Research Seminar on “Fairness in Digital Contract Law: European and Global Comparative Perspectives”

We kindly inform about a research seminar on ‘Fairness in Digital Contract Law: European and Global Comparative Perspectives,’ to be held at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków in cooperation with the Polish Association of Law and Economics and the University of Turin’s Department of Law. The event will serve as a platform for critical engagement with the evolving legal framework applicable to digital contracts in Europe (the EU and national law, Switzerland and the UK), North America and the Asia-Pacific Region, on a national, regional and supranational level.

Abstracts of up to 1,500 words (excluding bibliography) should be submitted by 26 September 2025 to piotr.tereszkiewicz@uj.edu.pl and przemyslaw1.palka@uj.edu.pl.
Notification of acceptance will be sent by 3 October 2025.

Details can be found in the Call for Papers.

CEAPS seminar – prof. Jerg Gutmann

We warmly invite you to a CEAPS seminar will be held on Thursday (22.5.2025), with a presentation by Prof. Jerg Gutmann (University of Hamburg). The title of the presentation is “Can public data protection regimes mitigate users’ privacy concerns about AI? Evidence from a survey experiment”. 

The seminar will take place at 17:00 in room B002 (Faculty of Economic Sciences).

Abstract: We examine the trade-off between functionality and data privacy inherent in many AI products by conducting a randomized survey experiment with 1,734 participants from the US and several European countries. Participants’ willingness to adopt a hypothetical,  AI-enhanced app is measured under three sets of treatments: (i) installation defaults (opt-in vs. opt-out), (ii) salience of data privacy risks, and (iii) regulatory regimes with different levels of data protection. In addition, we study how the willingness to adopt depends on individual attitudes and preferences. We find no effect of defaults or salience, while a regulatory regime with stricter privacy protection increases the likelihood that the app is adopted. Finally, greater data privacy concerns, greater risk aversion, lower levels of trust, and greater skepticism toward AI are associated with a significantly lower willingness to adopt the app.

Early Call for Papers for the 10th Polish Law and Economics Conference

The 10th Polish Law and Economics Conference will be held on May 23-24, 2025, at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland. Papers on any topics within or related to Law and Economics are invited.

Those interested in presenting a paper are invited to submit it in electronic form (up to 30 pages) to conference@pseap.org. Full text papers and extended abstracts will be considered. The submission deadline is March 1st, 2025. Acceptance of papers selected by the Scientific Committee will be communicated by March 15th, 2025. The conference language is English.

Authors of accepted papers will be invited to submit their final versions for consideration by Ekonomista quarterly for its 2025 special issue “20 Years of Law and Economics in Poland”.

Further details are available at the conference website.

2024 International Junior Scholars Forum in Law & Social Science

On December 9 & 10, 2024, the Coase-Sandor Institute for Law and Economics at the University of Chicago and the Center for Law & Economics at ETH Zurich will organize the 2024 International Junior Scholars Forum in Law & Social Science, which will be held in Zurich. Main organizers are Omri Ben-Shahar & William Hubbard (Chicago) as well as Elliott Ash, Stefan Bechtold & Alexander Stremitzer (ETH Zurich).

Submissions from junior scholars are being solicited. More information is available at https://lawecon.ethz.ch/conferences-workshops/international-junior-scholars-forum.html

IOEA 2023 Call for Papers

The 20th session of the Institutional and Organizational Economics Academy 
will be held in Cargèse (Corsica – France) on May 15-19 2023.

Using rigorous scientific methods, Institutional and Organizational Economics focuses on the theoretical and empirical analysis of institutions, organizations and contracts, as well as on the conditions under which these devices evolve.

Over the years, Institutional and Organizational Economics Academy has continually built up a dense and wide network of researchers and students interested in this dynamic field.

Objectives:
To promote the use of appropriate methods in order to analyze governance, structures and dynamics of collectives and communities.

To provide researchers with up to date synthesis on the evolutions of the research program.

To develop networking and cooperation among researchers and among their institutions.

Public:
Ph.D. students, Post-doctoral fellows and researchers, in Economics, Management, Political Science, Sociology, Law and other social sciences.

Program:
Formal lectures will be given every morning. Each lecture is dedicated to the extensive presentation of the state of the art of the discipline on a specific applied or theoretical topic. Afternoons will be dedicated to workshops devoted either to research questions or methodologies. Seminars, held in the second part of the afternoon, allow the participants to have their work discussed by recognized scholars in the field.

