I have always believed that in making good business decisions one goes back to the applicable theory. For example, to price an option one applies Black-Sholes formula or to determine the number of truck bays in a warehouse one uses queing theory. Applying the theory forces one to more carefully collect the information related to the problem and to better understand the risks.
Of course, theories evolve and are tested, frequently through academic scholarship. Academic scholarship takes many forms--"doctrinal, empirical, theoretical". I have found a renewed appreciation for academic scholarship in writing my second book on entrepreneurship. Part of the book deals with defining a non-profit organization and some of the best writing on the subject comes from law reviews. Law reviews brings us to the topic of this post.
In the blog Concurring Opinions, there is an interesting post about Chief Justice Roberts' opinion of legal scholarship. He finds the research "worthless to real lawyers". A response to that position is here.
The question that I would ask of Justice Roberts is how would he plan to train aspiring lawyers if we forego academic legal research. While some scholarship has little practical application, other research provides seminal insight on an issue...including the law.
