Biography

Director, John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics; Professor (by courtesy) of Economics; Senior Fellow (by courtesy), Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research

A pioneering American figure in the applications of economic theory to law, A. Mitchell Polinsky is a prolific scholar, producing work on the economic analysis of a wide variety of legal issues, from property to contract law to liability and punitive damages. He has written major articles on the economic efficiency of various forms of legal sanctions in achieving deterrence across a range of problems, including criminal law, contract, and tort disputes. Professor Polinsky is the founder and director of the John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics at Stanford Law School. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow and a president of the American Law and Economics Association, and is currently a research associate in the Law and Economics Program of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1979, he was a member of the faculty at Harvard University.

Professor Polinsky has an appointment (by courtesy) with the Stanford University Department of Economics.

Key Works

• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Daniel L. Rubinfeld, Aligning the Interests of Lawyers and Clients, 5 American Law & Economics Review 165-188 (Spring 2003).
• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell, The Economic Theory of Public Enforcement of Law, 38 Journal of Economic Literature 45-77 (March 2000)
• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell, Punitive Damages: An Economic Analysis, 111 Harvard Law Review 869-962 (1998).
• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Yeon-Koo Che, Decoupling Liability: Optimal Incentives for Care and Litigation, 22.4 RAND Journal of Economics 562 (Winter 1991).
• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell, The Optimal Tradeoff Between the Probability and Magnitude of Fines, 69 The American Economic Review 880-891 (Dec.,1979).

Courses & Programs

Courses

• Economic Analysis of Law
• Law and Economics Seminar

Programs

• John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics, Josephine Scott Crocker Professor of Law and Economics

Publications & Cases

Recent Publications View All

• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell, Law and Economics, in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Lawrence Blume and Steven Durlauf, eds., 2nd edition (forthcoming 2008).
• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell, Public Enforcement of Law, in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Lawrence Blume and Steven Durlauf, eds., 2nd edition (forthcoming 2008).
• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell, eds., Handbook of Law and Economics, Vols. I & II, Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishing, November 2007.
• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Daniel L. Rubinfeld, A Damage-Revelation Rationale for Coupon Remedies, 23 Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 653 (October 2007).
• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell, The Theory of Public Enforcement of Law, in Handbook of Law and Economics, A. Mitchell Polinsky and Steven Shavell, eds., Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishing, 2007.
• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Yeon-Koo Che, Decoupling Liability: Optimal Incentives for Care and Litigation, in Economics of Evidence, Procedure and Litigation, Chris William Sanchirico, ed., Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007.
• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Daniel L. Rubinfeld, The Welfare Implications of Costly Litigation for the Level of Liability, in Economics of Evidence, Procedure and Litigation, Chris William Sanchirico, ed., Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007.
• A. Mitchell Polinksy and Steven Shavell, Mandatory Versus Voluntary Disclosure of Product Risks, Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper, No. 327 (2006).
• A. Mitchell Polinsky and Daniel L. Rubinfeld, The Deadweight Loss of Coupon Remedies, Journal of Industrial Economics (forthcoming).
• A. Mitchell Polinsky, Optimal Fines and Auditing When Wealth is Costly to Observe, 26 International Review of Law and Economics 323 (2006).

Affiliations & Honors

Professional Affiliations

• Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
• President (1993-1994), American Law and Economics Association

Honors and Awards

• Guggenheim fellow, 1993-94