Economists think about the law as a set of commands backed by the threat of sanctions. Deterrence theory from Becker (1968) on and law & economics have largely detailed the scope, limits and potentials of the use of monetary and non-monetary sanctions in shaping behavior and in particular, in deterring crime. Some of these theoretical predictions can be, and indeed have been, tested in the lab. This workshop briefly surveys this body of work and points at a new directions of research.

Literature

Arlen, J and Talley, Eric L., 2008 Experimental Law and Economics. eds., Edward Elgar, NY. Introductory chapter available on SSRN at:
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1144086

Croson, R. (2009) Experimental Law and Economics. Annual Review of Law and Social Science.
Available at: http://cbees.utdallas.edu/papers/ARLSS_Proofs.pdf

McAdams & Ulen (2008) Behavioral Criminal Law and Economics. in Criminal Law & Economics in Encyclopedia of Law & Economics. Volume 3. Second Edition. Edited by Nuno Garoupa. Edward Elgar.
Available on SSRN at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1299963

Zeiler, K.. (2010) "Cautions on the Use of Economics Experiments in Law," 166(1) Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 178--193.