Book Review: Economic Foundations of International Law by Eric A. Posner and Alan O. Sykes (2013)
(2013) 43(2) Hong Kong Law Journal 773-89
16 Pages Posted: 30 Sep 2013
Date Written: September 28, 2013
Abstract
There are various ways of understanding, interpreting and theorising international law. For instance, Kelsen founded a method of jurisprudence that was critical of ideology, the socalled “pure theory of law”. This is a method allowing jurists to engage with law as a subject of study in a non-political and purely “scientific” manner. As a result, international law could be regarded as a single and self-entailing system. Lasswell and McDougal developed a sociological approach to integrate the conceptualising of international society and law into the conceptualising of social process in general. Allott tried a pure jurisprudential and philosophical way of remoulding international law in a new global order. This article reviews Posner and Sykes' new book: Economic Foundations of International Law, and tries to understand whether a law and economics approach makes sense in understanding international law.
Keywords: international law, economic analysis
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