hye Seong Mun, Xiaojie Lu