Friday, December 4 to Saturday, December 5, 2009
University of Chicago Law School Auditorium
This Conference brings together a group of scholars to honor the life and research of Ronald Coase. 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Coase’s seminal paper on the Federal Communications Commission. 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of his paper on “The Problem of Social Cost,” and his 100th birthday.
The presentations on this occasion cover specific topics on which Coase’s work has exerted profound influence, including such areas as telecommunications policy, airline regulation and development, environmental economics, economic development, organization of the firm, and general discussions of the questions of transactions costs and social rationality to which he has contributed so much.
The Conference is being organized by Richard A. Epstein of the University of Chicago, Thomas Hazlett of George Mason University, and Roger Noll and Greg Rosston of Stanford University. These papers shall be published in special issues of the Journal of Law and Economics and the Journal of Legal Studies. The Conference will be held at the University of Chicago Law School on Friday, December 4, and Saturday, December 5, 2009. The public is invited.
If you wish to attend this event, please register with Marjorie Holme at mholme@uchicago.edu or 773-702-0220. You must register to attend.
Conference Poster
University of Chicago Law School Calendar Announcement
University of Chicago Law School Twitter Announcement
Information Economy Project Facebook Event Announcement
Sponsors include:
John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics at the University of Chicago Law School
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Information Economy Project at George Mason University
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Milton Friedman Institute for Research in Economics
George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State
China Center for Economic Research
Participants include:
Gary Becker
Omri Ben-Shahar
Lee Benham
Xiaofang Chen
Ronald H. Coase
Robert Cooter
Peter Cramton
Harold Demsetz
Martin K. Dimitrov
Richard Epstein
Sebastian Galiani
Robert Hahn
Thomas Hazlett
Charles Jackson
Evan Kwerel
William Landes
Michael E. Levine |
Zhimin Liao
Gary Libecap
Thomas Merrill
Roger Noll
Douglass North
Sam Peltzman
David Porter
Richard A. Posner
Greg Rosston
Michael Schill
Steven Shavell
Mary Shirley
Vernon Smith
Robert Stavins
Geoffrey Stone
Robert Topel |
Conference Schedule
Friday, December 4th
8:30– 10:15 Panel 1
Moderator:
Lee Benham, Washington University, St. Louis
Emissions Trading
Robert Hahn, Smith School, University of Oxford
Robert Stavins, Harvard University
The Determinants of Institutional Adoption: The Spread of the Rectangular Survey for Land Demarcation within the British Empire
Gary Libecap, University of California, Santa Barbara
10:15 – 10:45 Break
10:45 – 12:30 Panel 2
Moderator:
Sam Peltzman, University of Chicago
Coase and the New Zealand Spectrum Reforms
Charles Jackson, George Washington University
Using Spectrum Auctions to Enhance Competition in Wireless Services
Peter Cramton, University of Maryland
Evan Kwerel, Federal Communications Commission
Greg Rosston, Stanford University
Andy Skrzypacz, Stanford University
Spectrum Auction Design
Thomas Hazlett, George Mason University
David Porter, Chapman University
Vernon Smith, Chapman University
12:30 – 1:30 Lunch
1:30 – 3:15 Panel 3
Moderators:
Mary Shirley, Coase Institute
Opening Remarks
Douglass North, Washington University, St. Louis
Reducing Transaction Costs through Securing Property Rights: What Are the Effects of Land Titling Policies?
Sebastian Galiani, Washington University, St. Louis, Coase Institute Fellow
Why Did China's Regulation of the Cell Phone Industry Collapse? The Impact of Technological Innovation on Institutional Transformation
Xiaofang Chen, Renmin University, Coase Institute Fellow
Zhimin Liao, Beijing University, Coase Institute Fellow
From Spies to Oligarchs: What Was the Role of the Secret Police in the Incomplete Exit from Communism in Eastern Europe?
Martin K. Dimitrov, Dartmouth College, Coase Institute Fellow
3:15 – 3:30 Break
3:30 – 5:15 Panel 4
Moderator:
Douglass North, Washington University, St. Louis
Property Rights and Development
Robert Cooter, University of California, Berkeley
Telecommunications Regulation in Developing Countries
Roger Noll, Stanford University
5:15 Adjourn
* * * * *
Saturday, December 5th
8:30 – 10:15 Panel 1
Moderator:
Robert Topel, University of Chicago
Competence as a Random Variable: Implications for Institutional Arrangements
Richard A. Epstein, University of Chicago
Problem of Social Cost
Harold Demsetz, UCLA
Measuring Coase's Influence
William Landes, University of Chicago
10:15 – 10:45 Break
10:45 – 12:30 Panel 2
Moderator:
Omri Ben-Shahar, University of Chicago
On the Limited Utility of Taxes as a Solution to the Externality Problem
Steven Shavell, Harvard University
Coase and the Mental Picture of Property Rights
Thomas Merrill, Yale University
Regulation and the Nature of the Firm: The Case of U.S. Regional Airlines
Michael E. Levine, New York University
12:30 – 1:30 Lunch
1:30 – 3:15 Panel 3
Moderator:
Michael Schill, UCLA
Coase, Edgeworth, and Pigou
Gary Becker, University of Chicago
Commercial Advertising and the First Amendment
Geoffrey Stone, University of Chicago
Keynes and Coase
Richard A. Posner, University of Chicago
3:15 Adjourn
More About Ronald Coase
University of Chicago Law School Faculty Profile
Nobel Prize Autobiography of Ronald H. Coase
Nobel Prize Presentation Speech of Ronald H. Coase
Nobel Prize Lecture by Ronald H. Coase
The Ronald Coase Institute
Ronald Coase on Wikipedia
Coase Theorem on Wikipedia
Notable Publications:
The Problem of Social Cost, 3 Journal of Law and Economics 1-44 (1960). Also in Readings in Microeconomics (William Breit and Harold M. Hochman eds, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York, 1968) and elsewhere.
The Federal Communications Commission, 2 Journal of Law and Economics 1-40 (1959). Also in the Yearbook of Broadcasting Articles, Anthology Edition (Federal Publication, Washington DC, 1980) and elsewhere.
