Showing 1 - 10 of 55
When accidents result in noncompensable losses, a monetary payment is not enough to compensate the victim. We study the characteristics of optimal levels of care and distribution of risk under these circumstances and show that care depends on the aggregate wealth of society but does not depend...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010571736
This essay explores whether collective settlements offer advantages for achieving just outcomes in light of the various types of uncertainty that arise in mass disputes. Looking in particular at the example of product liability litigation, one can identify at least six areas of potential...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014193331
The genesis of this article lies in a simple realization I had one day while driving behind a work vehicle in Atlanta, Georgia. The truck in question was pulling a wood chipper, a device which takes large tree branches, runs them through rapidly turning sharpened steel blades, and chips them...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014215215
The key question in this paper is to determine whether regulation and regulators information can help solving causal uncertainty problems in liability. A widely held view among Law & Economics scholars is that civil liability alone is not well-suited to cope with environmental accidents,...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014155883
Health, safety, and environmental regulation in the United States are saturated with risk thinking. It was not always so, and it may not be so in the future. But today, the formal, quantitative approach to risk provides much of the basis for regulation in these fields, a development that seems...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014161761
People seriously misjudge accident risks because they routinely neglect relevant information about exposure. Such risk judgments affect both personal and public policy decisions, e.g., choice of a transport mode, but also play a vital role in legal determinations, such as assessments of...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014100095
In toxic tort litigation, a plaintiff has no cause of action for increased risk of harm unless that risk is proven by a preponderance of the evidence to lead to a future physical injury. This rule of law is based on an antiquated concept of uncertainty, and evinces the law's detachment from the...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014058714
Law and economics are both hostile to liability for exposure to risk without actual harm. Harm is the foundation of civil remedies. Economics teaches that adequate compensation in the event of harm eliminates risk, obviating the need for compensation for exposure. I show that if there is risk...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012965900
This paper develops an original mean-variance model able to capture the disposition of the parties towards both standard risk and ambiguity. Ambiguity arises when the causal link between conduct and harm is not univocal, as is frequently the case with toxic torts. Risk aversion and ambiguity...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012970323
In the law and economics literature liability is generally regarded as an instrument which provides potential tortfeasors with incentives for optimal care taking. The question, however, arises whether liability can still provide those incentives when risks are unknown. That is the central...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012947880