When Law Meets Economics

Detail

About the Author

Kim Jeong-ho

Kim Jeong-ho is an influencer and host of Kim Jeong-ho`s Economy TV, an economics-focused channel with 160,000 subscribers, and serves as an adjunct professor at Sogang University`s Graduate School of Economics. He has authored over 30 books, including Private Property Rights and the Public Concept of Land, The Future of King Dollar, and The Birth of Korean Corporations. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Law from Soongsil University. He has served as a distinguished professor at Yonsei University, president of the Center for Free Enterprise, a member of the National Education Commission, and a member of the Regulatory Reform Committee. He has been an active broadcast commentator to bring economic reasoning to the broader public, appearing as a regular panelist on KBS Radio`s Empathy Debate from 2015 to 2017, and on current affairs debate programs including KBS`s Late Night Debate, MBC`s 100-Minute Debate, SBS`s Current Affairs Debate, JTBC`s All-Night Debate, and tvN`s Final Debate.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Reissue
Preface to the First Edition
Chapter 1. Introduction

The Market Economy and Prosperity
The Need for Market-Friendly Law
Structure of the Book

Chapter 2. Property Rights: Mine, Yours, Ours — The Economics of Property Rights

Property Rights as Exclusive Rights to Use, Benefit, and Dispose
Exclusive Rights, Private Property, and Unowned Goods
Why Is Private Property Necessary?

Dynamic Perspective 1: Promoting Production
Dynamic Perspective 2: Preventing the Tragedy of the Commons
Kenya`s Elephants vs. Zimbabwe`s Elephants
Static Perspective: Efficient Use of Resources

Private Property Rights and Self-Interest
Does Banning For-Profit Hospitals Eliminate For-Profit Behavior?
The Root of Daycare, Kindergarten, and Private School Scandals: Disregard for Property Rights
Two Methods of Property Rights Protection: Absolute Protection and Protection through Compensation
The Level of Property Rights Protection in Korea
The Reality of Property Rights Being Trampled
Property Rights and the Fortunes of the Music Industry: Records vs. Musicals
The Costs of the Property Rights System
Historical Changes in Cost-Benefit Analysis and Property Rights Systems

Chapter 3. Break Up Fights, Encourage Bargains — The Economics of Contract Law

Voluntary Exchange Brings Prosperity
Free Contracts and the Commodity Economy
Making Contracts Truly Binding

Function of Contract Law 1: Deterring Opportunism
Function of Contract Law 2: Compensating for Incomplete Contracts
Function of Contract Law 3: Voiding One-Sided Transactions

Party Agreement Must Come Before the Law: The Problem of Concurrent Claims and Statutory Concurrence
Intervening in Transaction Terms Creates Side Effects — Medical Fee Regulation and Rice Direct Payments
Price Negotiation Cannot Be Illegal: From Bean Sprout Prices to Subcontracting Fees
Is Everything I Don`t Like an Unfair Contract?
Punishing the Powerful Eliminates Opportunities to Become One: The Economics of Franchise Contracts

Chapter 4. Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself — The Economics of Tort Law and Criminal Law

What Is Tort Law?
Damage Compensation Systems Deter Unlawful Acts
Tort Law Lives On Even Without Regulation
Punitive Damages: When They Are Needed
Supplier Price Reductions Cannot Be Subject to Punitive Damages
The Golden Rule, Duty of Care, and Tort Law
Negligence Liability vs. Strict Liability
Which Is Better: Negligence or Strict Liability?
Is There No Fault If You Do What Everyone Else Does?
Winning in Competition Is Not a Tort
How to View Employer Liability
When Criminal Penalties Are Needed Beyond Compensation
Guarding Against Overcriminalization

Chapter 5. The Right to Sunlight: Why Does Korea Have It When the U.S. Doesn`t?

Korea`s Legal Reality Regarding the Right to Sunlight
Countries Without the Right to Sunlight: the U.S., Germany, and the U.K.
Social Costs Caused by the Right to Sunlight

Four Types of Sunlight-Related Rights
Building Height Distribution by Rights Type
Economic Efficiency Assessment

Negative Externalities: When Regulation Is and Isn`t Needed
On the Doctrine of Tolerable Limits
New Possibilities

Chapter 6. Executives Walking the Prison Walls — Breach of Trust and the Rule of Law

The Development of Breach of Trust Charges Against Listed Company Executives
Applying Breach of Trust Has Departed from the Rule of Law
How Breach of Trust Charges Change Executive Behavior
Leave the Judgment of Business Decisions to the Market

Chapter 7. Leave the Fate of Companies to the Market

A Company Is a Collection of Voluntary Cooperative Relationships
Corporate Legal Personality
The Market Chose the Joint-Stock Corporation
Cooperatives as Business vs. Cooperatives as Politics
Let the Market Decide How Many Votes Per Share
Circular Shareholding Is Also a Market Choice
The Truth About Circular Shareholding, as Seen Through Kia Motors` Success
What Happens If Circular Shareholding Is Banned?
Why Most Companies Have an Owner-Manager
What Happens If a Professional Management System Is Imposed?
Is the Board of Directors Really the Problem?
How to View Cumulative Voting

Positive Functions of Cumulative Voting
Negative Functions of Cumulative Voting
Cases from Other Countries

Chapter 8. When the Constitution Meets Economics

What Should the Constitution Do: An Economic Perspective

The Necessity of the State
The Dangers of the State
Safeguard Against Danger 1: Exit
Safeguard Against Danger 2: Constitutional Control of State Power
Safeguards in Our Constitution

Constitutional Economic Provisions Meet Economics

Economic Provisions and Their Practical Application
Economic Review of Provisions 1: The Economic Democratization Clause
Economic Review of Provisions 2: Land Use, Development, and Restrictions on Land Ownership
Economic Review of Provisions 3: The Natural Resources Clause
Economic Review of Provisions 4: The Science and Technology Clause

An Economic Review of Social Fundamental Rights

Review of Provisions Guaranteeing Material Living Standards
An Economic Review of the Environmental Rights Clause

The Constitution and Economics Must Meet

References