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Economics of the Law: Torts, Contracts, Property and Litigation

by Thomas J. Miceli

ISBN-10: 9780195103908
ISBN-10: 0-19-510390-4
ISBN-13: 9780195103908
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-510390-8
Hardcover
1997-02-20
Oxford University Press, USA


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Editorials


Product Description
Over the past two decades, the field of law and economics has matured to the point where scholars have employed the latest economic methods in an effort to understand the nature of legal rules and to guide legal reform. This book is the first to provide a broad survey of this scholarship as it has been applied to problems in torts, contracts, property, and litigation. It will therefore serve as a convenient reference guide to this exciting field.

Reviews


Mathematics? If you call Coase mathematics..
Regarding the other review here and his complaints about mathematics -- did we read the same book? This book uses simple models, yes, with SOME mathematics, but very little. They are used to explain intuitive concepts and capture them in symbols, to show their logic and quickly summarize a concept. This is by no means a mathematical book that uses mathematics to "look smart" or to pull off tricks like a monkey. You don't do the Austrian school a favor by complaining about the mathematics in this book, knee-jerk anti-mathematical thinking is unnecessary, and trust me, I do not like mathematics either. This book contains powerful intuitive reasoning backed by simple models. I greatly prefer this book to any of the other texts in law and economics. Especially stay away from Shavell, which is a lot of words but very little concepts. Anyway, I can't recommend this book enough for anyone interested in Law and Economics, the basics of Torts, Contracts, Property and Litigation.

The writing is extremely clear and succinct. Sometimes after reading a paragraph I paused and smiled because of its great writing. How often do you have that with a textbook? I felt compelled to write a review just to counter the other one I read. You can also read this for free if you have a university library card at netlibrary!

Good intro and overview.
I can't say I have any great love for the school of thought expounded in this volume. But if it's mathematical models you want, it's mathematical models you'll get in this fine introduction. (Me, I disagree with the mathematical-models approach pretty much _in toto_ and favor the Austrian school of economics -- von Mises, Rothbard, et alia -- on a foundation of rationalism. But my disagreement doesn't detract from the quality of Miceli's presentation.)

In each of the four areas mentioned in his subtitle, Miceli presents a basic "model" in one chapter and then rings the changes on it in the next. His presentation is clear and solid, though it does require at least some background in undergraduate-level mathematics. (And in general, it's a good idea to know at least enough mathematics to overcome the tendency to be impressed by it!)

Readers interested in this field but without much background in math are advised to read Mercuro/Medema's _Economics and the Law_ first, especially the chapter on the Chicago School. I'd personally recommend reading Miceli's book before moving on to Posner's _Economic Analysis of the Law_, Landes/Posner's _Economic Structure of Tort Law_, and Shavell's _Economic Analysis of Accident Law_.

For another good introductory work in some respects "orthogonal" to this one, see Polinsky's _An Introduction to Law and Economics_. In addition to providing a fuller discussion of the Coase Theorem, Polinsky also raises questions about possible conflicts between efficiency and equity. Personally, I don't think this entire school of thought deals adequately with those conflicts, but Polinsky does make the attempt.

Readers critical of "law and economics" and seeking an opposing point of view -- indeed, an opposing fundamental outlook -- might wish to read Ernest Weinrib's _The Idea of Private Law_. (In my own view based on my reading to date, the genuine insights of the "law and economics" movement can be taken up, with appropriate modification, into Weinrib's outlook -- but the other direction doesn't work.)


Best Textbook Treatment of the Economics of Law
Thomas Miceli wrote the most comprehensive technical treatment of law and economics. The text contains formal mathematical models with a coherent coverage of the main issues in contracts, property, torts, and litigation. The book is written for an educated audience. Unquestionably the best among the wide-range treatments of law and economics. Comparable in quality and technical sophistication to Posner-Landes's treatment of tort law and Shavell's treatment of accident law.


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