Workshops Series

The Law, Business, and Economics Workshop Series serves as an important focal point at the University of Texas for research on the economic analysis of law and business. The workshop generally involves presentations by guests from outside the University community. Students can take the workshop as a course, which focuses on their presentation of written critiques of each of the papers presented in the workshop series.

Workshops are held on Mondays at 3:45 p.m. to 5:35 p.m.

The workshops are organized by:

Ronen Avraham
Thomas Shelton Maxey Professor in Law
(512) 232-1357
ravraham@law.utexas.edu

Abraham Wickelgren
Bernard J. Ward Professor in Law
(512) 232-1904 (voice)
awickelgren@law.utexas.edu

Spring 2017

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title Location Time
Feb. 6 Allison Morantz American Enterprise Institute Rejecting the Grand Bargain: What Happens When Large Companies Opt Out of Workers' Compensation JON6.206 3:45pm-5:30pm
Feb. 13 Mitch A. Polinsky Stanford University Deterrence and the Optimal Use of Prison Parole and Probation JON6.206 3:45pm-5:30pm
Feb. 27 Tali Regev University of Tel Aviv Why Can't Alison Sell her Drill? Evidence from eBay JON6.206 3:30pm-5:00pm
Mar. 6 William Hubbard University of Chicago Quatum Economics, Newtonian Economics, and Law JON6.206 3:45pm-5:30pm
Mar. 27 Angela Littwin University of Texas – School of Law Coerced Debt: The Role of Consumer Credit in Domestic Violence JON6.206 3:45pm-5:30pm
Apr. 3 Keith Hylton Boston University Deterrence and Aggregate JON6.206 3:45pm-5:30pm
Apr. 17 Ryan Bubb NYU An Equilibrium Theory of Retirement Plan Design JON6.206 3:45pm-5:30pm
Apr. 24 John Dohohue Stanford University Comey, Trump, and the Puzzling Pattern of Crime in 2015 and Beyond JON6.206 3:45pm-5:30pm
May. 1 Aaron Edlin University of California – Berkeley Hunting Unicorns? Experimental Evidence on Predatory Pricing Policies JON6.206 3:45pm-5:30pm

Fall 2016

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Sep. 19 Anu Bradford Columbia University Is EU Antitrust Enforcement a Tool for Protectionism? An Empirical Analysis
Sep. 26 Paige Skiba Vanderbilt University The Consequences of Online Payday Lending
Oct. 10 Ariel Porat University of Tel Aviv Inducing Negligence
Oct. 17 Jacob Goldin Stanford University Do Law Clerks Influence Voting on the Supreme Court?
Nov. 7 Max Schanzenbach Northwestern University Fee Simple Obsolete
Nov. 28 Jennifer Bennet Shinal Vanderbilt University Opting Out and the Division of Marital Assets
Dec. 5 Eric Talley Columbia University Contracting Out of the Fiduciary Duty of Loyalty: An Empirical Analysis of Corporate Opportunity Waivers

Spring 2016

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Feb. 8 Lisa Larrimore Ouellette Stanford University Knowledge Goods and Nation-States
Feb. 15 Jennifer Doleac University of Virginia – School of Law Keep the Kids Inside? Juvenile Curfews and Urban Gun Violence
Feb. 29 Melissa Wasserman University of Illinois Patent Office Cohorts
Mar. 7 Adi Leibovitch Columbia University RELATIVE JUDGMENTS
Mar. 28 Andrea Chandrasekher University of California – Davis The Effect of Police Slowdowns on Traffic Accidents and Crime
Apr. 4 Kathy Zieler Boston University The Impact of Damages Caps on Medical Malpractice Insurance Premiums
Apr. 18 Jill Fisch University of Pennsylvania Law School THE KNOWLEDGE GAP IN WORKPLACE RETIREMENT INVESTING AND THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS
Apr. 25 Kathy Spier Harvard Law School Taking a Financial Position in Your Opponent in Litigation*

