This insightful and authoritative two-volume set examines the major issues and theories concerning federal political systems. The book covers the two main branches in the economics literature. The first branch, on competitive federalism focuses on the horizontal structure of federalism, as well as examining the jurisdictional competition between state and governments for mobile individuals and resources. The second branch focuses on fiscal federalism and examines the vertical structure of federalism, or the division of public services and taxing power between central and state governments. This comprehensive set also examines applications of the economic analysis of federalism in specific areas of the law, including: corporate law; antitrust law; environmental law; choice of law rules; contractual choice of law and public choice theory. It will be of interest to economic and legal scholars alike.

Today, a California resident can incorporate her shipping business in Delaware, register her ships in Panama, hire her employees from Hong Kong, place her earnings in an asset-protection trust formed in the Cayman Islands, and enter into a same-sex marriage in Massachusetts or Canada--all the while enjoying the California sunshine and potentially avoiding many facets of the state's laws.
In this book, Erin O'Hara and Larry E. Ribstein explore a new perspective on law, viewing it as a product for which people and firms can shop, regardless of geographic borders. The authors consider the structure and operation of the market this creates, the economic, legal, and political forces influencing it, and the arguments for and against a robust market for law. Through jurisdictional competition, law markets promise to improve our laws and, by establishing certainty, streamline the operation of the legal system. But the law market also limits governments' ability to enforce regulations and protect citizens from harmful activities. Given this tradeoff, O'Hara and Ribstein argue that simple contractual choice-of-law rules can help maximize the benefits of the law market while tempering its social costs. They extend their insights to a wide variety of legal problems, including corporate governance, securities, franchise, trust, property, marriage, living will, surrogacy, and general contract regulations.
The Law Market is a wide-ranging and novel analysis for all lawyers, policymakers, legislators, and businesses who need to understand the changing role of law in an increasingly mobile world.

The Rise of the Uncorporation covers the history, law, and finance of unincorporated firms. These "uncorporations" including general and limited partnerships and limited liability companies, are now the dominant business form of non-publicly-traded firms. Through private equity and publicly traded partnerships, uncorporations have emerged as a significant force in the governance of a wide range of the biggest firms. This is the first general theoretical and practical overview of alternatives to incorporation, including ancillary concepts connected with the evolution of these firms, and analysis of likely future trends in business organization. The Rise of the Uncorporation provides a clear and easily understandable theoretical and practical background to this important subject.