Empirical Law and Economics: Price-Fixing and Bid-Rigging Cases in Japan

Maki provides an empirical analysis of law and economics by reevaluating Myrdal’s value premises and Weber’s separation of analysis and policy.

In modern civil society, individuals and businesses conduct economic activities through markets. The mainstream economic theory is the general equilibrium theory, which assumes a perfectly competitive market. The upshot is that transactions through competitive markets maximize the economic welfare of society, with policies such as deregulation and privatization being implemented with the backing of the law. However, in the real economy, legal transactions do not always take place, and this book analyzes price-fixing and bid-rigging cases. These cases show that there is a gap between competition philosophy and legislation. Using the real economy as data, this book conducts an empirical analysis of law and economics and illustrates issues related to the ideals of economics and the proper application of law. Accumulating empirical results will provide the means to form a healthy civil society.

A useful reference for graduate students and researchers in economics and legal research, and an interesting read for those who consider economics to be an empirical science.

Atsushi Maki is Professor Emeritus at Keio University. His research focuses on the empirical analysis of consumer behavior. He published Introduction to Estimating Economic Models and Poverty, Inequality and Growth in Developing Countries, and articles on Review of Economics and Statistics, Economics Letters and Economic Record.