Allan M. Feldman
Professor emeritus of economics

Research Interests:

Welfare economics and social choice, law and economics, and related topics.

Recent Scholarly Work:

A Short Course in Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus, 2013, co-authored with Roberto Serrano, has just been published by Cambridge University Press. This is an intermediate level undergraduate microeconomics textbook, aimed at universities like Brown, where it is now used as text in Economics 1110.

Comparative Vigilance, American Law and Economics Review, 2009, with Ram Singh, is an exciting paper about a tort liability rule that punishes negligence when both parties to an accident are negligent, rewards vigilance when both parties are vigilant, is continuous, and is efficient. A Simple Guide to Comparative Vigilance, Asian Journal of Law and Economics, 2011, with Ram Singh, is a non-mathematical version of the comparative vigilance paper. It has one example, and no proofs.

Welfare Economics and Social Choice Theory, 2nd Edition, published by Springer in 2006, was co-authored with Roberto Serrano. A table of contents is available, as are selected chapters: Contents; Ch. 4 -Welfare Properties of "Jungle Exchange"; Ch. 11 - Life and Death Choices. Prof. Serrano and I also published a short and simple paper on Arrow's theorem, which grew out of our book chapter on Arrow. The paper is Arrow's Impossibility Theorem: Two Simple Single-Profile Versions, available in the Harvard College Mathematics Review, 2008. A shorter version of the paper, with just one single-profile theorem, is: Arrow's Impossibility Theorem: Preference Diversity in a Single-Profile World.

The Hand Rule and United States v. Carroll Towing Co. Reconsidered, with Jeonghyun Kim, appeared in American Law and Economics Review, Fall 2005. This is a reexamination of the liability formula invented by Judge Learned Hand many years ago, and adopted as a fundamental principle by subsequent scholars of law and economics. We argue that the interpretation of the formula common in the literature is inconsistent with what Judge Hand wrote in his often-quoted opinion.

Victim or Injurer, Small Car or SUV: Tort Liability Rules Under Role-Type Uncertainty, with Jeonghyun Kim, appeared in International Review of Law and Economics, 2006. In this paper we develop a model of liability rules and accidents, where a party's role in an accident (victim or injurer), is not known in advance. We extend the model to vehicle collisions, where the size of one's car affects the probability that one is the victim.

Current Teaching:

In recent years I taught the following courses: investments (econ. 1710), economics and the law (econ. 1380), and welfare economics (econ. 1170). Now that I am emeritus I do not regularly teach.

Curriculum Vitae:

There are two versions of my curriculum vitae. My academic CV describes appointments, publications, services, honors, etc. My consulting CV is very similar, but also includes a brief description of consulting activities, and is much more up to date.

Research, Teaching, and Service: This document is a brief description of research, teaching, etc., as required by the university. This one is dated 2008; I have not been required to produce subsequent editions since I'm emeritus! Statement on research, teaching & service.

 


Last updated December 2011.

Contact:
Office: Robinson Hall 211
Office Hours: By appointment
Phone: 401-751-1281 or 401-863-2415
Fax: 401-863-1970
Email: allan_feldman@brown.edu

  

Mailing Address:
Allan M. Feldman Ph.D.
30 President Avenue
Providence, RI 02906
USA