Economics, Behavioral Biology, and Law

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.

Keywords: law, economics, biology, evolutionary analysis in law, behavioral biology, evolution, behavior, evolutionary economics, game theory, bioeconomics, neuroeconomics, tastes, preferences

JEL Classifications: A12, D00, K00, B25

Accepted Paper Series