General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6306 / JDOC6306 |
| Course name: | The Economic Analysis of Law |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | First |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credit / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This course introduces students to the economic analysis of the law as a set of tools for analysing laws and understanding the effect legal rules have on the way people behave. This course also explores the extent to which the principles of economics can be used to explain the workings of the legal system itself. Students will learn how to construct and critique basic economic models of the incentive effects of different legal rules and institutions.
To facilitate a truly holistic appreciation of how economic principles can inform legal controversies, the topics covered in this course span across the private and public law divide, and include contract, torts, property, criminal, law & religion, public finance, and the democratic process. Particular attention is paid to applying economic analysis to contemporaneous legal and policy controversies in Hong Kong and Asia.
The course is taught by Professor Chen Jianlin of Melbourne Law School. A renowned and acclaimed teacher of law and economics, he frequently and regularly taught this course as a visitor in top institutions in the region, including in University of Auckland, National University of Singapore, and National Taiwan University.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Jianlin Chen | jianlin.chen@unimelb.edu.au | N/A | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 The cognitive and technical skills to critically and independently apply economic principles in critical analysis of legal rules and public policy.
CLO 2 An integrated understanding of the basic economic concepts such as demand-supply, Coase theorem, public choice, moral hazard, adverse selection etc in the legal context.
CLO 3 The ability to identify and resolve theoretical and practical problems concerning the economic dimension of legal rules and public policy.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class participation | TBC | 20% | 1 | 1-3 |
| Research paper | 19 Dec 2022 | 80% | 1, 3 | 1-3 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/