Fall 2015

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Sep. 21 Sonja Starr University of Michigan Explaining Race Gaps in Policing: Normative and Empirical Challenges
Sep. 28 Ian Ayres Yale University Innovation Sticks: The Limited Case for Penalizing Failures to Innovate
Oct. 12 Susan Morse University of Texas – School of Law Safe Harbors, Sure Shipwrecks
Oct. 19 Eric Hellend Claremont McKenna How(else) do physicians respond to malpractice liability? Physician home values in states with unlimited homestead exemptions
Nov. 2 Robert Cooter University of California – Berkeley Progress in the Useful Arts: Foundations of Intellectual Property Law in Growth Theory
Nov. 9 Michal Barzuza University of Virginia – School of Law “No-Size-Fits-None”: Adverse-Selection in Private Ordering of Corporate Law and Governance
Nov. 23 JJ Prescott University of Michigan Noncompetes in the U.S. Labor Force*
Nov. 30 Ken Ayotte University of California – Berkeley Bankruptcy on the Side
Dec. 2 Ezra Friedman Northwestern University The Value of A Statistical Judgment: A New Approach to the Insurer’s Duty to Settle∗

Fall 2014

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Sep. 22 Tom Miles University of Chicago Does Immigration Enforcement Reduce Crime? Evidence from "Secure Communities"
Sep. 29 Oren Bar-Gill Harvard Law School PRICE CAPS IN MULTI-PRICE MARKETS
Oct. 13 Sue Mialon Emory University Declining Moral Standards and The Role of Law
Oct. 20 Ronen Avraham American Enterprise Institute TBD
Nov. 3 Crystal Yang Harvard Law School Consumer Bankruptcy and Financial Health
Nov. 10 C. Scott Hemphill American Enterprise Institute Less Restrictive Alternatives in Antitrust and Constitutional Law
Nov. 24 Jonathan Klick Penn State – School of Law The Effect of Privately Provided Police Services on Crime: Evidence from a Geographic Regression Discontinuity Design
Dec. 1 Dan Ho Stanford University Does Class Size Reduce the Gender Gap? A Natural Experiment in Law
Dec. 3 Einer Elhauge Harvard Law School TBD

Fall 2013

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Sep. 23 Professor Anup Malani University of Chicago ALLOCATING SCARCE INFORMATION
Sep. 30 Professor Shmuel Leshem USC RECIPROCITY, PROPORTIONALITY and INCENTIVES
Oct. 14 Professor Jonah Gelbach Penn State – School of Law Is Everything You Know About Litigation Selection and the Plaintiff's Win Rate Wrong?
Oct. 21 Charlie Silver University of Texas TBD
Nov. 4 Professor Suzanne Scotchmer University of California – Berkeley THE ESSENTIAL FACILITIES DOCTRINE: THE LOST MESSAGE OF TERMINAL RAILROAD
Nov. 11 Veronica Santarosa University of Michigan Pre-Banking Financial Intermediation: Evidence from a Brokerage Law Reform in Eighteenth Century Marseille
Nov. 25 Scott Baker Washington University Law School TBD
Dec. 2 Professor Hugo Mialon Emory University TBD
Dec. 4 Professor Steven Shavell Harvard Law School TBD

Spring 2013

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Feb. 4 Nuno Garoupa University of Illinois Globalization and Deregulation of Legal Services
Feb. 11 Robert Bartlett University of California – Berkeley Shall We Haggle in Pennies at the Speed of Light or in Nickels in the Dark?
Feb. 25 Lisa Fairfax George Washington University Managing Expectations
Mar. 4 Michael Meurer Boston University The Direct Costs From NPE Disputes
Mar. 25 Fred Tung Boston University BANK CEOS, INSIDE DEBT COMPENSATION, AND THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
Apr. 1 Mark Schankerman London School of Economics Patents and Cumulative Innovation
Apr. 15 George Geis University of Virginia Shareholder Derivation Litigation and the Preclusion Problem
Apr. 22 Judson Caskey UT Business School Conservatism

