Law/Economics
Law and economics is one of the most intellectually coherent of all joint honours combinations, since the two disciplines share deep concerns with how rules shape behaviour, how incentives work, and how institutions can be designed to produce better or worse outcomes. Economics provides the tools of microeconomic analysis, rational choice theory, game theory, and empirical methods that are increasingly applied to questions about the law, including how legal rules affect market behaviour, how courts make decisions, and how different legal regimes compare in their consequences. Law, in turn, provides the concrete institutional and normative context in which economic reasoning must be applied if it is to connect with the real world.
At the University of Glasgow, this four-year full-time programme gives you a thorough grounding in both Scots Law and economics. In law, you will study the foundational areas of the Scottish legal system, including contract, delict, criminal law, constitutional law, and the distinctive features of Scots property and private law. In economics, you will develop the analytical tools of microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics, alongside study of areas such as public economics, industrial organisation, and financial economics.
A year abroad is incorporated into the four-year structure, providing an opportunity to study at a partner institution and encounter law and economics in a different national context.
Graduates from law and economics are exceptionally well placed for careers in law, economic consultancy, financial regulation, competition and antitrust work, government, and international organisations. The analytical rigour of economics combined with legal knowledge is particularly valued in regulatory bodies, central banks, courts, and commercial law firms that deal with complex economic questions. Those wishing to qualify as solicitors in Scotland have a strong academic foundation, while others move directly into analytical and advisory roles.
Postgraduate study in law, economics, or public policy is also a common route.