In a multi-agent setting, individuals often compare own performance with that of their peers. These comparisons influence agents incentives and lead to a noncooperative game, even if the agents have to complete independent tasks. I show that depending on the interplay of the peer effects, agents...

One of the principal, if unexpected, results of the Supreme Court's 1992 decision in Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Commission is the rise of background principles of property and nuisance law as a categorical defense to takings claims. Our writings on the background principles defense have...

The literature on the optimal regulation of judgment-proof firms has tended to focus on ex post policies such extended liability. But in the recent past information disclosure has emerged as an alternative or a complementary risk mitigation strategy. This paper uses a model of entrepreneurial...

The commercial development of offshore methane hydrates will necessitate planning for accidental risk. Due to the unique risks and hazards associated with the development of offshore methane hydrates, it is unlikely that their development would be capable of beginning without some form of ex...

A potentially huge untapped resource of natural gas exists just offshore almost every coastal state in the world, the resource called methane hydrates. The opportunities for fiscal revenues, energy security, and freshwater resources will be attractive to many of those states; for many, the...

This paper, a celebratory essay marking the 50th anniversary of the first issue of Environmental Law, the nation's oldest and most comprehensive law student-edited law review, discusses the background of the founding of the journal in 1970 and surveys the many symposia and leading articles it...

Hydraulic fracturing has been the subject of much debate recently, both in the United States and increasingly in Europe. Advances in hydraulic fracturing technology have led to a shale gas boom in the United States, significantly lowering natural gas prices, and causing some foreign businesses...