Fall 2012

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Oct. 1 Jonathan Klick Penn State – School of Law Grocery Bag Bans and Foodborne Illness
Oct. 15 Joanna Shepherd-Bailey Emory University Partisan Foundations
Oct. 22 Sandra Black University of Texas Can You Leave High School Behind
Nov. 5 Avery Katz Columbia University International Interference with Contractual Relations:A Transactional Approach
Nov. 12 Bert Huang Columbia University Shallow Signals (pick up a copy in Faculty Lounge)
Nov. 26 Robert Bone University of Texas – School of Law An Investigation Model of Frivolous Suits

Spring 2012

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Feb. 6 Allison Morantz University of Texas – School of Law Do Unions Make a Difference
Feb. 13 Andrew Daughety & Jennifer Reinganum Vanderbilt University Cumulative Harmand Resilient
Feb. 27 Max Schanzenbach Northwestern University The Prudent Investor Rule: An Empirical and Theoretical Reassessment
Mar. 5 Dan Klerman USC Personal Jurisdiction and Product Liability
Mar. 26 Mira Ganor University of Texas – School of Law Improving Innovation by Rationalizing IRC
Apr. 2 Lior Strahilevitz University of Chicago Absolute and Relative Preferences
Apr. 16 Keith Hylton Boston University Causation Incentives
Apr. 23 Dotan Oliar University of Virginia Innovation Trade Off

Fall 2011

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Sep. 8 Alan Miller University of Haifa The Reasonable Person
Sep. 19 Betsy Stevenson University of Pennsylvania – School of Business Indicators of Racial Progress
Sep. 26 Josh Fischman University of Virginia – School of Law Inconsistency, Indeterminacy, and Error in Adjudication
Oct. 10 Oren Bracha University of Texas – School of Law Beyond Incentive
Oct. 17 David Abrams University of Pennsylvania Law School Priority Rules
Oct. 31 Louis Kaplow Harvard Law School Burden of Proof
Nov. 7 Gillian Hadfield USC – School of Law Law Without Coercion
Nov. 28 Rick Brooks Yale University The Morality of Breaching, Efficiently
Nov. 30 Ken Ayotte Northwestern University Subsidiary Entities and the Innovator’s Dilemma

Spring 2011

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Feb. 7 Daniel Schwarcz University of Minnesota Reevaluating Standardized Insurance Policies
Feb. 14 James Spindler University of Texas The Effects of Managerial Short-termism on Compensation, Effort, and Fraud
Feb. 28 Miguel de Figueiredo Yale University When do Voters Punish Corrupt Politicians? Experimental Evidence from Brazil
Mar. 7 Omri Ben Shahar University of Chicago Damages for Unlicensed Use
Mar. 22 Mark Morril Viacom Law and Economics of Viacom v. YouTube (Google)
Mar. 28 Eugenio Miravete University of Texas Sinking, Swimming, or Learning to Swim in Medicare Part D
Apr. 4 Joanna Shepherd Emory University Product Liability Reform and Businesses in High-Risk Industries: Establishments, Employment, and Economic Activity
Apr. 19 Tom McCoy O’Melveny & Myers Political, Legal, and Market Struggles of AMD against Intel
Apr. 25 Kathy Spier Harvard University Should Consumers be Permitted to Waive Products Liability? Product Safety, Private Contracts, and Adverse Selection
May. 2 Florencia Margotta-Wurgler NYU Does Disclosure Matter?

