Institute for Law & Rationality

Law needs a model of human behavior. The law and economics model has proven quite useful for many reasons, including its parsimony. However, many scholars have concluded that the parsimony comes at an unacceptable cost: too much realism is sacrificed. The challenge is to construct a model that is, in Albert Einstein's notable phrase, "as simple as possible but no simpler." Behavioral law and economics and behavioral economics are attempting to rise to the challenge.

The Institute for Law and Rationality seeks to contribute to this effort, promoting interdisciplinary collaborations among legal scholars and scholars in such fields as psychology, political science, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, economics (and neuroeconomics) to inquire into how the law does and should understand human behavior. The Institute's aim is to help develop a model of human behavior that lawmakers can use to ground public policy. The Institute will conduct seminars and conferences and host distinguished visitors.

The Institute for Law and Rationality is also affiliated with the Institute for Law and Economics.

Advisory Board

• Avner Ben-Ner, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota
• Richard Brooks, Yale Law School
• Mary Anne Case, University of Chicago Law School
• Donald C. Langevoort, Georgetown University School of Law
• George Loewenstein, Carnegie Mellon University
• Geoffrey Miller, New York University Law School
• Frederick Schauer, University of Virginia Law School
• Barbara Anne Spellman, University of Virginia Law School
• Kathleen Vohs, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota