Although the economic analysis of law developed in the U.S. after the 1970's, in Japan, the systematic understanding of the field's overall structure is still insufficient. Hardly any study has been done on the theoretical relationship between the economic analysis of law and the traditional areas of legal research, particularly, the sociology of law. Through a methodological investigation of the economic analysis of law, this study will scrutinize the significance of economic analysis for legal research. This study will be structured as follows:
(1) An economics approach toward law;
(2) Classification of the economic analyses of law;
(3) The economic analysis of law and the sociology of law.