Much of law is about controlling and at times changing human behaviour. Hence, it implies some form of decision theory on how people will react to legal norms. In corporate law, microeconomics in its version of „rational choice theory“ has long been the law’s natural ally, relying on abstract assumptions, „as if“ models and utility functions. More recently, we see a broader array of cognitive sciences entering the field. „Behavioural economics“ has insisted on a number of biases, raising doubts about the extent to which decision-making can usefully be conceptualised as rational. Reaching further, social psychology has contributed insights on group behaviour, dual systems or self control. Lastly, „neuroeconomics“ has set out to combine methods of economics and neuroscience to make better predictions about human behaviour. This paper gives an overview on these disciplines and makes some suggestions for future corporate governance research.
Zeitschrift für Unternehmens- und Gesellschaftsrecht, Vol. 48, Issue 5, pp. 717–759,
2019
