Network Effects and Legal Citation: How Antitrust Theory Predicts Who Will Build a Better Bluebook Mousetrap in the Age of Electronic Mice

46 Pages Posted: 6 Jun 2005 Last revised: 31 Jan 2023

See all articles by Christine Hurt

Christine Hurt

Southern Methodist University - Dedman School of Law

Date Written: 2002

Abstract

As the Seventeenth Edition of the Bluebook is published and forced to compete with the ALWD Citation Manual, this article analyzes how the Bluebook has sustained its monopoly in the legal citation market, compares the Seventeenth Edition with the ALWD manual, and predicts whether the ALWD manual will be able to make an inroads into the legal citation market. The author describes the Bluebook monopoly as one created and maintained by network effects. In layman's terms, a network effect exists when the value of a product to a user increases with each new user of that product. Once a network dominance is established, any would-be challenger in a network industry will have significantly high barriers to entry.

Keywords: Bluebook, ALWD Citation Manual, legal citation, network effects, monopoly

JEL Classification: D42

Suggested Citation

Hurt, Christine, Network Effects and Legal Citation: How Antitrust Theory Predicts Who Will Build a Better Bluebook Mousetrap in the Age of Electronic Mice ( 2002). 87 Iowa L. Rev. 1257 (2002), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=738504

Christine Hurt (Contact Author)

Southern Methodist University - Dedman School of Law

P.O. Box 750116
Dallas, TX 75275
United States

HOME PAGE: https://www.smu.edu/Law/Faculty/Profiles/Hurt-Christine

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