Concluding Remarks 'Public International Law and Economics : The Power of Rational Choice Methodology in Guiding the Analysis and the Design of Public International Law Institutions'

The concluding remarks not only dwell on the merits of an economic approach to public international law but also view public international law as a challenge for economic analysis. The potential lessons of a reciprocal learning process for public international law could be the following ones: (1) stress the functional approach to public international law; (2) expand the subject matter; (3) take into consideration costs and benefits of alternative solutions, even in the realm of private law; (4) re-conceptualise the legitimisation paradigm. The branch of New Institutional Economics provides the necessary methodological tools to treat the specific problems of that field of law. The lessons for economics, on the other hand, could be the following ones: (1) stress institutional economics (including constitutional economics); (2) start a dialogue with social science rational choice approaches