The Consumer Welfare Hypothesis in Law and Economics : Towards a Synthesis for the 21st Century - Acclaims and Abstracts of the Chapters

The Consumer Welfare Hypothesis in Law and Economics is a compelling account of market relations with firm roots in economic theory and legal practice. This incisive book challenges the mainstream view that allocative efficiency is about total welfare maximisation. Instead, it argues for the consumer welfare hypothesis, in which allocating resources efficiently means maximising consumer welfare, and demonstrates that legal structures such as antitrust and consumer law are in reality designed and practised with this goal in mind.The book overcomes the opposition between efficiency and distribution and provides a firmer basis for debates about the foundations of contract law, antitrust law and consumer law, particularly in the European Union. The outcome is a bilateral view of the connection between the law and the economy and a rich research agenda to further our understanding of the legal-economic nexus