About EALE

Mission Statement

The Law and Economics movement is one of the most important intellectual developments within legal scholarship in recent decades. This approach applies economic concepts to explain and clarify legal issues, not only with respect to narrowly defined "economic" fields, such as competition and economic law, but also to legal fields that concern a wide variety of non-market activities, from liability issues to family matters and crime. Thus, Law and Economics has become a central methodology for both positive and normative legal analysis; already it has influenced regulation, legislation, and case law. Many academic journals publish articles in the field, and Law and Economics has become an integral part of legal and economic education at the most prestigious universities.

The European Association of Law and Economics (EALE) is the institutional response to the increasing importance of the economic analysis of law in Europe. EALE was founded in 1984 with the purpose of providing assistance to law and economics scholars and bringing their scholarship to a wider audience, including policy makers, legislators and judges. The annual conference of EALE has become an important forum for the exchange of research findings and ideas. EALE also arranges seminars jointly with other international organizations, as well as local activities in different countries. A collection of the best papers presented at annual conferences is published in a special conference issue of the Review of Law and Economics. The Association has a periodical newsletter, which is circulated to its more than 300 members. This website has been developed to serve not only as a notice board for EALE activities, but also as an interactive tool for exchange of European law and economics papers, insights and ideas.