PLAW 102 - 001

This course provides an overview of the main intellectual foundations supporting the view that law and development are linked. While this connection may appear obvious, the course seeks to show that the relationship may not be as straightforward as first impressions might lead one to believe. Indeed, proponents of the presumed relation between law and development must confront two important distinctions well known to social scientists: causation versus correlation. Evidence that societies, which have achieved high levels of development, typically have good legal systems is incontrovertible. What is less clear is how they got where they are and in what sequence. Put differently, do good laws and institutions generate good development outcomes or does development lead to good laws and institutions? The course applies interdisciplinary and comparative research in history, economics, sociology, political science, regulatory theory, and philosophy to questions of law and the development of legal institutions and does not assume any prior knowledge in any field outside of law.