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Article
Economics, Behavioral Biology, and Law
Supreme Court Economic Review
  • Owen D. Jones
  • Erin O'Hara O'Connor, Vanderbilt University Law School
  • Jeffrey Evans Stake, Maurer School of Law - Indiana University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2011
Keywords
  • mental states,
  • criminal law,
  • Model Penal Code,
  • empirical,
  • negligent,
  • criminology,
  • intentionality,
  • law and psychology
Abstract

The article first compares economics and behavioral biology, examining the assumptions, core concepts, methodological tenets, and emphases of the two fields. Building on this, the article then compares the applied interdisciplinary fields of law and economics, on one hand, with law and behavioral biology, on the other - highlighting not only the most important similarities, but also the most important differences.

The article subsequently explores ways that biological perspectives on human behavior may prove useful, by improving economic models and the behavioral insights they generate. The article concludes that although there are important differences between the two fields, the overlaps between economics and biology warrant even greater congress between these two disciplines, and expanded exchange between the legal thinkers interested in each of them.

Citation Information
Owen D. Jones, Erin O'Hara O'Connor and Jeffrey Evans Stake. "Economics, Behavioral Biology, and Law" Supreme Court Economic Review Vol. 19 (2011) p. 103 ISSN: 0736-9921
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/owen-jones/4/