Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2011
Keywords
Empirical legal studies, ELS, Law and Society Association, LSA, Law and Society Review, LSR, American Law and Economics Association, ALEA, Society for Empirical Legal Studies, SELS, Legal scholarship, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, JELS, Data-driven studies
Disciplines
Law and Economics | Law and Society | Legal History
Abstract
This Article describes the origins of three movements in legal academia: empirical legal studies (ELS), law and society, and law and economics. It then quantifies the distribution across scholarly fields (for example, economics and psychology) of authors in these movements’ journals and reports the impact of the movements’ scholarly journals. By focusing on two leading law and economics journals, this Article also explores the effect of a journal being centered in law schools rather than in a social science discipline. It suggests that ELS has achieved rapid growth and impact within the academic legal community because of (1) its association with law schools, and (2) its receptiveness to contributions by scholars from all social science disciplines. Concerns about the quality and growth of ELS are found to lack persuasive support.
Recommended Citation
Eisenberg, Theodore, "The Origins, Nature, and Promise of Empirical Legal Studies and a Response to Concerns" (2011). Cornell Law Faculty Publications. 974.
https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub/974
Publication Citation
Published in: University of Illinois Law Review, vol. 2011, no. 5 (2011).