"CALL FOR PAPERS                       

                 "ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE AND COMPETITION:
                 THE PROS AND CONS OF PRIVATE ORDERING
                       IN THE SHADOW OF THE LAW"           

                     September 30-October 1, 2010
               Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC)
                 Tilburg University, The Netherlands             

     http://www.tilburguniversity.nl/tilec/events/conferences/300910/

     INVITED SPEAKERS:

     - Lisa Bernstein (University of Chicago)
     - Avinash Dixit (Princeton University)
     - Robert Gibbons (MIT)
     - Bentley MacLeod (Columbia University)

     WORKSHOP OBJECTIVE:

     This workshop aims to bring scholars together who have
     studied organizations and institutions that support
     economic activities if using the courts is not an option.
     The workshop will also provide a competition policy
     perspective that critically weighs the pros and cons of
     self-governance institutions against each other.

     SPECIFIC TOPICS (NON-EXCLUSIVE):

     - Under which conditions can private ordering replace
       public courts? What are the main benefits and the main
       costs associated with this substitution?
     - Should private institutions step in if the public court
       system fails? Who should set them up and who should pay
       for them?
     - What are the effects on private ordering if the quality
       of the legal system improves or decreases? What about the
       risk of crowding out?
     - How does the efficient private institution or
       organization that supports transactions depend on the
       characteristics of the transaction, the industry, or the
       country?
     - How can the efficiency of governance regimes be measured
       if both the market creation effect and the market
       shrinking effect that comes with private ordering are
       taken care of?
     - Can we formulate rules of thumb that help competition
       authorities and courts decide when the threat of
       collusion inherent in a self-governance mechanism
       outweighs its positive effects, or vice versa?
     - What can we learn from cases where private ordering is
       part of a regulated process, e.g. in industrial relations
       where trade unions are a substitute for labor courts, to
       some extent?

     SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE:

     - Maurits Barendrecht (Tilburg University)
     - Peter Cserne (Tilburg University)
     - Eric van Damme (Tilburg University)
     - Lapo Filistrucchi (Tilburg University)
     - Pierre Larouche (Tilburg University)
     - Scott Masten (University of Michigan)
     - Wieland Muller (Tilburg University)
     - Jens Prufer (Tilburg University)

     FORMAT:

     The workshop will take place from September 30 to October
     1, 2010 and is planned for two full days. Regular
     presentations (30 minutes) will be followed by a discussant
     (10 minutes) and public discussion (20 minutes). For
     keynote speakers, the format will be 45 minutes
     presentation and 15 minutes public discussion. There will
     be plenty of time for informal discussion and social
     interaction. 

     REIMBURSEMENT POLICY:

     TILEC will cover the accommodation and travel expenses of
     speakers and the accommodation expenses of discussants.

     IMPORTANT DATES:

     The deadline for submissions is May 16, 2010.

     PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE:

     Papers should be submitted in PDF format to: 

     Email:         TILECgovernance@uvt.nl

     Long abstracts are accepted but full papers are preferred. 

     In case of questions, please contact the workshop organizer
     (see below).

     Authors of accepted papers will be notified by June 30,
     2010. 

     Speakers might be asked to discuss a paper.

     Completed drafts of accepted papers are due by August 31,
     2010, and will be made available for download on the
     conference website.

     ORGANIZER:

     CONTACT:       Jens Prufer (Tilburg University)
     Email:         j.prufer@uvt.nl"