Steven Shavell is the Samuel R. Rosenthal Professor of Law and Economics, Director of the John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Business at Harvard Law School. He received a Ph.D. in economics from M.I.T. in 1973, joined the Department of Economics at Harvard University in 1974, and moved to the faculty of Harvard Law School in 1980. His major research interests are in economic analysis of tort, contract, property, and criminal law, and in legal procedure and litigation. He has published numerous articles in professional journals and four books, most recently Foundations of Economic Analysis of Law (Harvard University Press, 2004).