The Founding Fathers of Law and Economics

...the most neglected side of law and economics is empirical.  In most areas of law and economics, there is a dearth of empirical studies...  Recently, I surveyed articles published in the Journal of Legal Studies (the leading 'new' law and economics journal) during the 1972-2002 period, and found that 39 percent of the 571 articles had some empirical content [TC: a Chicago code word for "econometrics"?]...In contrast, 71 percent of the 604 articles published in the Journal of Law and Economics, (a leading economics journal in industrial organization) during the 1972-2002 period were empirical.  Similarly, 70 percent of the articles recently published in the Journal of Political Economy contained substantial empirical analysis.

That is William Landes, writing in The Origins of Law and Economics: Essays by the Founding Fathers, edited by my colleagues Charles Rowley and Francesco Parisi.  Other contributors to this important volume include Coase, Tullock, Becker, Epstein, Posner, Buchanan, Demsetz Williamson, and others.  Read more here.