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Peter Leeson

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Peter Leeson

  • Mercatus Center Senior Scholar
  • BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism, George Mason University
  • Senior Fellow at the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Peter T. Leeson is BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism and Professor of Economics at George Mason University. He is also a Senior Fellow at the F.A. Hayek Program for the Advanced Study of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and North American Editor of Public Choice. Formerly, Leeson was Visiting Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, Visiting Fellow in Political Economy and Government at Harvard University, and F.A. Hayek Fellow at the London School of Economics. According to RePEc, Leeson is among the top young economists in the world. For links to his research, press coverage, and CV visit his website:http://www.PeterLeeson.com.

View PDF of Curriculum Vitae.

Published Research

Gypsy law

Peter Leeson | Jun 2013
How do the members of societies that can’t use government or simple ostracism produce social order? To investigate this question I use economics to analyze Gypsy law. Gypsy law leverages superstition to enforce desirable conduct in Gypsy societies where government is unavailable and simple ostracism is ineffective.

The Amplification Effect: Foreign Aid's Impact on Political Institutions

Peter Leeson, Claudia Williamson, Nabamita Dutta | May 01, 2013
This paper argues that foreign aid has neither the power to make dictatorships more democratic nor to make democracies more dictatorial. It only amplifies recipients' existing political institutions.

The Irrelevance of Normative Considerations for Founding an Austrian Law and Economics

Peter Leeson | Dec 01, 2012
In this reply the author argues that the differences between Posner and Austrians that Marciano uses as the basis for his contention are normative. If, as Austrians claim, Austrian economics is purely positive, those differences are irrelevant to the appropriate foundations for an Austrian law and economics.

Chicken Soup for the Out-of-Step Scholar's Soul

Peter Leeson, Gene Callahan | Nov 07, 2012
This paper argues that the long-standing predominance of a particular approach to science neither makes it uniquely scientific nor superior to rival approaches.
More Published Research

Working Papers

Prenups

Peter Leeson, Joshua Pierson | Mar 04, 2013
In the 1970s a “unilateral divorce revolution” swept the United States. Economists have closely studied and frequently debated the effect of this revolution on divorce rates in America. Perhaps because of this, the fact that just a decade later a second, and potentially equally important, divorce-law revolution swept America escaped economists’ attention: the “prenuptial enforcement revolution.” The authors use data on prenuptial agreements’ enforceability from 1956 to 2009 to investigate the effect of making prenuptial agreements enforceable on divorces rate in America.

Human Sacrifice

Peter Leeson | Nov 12, 2012
This paper develops a theory of rational human sacrifice: the purchase and ritual slaughter of innocent persons to appease divinities. The author argues that human sacrifice is a technology for protecting property rights.

The Costs of Conflict

Peter Leeson, Adam Smith, Daniel Houser, and Ramin Ostadhossein | Sep 04, 2011
Violent conflict destroy resources. It generates "destruction costs." These costs have an important effect on individual's decisions to cooperate or conflict. We develop two models of conflict: one in which conflict's destruction costs are independent of individuals' investment in "arms" - the tools of conflict - and another in which conflict's destruction costs depend on those investments.

God Damn: The Law and Economics of Monastic Malediction

Peter Leeson | Aug 22, 2011
For centuries monks were known for fulminating their foes, humiliating saints, and casting calamitous curses at persons who crossed them. Clerics called these curses “maledictions.” This paper argues that medieval communities of monks and canons used maledictions to protect their property against predators where government and physical self-help were unavailable to them.
More Working Papers

Media Clippings

Friday Interview: Pirates as Economic Thinkers

Peter Leeson | Mar 02, 2012
Outlet: Carolina Journal Online

India Should Re-Wrap Economic Reforms

Peter J. Boettke, Christopher Coyne, Peter Leeson | Feb 02, 2012
Outlet: Forbes India

What Can We Do About the Pirates?

Peter Leeson | Mar 04, 2011
Outlet: Forbes

The Economics of Gypsies

Peter Leeson | Jul 27, 2010
Outlet: The New York Times
More Media Clippings

Expert Commentary

Empirics and Psychology: Eight of the World’s Top Young Economists Discuss Where Their Field Is Going

BigThink
By Peter Leeson |
Jul 27, 2012

To get the pulse of a field in flux, I asked eight of the world’s top young economists to identify the biggest unanswered questions in economics and predict what breakthroughs will define it a decade or two hence. The interview features BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism at the Mercatus Center Peter Leeson.

Contact

Peter Leeson

Research Areas

Law and Economics

Links

Videos

Peter Leeson on Anarchy

Peter Leeson | April 12, 2011
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Books

The Secrets of Pirate Management: From The Invisible Hook

Peter Leeson | Mar 2012
What can today's corporate raiders learn from the scourge of the high seas? A lot, as it turns out! Pirates have a surprising amount to teach about building better organizations, promoting diversity in the workplace, and creating powerful brands, among many other business lessons.
More Books

Podcasts

Pirates and the Invisible Hook

Peter Leeson, Russell Roberts | May 25, 2009
Peter Leeson of George Mason University and author of The Invisible Hook talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the economics of 18th century pirates and what we can learn from their behavior.