Lecturers:

Edward Balleisen (Duke University, USA), Lisa Bernstein (University of Chicago, USA), Sonia Bhalothra (University of Warwick, UK), Ron Boschma (Utrecht University, NL), Francisco Brahm (London Business School, UK), Tore Ellingsen (Stockholm School of Economics, SE), Gillian Hadfield (University of Toronto, CAN), William E. Kovacic (George Washington University Law School, USA), Carlos Pereira (Getulio Vargas Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, BR), Christian Zehnder (University of Lausanne, CH)Workshop organizersElliott Ash (ETH Zurich, CH), Camilo Garcia-Jimeno (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, USA), Saad Gulzar (Princeton University, USA), Claire Lelarge (Université Paris-Saclay, FR), Georgios Melios (London School of Economics, UK), Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto (CREI, UPF and Barcelona GSE, ES), Davin Raiha (University of Notre Dame, USA), Juan Santaló Mediavilla (IE Business School, ES), Anja Shortland (King’s College London, UK), Elie Sung(HEC Paris, FR) DirectorEric Brousseau (University Paris-Dauphine – PSL)

Registrations:
Attendants will be selected on the basis of their résumé, and of a paper or of a presentation of their research program.Once accepted, they will be directed to a registration platform.

Calendar:

Closing date for application : March 1st 2023

Notification of acceptance : March 10th 2023

Closing date for registration : April 14th 2023 

Inaugural Donald M. Ephraim Prize in Law and Economics

The University of Chicago Law School invites nominations for the inaugural Donald M. Ephraim Prize in Law and Economics.

The Prize recognizes an early-career scholar in the field of law and economics whose work has advanced the state of knowledge in the field and whose intellectual impact has the potential to reach the legal academy, legal profession, and beyond.

We encourage you to submit a nomination and share this call for nominations with others in your academic circle.

We seek to identify a leading, early-career scholar in law and economics whose work has influenced the field and promises to have impact into the future and beyond the academy. The nominee should be a faculty member at an accredited law school (in the US or internationally) who has been in the field for approximately ten years or less. We welcome nominees whose scholarship touches on any doctrinal area and whose work employs any methodologies in economics, whether theoretical or empirical.

The Prize includes a $30,000 cash award, and the Prize holder will be invited for brief visits to present research at the University of Chicago Law School during the spring of 2023 and the 2023-2024 academic year. The Prize will be formally awarded and celebrated at a recognition event at the University of Chicago Law School in Spring 2023.

All nominations received by March 10, 2023, will be considered, and self-nominations are welcome! Nominations can be submitted using the link below. A nomination should:

  • identify the nominee
  • provide links to the nominee’s CV and/or other biographical information,
  • identify two or three pieces of scholarship that best represent the nominee’s most important contributions, and
  • provide a short statement (limited to 500 words) of the nominee’s current and expected future impact on law and economics.

After the inaugural term of the prize, the Donald M. Ephraim Prize in Law and Economics will be awarded on a bi-annual basis, with the next prize term to begin in September 2024.

Spanish Association of Law and Economics Call for papers 2023 Annual Conference

The Spanish Association of Law and Economics has opened submissions for the 13th Annual Conference, which will be held on June 29-30 at the Law School of Comillas Pontifical University (Madrid). We accept papers (with an abstract, 200 words) and/or an outline of a minimum of 2 pages. The deadline submission is April 21, 2023. On the date indicated below, the organizers will announce the papers selected among the original works received on any topic related to Law and Economics. 

To submit a paper (in English, Spanish or Portuguese) please contact: psbayon@comillas.edu

Important dates:

– Proposals submission deadline: April 21, 2023
– Communication of acceptance: May 5, 2023
– Final papers due by: June 5, 2023
– Conference: June 23-24, 2023

AEDE Board members:Gabriel Doménech (Universidad de Valencia), Carlos Gómez Ligüerre (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Virginia Rosales (Universidad de Granada), Leonor Rossi (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) and Maribel Sáez (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid).

Organizing Committee: Abel Veiga Copo, Miguel Martínez Muñoz and Pablo Sanz Bayón (Universidad Pontificia Comillas)

European Research Council (ERC) Research Project Call for Applications 2023-2024

DRA (ERC-Cog) is a five-year project studying the influence of automation on dispute resolution. As use of technology in the resolution of legal disputes expands in- and outside courts, human facilitation by judges and mediators is increasingly being substituted by automation. What is the impact of such change on existing concepts, theories, policies, and rules?