Fall 2009

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Aug. 31 Abe Wickelgren University of Texas Overview of Theoretical Modeling in Law and Economics Opinions?
Sep. 14 Bernard Black University of Texas Overview of Empirical Research Methods
Sep. 21 Stefanie Lindquist University of Texas Overview of Research on Judicial Behavior
Sep. 28 Ronen Avraham University of Texas
Oct. 5 Abe Wickelgren University of Texas Private Regulation: A New Approach To The US Healthcare Crisis
Oct. 12 Richard Markovits University of Texas The Impact of Choice on Economic Efficiency
Oct. 19 Calvin Johnson University of Texas
Oct. 26 Deborah Weiss University of Texas
Nov. 2 Chris Sanchirico University of Pennsylvania
Nov. 9 Cliff Carrubba Emory University
Nov. 16 Nancy Staudt Northwestern University
Nov. 30 John de Figueiredo UCLA

Spring 2009

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Jan. 26 Georg Vanberg University of North Carolina Does the Median Justice Control the Content of Supreme Court Opinions?
Feb. 2 Paul Collins University of North Texas Cognitive Dissonance on the Supreme Court
Feb. 9 Alexander Volokh Emory University Why Do Judges Read Statutes?
Feb. 16 Tracey George Vanderbilt University Remaking the United States Supreme Court in the Courts of Appeals Image
Feb. 23 Tom Clark Emory University Judicial Selection Methods and Judicial Independence
Mar. 2 Nuno Garoupa University of Illinois Judicial Audiences and Reputation: Perspectives from Comparative Law Reputation, Information, and the Industrial Organization of the Judiciary
Mar. 9 Bernard Black University of Texas How Corporate Governance Affects Firm Value: Evidence on Channels from Korea
Mar. 23 Kirk Stark UCLA Rich States, Poor States: American Federalism and the Politics of Fiscal Equalization
Mar. 30 William Howell University of Chicago War-Time Judgments of Presidential Power: Striking Down but Not Back
Apr. 13 Matthew Stephenson Harvard University Judicial Deference to Inconsistent Agency Statutory Interpretations
Apr. 20 Stefanie Lindquist University of Texas The Strategy of Judicial Review
Apr. 27 Lydia Tiede University of Houston Legal Reform and Good Governance: Assessing Rights and Economic Development in Chile
May. 4 Charles Silver University of Texas The Quasi-Class Action Method of Managing Multidistrict Litigations: Problems and a Proposal

Fall 2008

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Sep. 8 Calvin Johnson University of Texas The Effective Tax Ratio and the Undertaxation of Intangible Investments
Sep. 15 Katherine Litvak University of Texas Defensive Management: Does the Sarabanes-Oxley Act Discourage Corporate Risk-Taking?
Sep. 22 Mark Hall Wake Forest University Property, Privacy, and the Pursuit of Integrated Electronic Medical Records
Sep. 29 Abe Wickelgren Northwestern University
Oct. 6 Glynn Lunney Tulane University Patents and Growth: Empirical Evidence From The States
Oct. 13 Deborah Weiss University of Texas The Paradox of Statistical Discrimination
Oct. 20 Laura Beny American Enterprise Institute Private Regulation of Insider Trading in the Shadow of Lax Public Enforcement (and a Strong Neighbor) Evidence from Canadian Firms
Oct. 27 John Pfaff Fordham University The Myths and Realities of Correctional Severity: Evidence from the National Corrections Reporting Program on Sentencing Practices
Nov. 3 Donna Shestovsky University of California – Davis Discerning Children's True and False Memories
Nov. 10 Dino Falaschetti Florida State University Auditor Independence and Earnings Quality: Evidence for Market Discipline vs. Sarbanes-Oxley Proscriptions
Nov. 17 Ronen Avraham Northwestern University Should Courts Ignore Ex post Information When Determining Contract Damages? A Re-evaluation of Contract Remedies
Nov. 24 Josh Wright George Mason University The Effects of Vertical Restraints on Output: Evidence from the Beer Industry
Dec. 1 Holder Spamann Harvard University Legal Origins of Crime and Punishment

