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

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 Classifications: D42

Accepted Paper Series