2014 Coase Lecture: Richard McAdams, “The Expressive Powers of Law“

Economics explains legal compliance via sanctions, particularly by the ability of legal sanctions to change the cost of behavior and deter noncompliance. Yet rational choice tools predict other ways in which law influences behavior: by suggesting a means of coordination and by informing beliefs. First, when people seek to order their behavior with others, law provides a salient means of coordinating. Second, law reveals information about risks and attitudes, which prompts individuals to update their beliefs