The Political Economy of Choice of Law

Abstract

This paper will be published in the Georgetown Law Journal as one of two responses to an essay by Andrew Guzman on the law and economics of choice of law. Guzman offers a welfare analysis that advances the analysis of allocation of regulatory jurisdiction. He criticism of traditional modes of expounding choice of law doctrine is, if anything, insufficiently damning. I argue, however, that by failing to take public choice factors into account, Guzman's normative analysis may place too great confidence in the ability of multilateral, multi-tasked organizations such as the WTO to coordinate the allocation of regulatory jurisdiction.