This is a survey of legal liability for accidents. Three general aspects of accident liability are addressed. The first … is the effect of liability on incentives, both whether to engage in activities (for instance, whether to drive) and how …-bearing and insurance, for the liability system acts as an implicit insurer for accident victims and it imposes risk on potential …

This chapter surveys the theory of the public enforcement of law—the use of governmental agents (regulators, inspectors … imprisonment term, or a combination of the two? Should the rule of liability be strict or fault-based? If violators are caught only … apprehending violators? A variety of extensions of the central theory are then examined, including: activity level; errors; the …

reputational concerns are not strong enough, however, for injurers to willingly compensate their victims. Absent legal liability … enforced legal liability crowds out informal incentives completely (e.g., individuals causing harm suffer no stigma) but … precautions are then socially efficient. Under imperfectly enforced legal liability, formal legal sanctions and normative concerns …

I consider the efficiency of liability rules when courts obtain imperfect information about precautionary behavior. I …