To explore these questions, this project will study four online resolution platforms that handle real cases and employ varying degrees of automation, each operating in a different country, as well as conduct lab-in-the-digital-field experiments. The project will employ a mixed-methods approach, and will draw on data from online dispute resolution case management systems, surveys, and interviews.

Applicants should have knowledge and experience in relevant fields of research (e.g., law, sociology, psychology, data science, anthropology), and the ability and desire to work as part of a scholarly community and a research team. Post-docs will be required to take residence in the vicinity of the University of Haifa for the duration of the fellowship or to split their residence between University of Haifa and University College London, and participate in workshops and seminars on a regular basis.

The project includes the following elements relevant for this call for applications:

  • –  Interviews with key stakeholders;
  • –  Surveys measuring user perceptions in real cases and in lab experiments;
  • –  Lab-in-the-Digital-Field experiments through online dispute resolution platforms employingautomation;
  • –  Processing and text analysis of online negotiation and mediation texts in real cases and takenfrom lab experiments;
  • –  Theoretical work revisiting key concepts and theories; and
  • –  Drafting rules and principles for the design and delivery of automated dispute resolution.Post-docs will be co-supervised by Prof. Orna Rabinovich-Einy, University of Haifa (PI), and either Prof. Avital Mentovich, University of Haifa or Dr. Burak Sonmez, University College London.Minimum Requirements
    • PhD in Law/Psychology /Sociology/Data Science.
    •  Interest in inter-disciplinary research investigating societal impact of digital technologies.
  • Having a strong background in quantitative social science and particularly survey design and analysis and/or computational skills (R or Python programming languages, data mining and data analysis, computational text analysis; RCTs.) and/or qualitative skills.
  •  Fluency in English.
  •  Ability to spend time in Israel, London and travel to the countries of fieldwork (the U.S.,the Netherlands, and France).Desirable Skills and Experience
  •  Some experience with big data and version control systems, in particular court cases,
  •  Knowledge of Dutch, and/or French,
  •  Excellent communication skills (oral, written, presentation etc.),
  •  Excellent organisational and administrative skills including a proven ability to work todeadlines,
  •  Candidates must demonstrate an awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion agenda.The working language at DRA is English.

Application Information for post-doctoral fellows:

 Fellowship starting date: October 2023 (with some flexibility).

  • ●  Fellowship period is for one academic year, with possible extension to two years.
  • ●  Scholarship rate: Approx. €40,000 per year. Rates are determined according to Universityof Haifa regulations.
  •  Application Deadline: February 15, 2023.
  •  All applications should be submitted to the Project’s PI Prof. Orna Rabinovich Einy atornarab@gmail.com and to the project’s administrative director Shirley Raz-Raban erc.dra@gmail.com; and should include the following documents:
    1. Cover letter describing your interest in the project, relevant research experience, andstating the nature and duration of position you seek with us.
    2. Detailed CV (including a list of publications).
    3. An example of academic writing (article, research paper, or dissertation chapter).
    4. Three letters of recommendation that speak to the applicant’s qualifications forpostdoctoral research, respectively (in English or Hebrew). These may be sent directlyto ornarab@gmail.com, with the applicant’s name in the subject line.
    5. An authorization that the candidate is entitled to a PhD degree, noting when it wasawarded, or an official authorization that the thesis was forwarded to the referees.

Short-listed candidates will be interviewed remotely in March 2023.


For more information about this call for applications, you may contact: erc.dra@gmail.com.

Workshop on the economics of constitutional compliance

January 20, 2023, 14.00 – 20.00 CET

Over the last couple of years, a team from the University of Warsaw and the Institute of Law & Economics at the University of Hamburg has analyzed the determinants of constitutional compliance. We have looked into factors of
– constitutional design (such as the comprehensibility of constitutions),
– environmental factors (such as important cultural traits),
– the traits of the main actors, but also
– the relevance of particular events (such as the Covid pandemic).

Besides summarizing the main results of this research project, this workshop serves to discuss next steps: what are the most pressing questions that wait to be answered?

Confirmed contributors include Pete Boettke, Tom Ginsburg, Peter Graijzl, Jarek Kantorowicz, Rok Spruk, Georg Vanberg, and Barry Weingast.

Interested in participating? To receive a link, pls register here:
https://uni-hamburg.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5MucOqqpjgpEtYc4WIS4_cYdJI8u0lO59uG