Theoretical Foundations of Law and Economics

A book-length examination of the methodology and philosophy of law and economics.

Mark D. White (Edited by)

9780521889551, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 December 2008

304 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.62 kg

"Professor White does a real service by gathering these works into a single volume ... [He] has advanced the discourse in this lively field. His collection offers a fine law and economics primer, framing the arguments and leaving the reader better equipped to understand the theoretical underpinnings of the difficult accommodations that continue to be made in a world of scarcity." - Michael C. Macchiarola, The Law and Politics Book Review

The economic approach to law, or 'law and economics', is by far the most successful application of basic economic principles to another scholarly field, but most of the critical appraisal of the field is scattered among law reviews and economics journals. Theoretical Foundations of Law and Economics provides an original, book-length examination of the methodology and philosophy of law and economics, featuring essays written by leading legal scholars, philosophers, and economists. The contributors take issue with many of the key tenets of the economic approach to law, such as its assumption of rational behavior, its reliance on market analogies, and its adoption of efficiency as the primary goal of legal decision making. They discuss the relevance of economics to the law in general, as well as to substantive areas of the law, such as contracts, torts, and crime.

Part I. The Role and Use of Economics in Legal Studies: 1. Modeling courts Lewis A. Kornhauser
2. Is there a method to the madness? Why creative and counterintuitive solutions are counterproductive Michael B. Dorff and Kimberly Kessler Ferzan
3. Functional law and economics Jonathan Klick and Francesco Parisi
4. Legal fictionalism and the economics of normativity Horacio Spector
Part II. Efficiency: 5. Efficiency, practices, and the moral point of view: limits of economic interpretations of law Mark Tunick
6. Numeraire illusion: the final demise of the Kaldor-Hicks principle David Ellerman
7. Justice, mercy and efficiency Sarah Holtman
Part III. Rationality and the Law: 8. Bounded rationality and legal scholarship Matthew D. Adler
9. Emotional reactions to law and economics, market metaphors, and rationality rhetoric Peter H. Huang
10. Pluralism, intransitivity, incoherence William A. Edmundson
Part IV. Values and Ethics in Civil and Criminal Law: 11. Law and economics and explanation in contract law Brian H. Bix
12. Welfare, autonomy, and contractual freedom Guido Pincione
13. Efficiency, fairness, and the economic analysis of tort law Mark A. Geistfeld
14. Retributivism in a world of scarcity Mark D. White.

Subject Areas: International economic & trade law [LBBM], Law [L], Economics [KC]