'To Be Human': A Psychological Perspective on Property Law
56 Pages Posted: 29 Jan 2009
Date Written: January 29, 2009
Abstract
The psycholegal study of property law, theory, and doctrine is a new and developing topic area. As one Article in a Special Issue of the Tulane Law Review, this paper serves as a broad introduction and overview to the field. Aimed at both legal academics and social scientists, a primary goal is to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration between the fields in order to promote additional empirical research in the area. Thus, I first identify the important theoretical connections between psycholegal research and property law, theory, and policy. Next, I review what work has been conducted, as well as some contemporary research (including the other Articles in the Issue). Finally, I indicate several under-explored topic areas available to psycholegal scholars, and sketch what a research program taking a psychological perspective on property law might look like in a number of areas. I demonstrate the close relationship between empirical psychological findings and property law and theory, and discuss the potential for more.
Keywords: property law, psychology, empirical legal studies, behavioral law and economics
JEL Classification: C70, C90, D60, K11, P50
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation