Law and Economics and International Law

Adam Chilton, University of Chicago Law School

May 20 – 24, 2024

This course will provide an overview of how the tools of economic analysis can be used to study public international law. While traditional scholarship on international law focused on normative and doctrinal questions—like why countries are obligated to comply with agreements and the legal requirements contained within those agreements—recent interdisciplinary scholarship on international law has focused on descriptive and empirical questions—like why countries sign agreements and how those agreements change behavior. In other words, research about international law is increasingly based on insights from economics and political science. We will explore how these insights are currently being used in scholarship on public international law. 

Adam Chilton is a Professor of Law and the Walter Mander Research Scholar at the University of Chicago Law School. Adam's primary research interests lie at the intersection of international law, comparative law, and empirical legal studies. Adam currently serves as a co-editor of the Journal of Law and Economics. Many of Adam’s research projects focus on how law can promote economic, social, and political development around the world. For instance, Adam’s recent book co-authored by Mila Versteeg, How Constitutional Rights Matter, won the Best Book Prize from the International Society of Public Law and from the Human Rights Section of the American Political Science Association. Adam also has ongoing projects focused on documenting the development and enforcement of competition law regimes around the world, studying how Bilateral Labor Agreements can be used to promote international labor migration, and researching how to improve the quality of life in informal urban communities. Adam received a BA and MA in Political Science from Yale University. After college, Adam worked as a management consultant for BCG. He then went to Harvard University, where he earned a JD and a PhD in Political Science. Before joining the faculty, Adam taught at the Law School as a Bigelow Fellow and Lecturer in Law.
 

Application

The application deadline ended on March 15, 2024.

Admission and Registration

The Study Center communicates admission decision by the end of April, 2024, and sends participants the corresponding invoice. The registration form will be sent after the Center receives the payment of the course fee.