Risk Aversion,Heterogeneity and Contests

We introduce a novel method of modellingcontests that avoids the complexitiesencountered by the `best response function'approach. We analyse contests in which (i)there are many risk averse players, (ii)attitudes to risk may differ acrossindividuals, and (iii) the technology thattransforms rent-seeking effort intoprobability of winning may also differacross individuals. We establish that, ifevery player has a constant degree ofabsolute risk aversion, a uniqueequilibrium exists. We also establishcomparative static results and examine howthe level of rent dissipation is affectedby the heterogeneity of attitudes towardsrisk and the precise nature of the technology.     

Health and Safety at Home: Private and Public Responsibility for Unsatisfactory Housing Conditions

This paper reviews two legislative approaches intended to control housing conditions in the rented sector - the landlords' contractual obligations, and the powers of local authorities. The authors argue that the landlords' covenants are almost totally ineffective, and that it now rests on local authorities to protect the health and safety of tenants. Breaches of the implied covenants that houses should be fit and in repair will provide tenants with a legal action against their landlords. However, the tenant's standing is now so weak that these covenants fail to provide protection. The Housing Act 2004 introduced a regulatory framework based upon assessing the risks to the health and safety - the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) - giving local authorities tools to ensure that housing is as safe and health as possible.
The history of the regulation of housing conditions also reveals important insights into the nature of private and public regulation.     

The Role of the Jurist: Reflections around Radbruch

Many different kinds of professionals work with law, but often they seek to use law for particular governmental or private purposes, they focus on some specific areas or aspects of its creation, interpretation or application, or they study it for its interest judged by criteria that are given by fields of scholarly practice outside it. Is there a special significance for a role exclusively concerned with analysing, protecting and enhancing the general well‐being or worth of law as a practical idea? This article argues that such a role is important. Building on Gustav Radbruch's juristic thought, it asks how that role could be elaborated and how a professional responsibility for discharging it might be envisaged. Many professionals concerned with law adopt such a role incidentally or intermittently, but it needs more prominence and clear demarcation. The article suggests that it might be seen as the specialised role of the jurist, treated as a particular kind of legal professional. The term “jurist” would then have not just an honorific connotation. It would indicate a Weberian “pure” type that may approximate some current understandings of “juristic” practice; but it would also identify a normative ideal—something intrinsically valuable. Seen in this way, the jurist is one who assumes a certain unique responsibility for law.     

University supply and corporate demand for academic research

University research is an important contributor to corporate innovation, but corporate-sponsored research has lagged other forms of research expenditure since 2000 and is perceived to be sub-optimal. This paper first examines and interprets reasons given by industry participants for this relative underperformance. It next establishes the complexity of this issue by explicating different patterns of research relationships for four industry groups. University supply of research and industry demand are both affected by internal factors that create inherent limits to these activities. The paper concludes that proactive measures by universities are the most feasible steps under current conditions to enhance corporate-sponsored university research.