The Market for Data: The Changing Role of Social Sciences in Shaping the Law

Abstract

A vigorous market for scholarly data exists, as journalists, lobbyists and legislators search for facts to pepper their public statements and better influence public opinion. In the bankruptcy area, data providers, such as the Credit Research Center located at Georgetown University, have taken money from the consumer credit industry to produce studies supporting the credit industry's political positions. In the case of the CRC, the studies bear the University logo, but the Center describes the data as "proprietary," belonging exclusively to the industry funders who decide what data are released and what data are held private. This paper explores the implications of such funding arrangements on independent research and ultimately on the public debates.

Keywords: bankruptcy, bankruptcy law, law and social science, family and children