Spring 2008

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Jan. 14 Jeffrey Stanton Emory University The Value of Vagueness: Delegation, Defiance, and Judicial Opinions
Jan. 28 Niko Matouschek Northwestern University Optimal Delegation
Feb. 4 Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci Universiteit Van Amsterdam Negative Liability
Feb. 11 Alon Harel The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Uncertainty Revisited: Legal Prediction and Legal Postdiction
Feb. 18 David Walker Boston University Regulatory Tax Penalties
Feb. 25 Mark Gergen University of Texas Third Party Opinions as a Tool for Enforcing Tax Law
Mar. 3 Katherine Litvak University of Texas The Correlation Between Cross-Listing Premia, US Stock Prices, and Volume of US Trading: A Challenge to Law-Based Theories of Cross-Listing
Mar. 17 Jens Dammann University of Texas The Incorporation Choices of Privately Held Corporations
Mar. 24 Adair Morse University of Chicago Payday Lenders: Heroes or Villains?
Mar. 31 Michael Perino St. John's University The Milberg Weiss Indictment: No Harm, No Foul?
Apr. 7 Albert Choi University of Virginia Integrating an Agreement to Induce Information Disclosure
Apr. 14 Jeffrey Lax Columbia University Doctrinal Choice in the Judicial Hierarchy
Apr. 28 Mark Weinstein USC Why is Debt Debt?

Spring 2007

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Jan. 22 John Armour American Enterprise Institute The Costs and Benefits of Secured Creditor Control in Bankruptcy: Evidence from the UK
Feb. 5 Vic Khanna University of Michigan
Feb. 12 Vladimir Atanasov College of William & Mary Preemptive Rights and Anti-Dilution Protections around the World
Feb. 19 Katherine Litvak University of Texas
Feb. 21 Ken Ayotte Columbia University Asset-Backed Securities: Costs and Benefits of "Bankruptcy Remoteness"
Feb. 26 Michael Perino St. John's University Institutional Activism through Litigation: An Empirical Analysis of Public Pension Fund Participation in Securities Class Actions
Mar. 5 Woochan Kim University of Texas Who Cares about Control-Ownership Disparity in Emerging Markets
Mar. 19 Robert Hall Stanford University
Mar. 26 Deborah Weiss University of Texas
Apr. 2 Edward Iacobucci University of Toronto
Apr. 9 David Hyman University of Illinois
Apr. 16 Calvin Johnson University of Texas
Apr. 23 Richard Briffault Columbia University
Apr. 30 Laura Beny University of Michigan

Fall 2006

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Sep. 12 Jim Hawkins University of Texas Just Until Payday
Sep. 19 Jesse Fried University of California – Berkeley The Need for Mandatory Disclosure in Noisy Markets
Oct. 3 Lee Fennell University of Illinois Property and Half-Torts
Oct. 10 Kathy Spier Northwestern University Strategic Judgment Proofing
Oct. 24 D. Gordon Smith University of Wisconsin Questions About Contracts
Nov. 7 Michael Barr University of Michigan Tax Filing Experiences and Withholding Preferences of Low and Moderate-Income Households: Preliminary Evidence from a New Survey
Nov. 21 Mary Rose University of Texas Can't, Don't Want To, or Nobody "Asked" Jury Participation as Civic Engagement
Nov. 28 Jay Westbrook & Henry Hu University of Texas The Abolition of a Duty to Creditors
Dec. 5 Katherine Porter University of Iowa Borrowing After Bankruptcy

