8th Lucerne Law and Economics Conference: «Consumer Law and Economics»

The 8th Lucerne Law and Economics Conference took place on the 29th – 30th of March 2019 on the topic "Consumer Law and Economics" and was carried out in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame. Keynote speakers were Prof. Omri Ben-Shahar, The University of Chicago Law School, Prof. Florencia Marotta-Wurgler, New York University Law School, and Professor Avishalom Tor, University of Notre Dame Law School.

Avishalom Tor drew attention to the hidden costs of nudging, such as the associated psychological costs or the opportunity costs. Nudges could therefore be more expensive than their low implementation costs would generally suggest. Omri Ben-Shahar analyzed the failure of mandatory disclosures as described in the book "More Than You Wanted to Know: The Failure of Mandated Disclosure" with Carl E. Schneider. Many call for a simplification of information provided to consumers as a possible solution. However, in practice this is not an appropriate solution as the information in question is complex in nature and therefore can not be effectively simplified. Florencia Marotta-Wurgler presented the main findings of her research on the effectiveness of data protection regulations. She concluded that, contrary to the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, US privacy policies are not very effective. These presentations were followed by further presentations on, for example disclosure requirements and blockchains, on "Dieselgate" in the light of consumer protection law or on the effects of mortgage loan disclosure requirements from a behavioral economic point of view.