Spring 2006

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Jan. 23 Abe Wickelgren University of Texas Why Divorce Laws Matter: Incentives for Non-Contractible Marital Investments Under Unilateral and Consent Divorce
Jan. 30 Josh Wright George Mason University Measuring the Impact of Slotting Fees on Consumer Welfare
Feb. 6 Anita Anand Queen's University Voluntary Adoption of Corporate Governance Mechanisms: The Role of Domestic and International Governance Standards
Feb. 13 Scott Baker University of North Carolina Deterrence, Lawsuits, and Litigation Outcomes Under Court Errors
Feb. 20 Ronen Avraham Northwestern University Tort Reform Tables
Feb. 20 Ronen Avraham Northwestern University Impact of Tort Reforms on Medical Malpractice Awards, 1991-1998
Feb. 27 Alex Stein Yeshiva University Ambiguity Aversion and the Criminal Process
Mar. 6 Paul Wahlbeck George Washington University The Influence of Oral Arguments on the U.S. Supreme Court
Mar. 17 Jens Dammann University of Texas Extraterritorial Courts for Corporate Law
Mar. 20 Katherine Litvak University of Texas The Effect of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Non-US Companies Cross-Listed in the US
Mar. 27 Érica Gorga University of Texas Knowledge Resources and Their Implications for the Theory of the Firm and Corporate Governance
Apr. 3 Andy Morriss Case Western Reserve University The Production, Consumption and Content of Legal Scholarship: A Longitudinal Analysis
Apr. 3 Andy Morriss Case Western Reserve University Defining What to Regulate: Silica & the Problem of Regulatory Categorization
Apr. 10 Stefanie Lindquist Vanderbilt University Judicial Review by the Burger and Rehnquist Courts: Explaining Justices' Responses to Constitutional Challenges
Apr. 24 Jeffrey Segal Stony Brook University The Changing Dynamics of Senate Voting on Supreme Court Nominees
May. 1 James Spriggs University of California – Davis Courting the Public: Judicial Behavior and Public Views of Court Decisions

Spring 2005

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Jan. 24 David Dana Northwestern University Using the Veil of Ignorance to Ensure Distributive Justice in Class Actions
Feb. 7 Ehud Kamar USC Beyond Competition for Corporations
Feb. 14 Clayton Gillette NYU The Political Economy of International Sales
Feb. 21 Katherine Litvak University of Texas Governance Through Exit: Default Penalties and Walkaway Options in Venture Capital Partnership Agreements
Feb. 28 Rick Sander UCLA A Systematic Analysis of Affirmative Action in American Law Schools
Mar. 7 Tom Baker University of Connecticut The Uses and Abuses of Empirical Research On the Validity of Medical Malpractice Claims
Mar. 7 Charles Silver & Bernard Black University of Texas Stability, Not Crisis: Medical Malpractice Claim Outcomes in Texas
Mar. 21 Jeffrey Rachlinski Cornell University Can Judges Ignore Inadmissible Information?
Mar. 28 Kathryn Zeiler Georgetown University Asymmetries in Exchange Behavior Incorrectly Interpreted as Evidence of Prospect Theory
Apr. 4 Brian Cheffins University of Cambridge Dividends and Politics
Apr. 11 Doron Teichman University of Texas Sex, Shame, and the Law: An Economic Perspective on Megan’s Laws
Apr. 18 Reinier Kraakman Harvard University CEO Job Tenure, Equity Ownership, and the Decision to Sell the Company
Apr. 25 Michael Heise Cornell University Judges, Juries, and Punitive Damages: Empirical Analyses
May. 2 Guhan Subaramian Harvard University Fixing Freezeouts

Fall 2004

Date Speaker Affiliation Paper Title
Sep. 20 Suzanne Scotchmner University of California – Berkeley The Political Economy of Intellectual Property Treaties
Oct. 4 Greg Sidak American Enterprise Institute Trade Secrets and the Option Value of Involuntary Exchange
Oct. 7 Josh Lerner Harvard University The Origins of Financial Innovations
Oct. 18 Rebecca Eisenberg University of Michigan The Role of the FDA in Innovation Policy
Oct. 28 John Duffy George Washington University Intellectual Property as Natural Monopoly
Nov. 1 Debora Spar Harvard University Ruling the Waves
Nov. 8 Douglas Lichtman Harvard University Rethinking Prosecution History Estoppel
Nov. 15 Petra Moser MIT What do Inventors Patent?