Law and Economics

This best-selling text continues to provide students with a clear method for applying economic analysis to the study of legal rules and institutions. Law and Economics opens with an overview of economic tools for law students and legal tools for economics students. Later chapters cover economic theories in five key areas of the law: property, contracts, torts, legal process, and crimes.

The Fourth Edition has been thoroughly revised for clarity and coverage. New material includes recent developments in intellectual property, law and social norms, efficiency versus equity, private disputes versus tax and transfer as methods of achieving equity, and behavioral law and economics. Empirical literature and data have been extensively updated throughout. The improved and expanded end-of-chapter problems serve as an important resource for students. All new 'Web Notes' featured in each chapter, closely link the text with materials on the Web site for the book.

                   I.	What Is the Economic Analysis of Law?	3
                   II.	Some Examples	4
                   III.	The Primacy of Efficiency over Distribution 
                   	in Analyzing Private Law	7           
                   IV.	Why should Lawyers Study Economics? Why Should 
                   	Economists Study Law?	10
                   V.	The Plan of This Book	11
            

                   I.	Overview: The Structure of Microeconomic
                   	Theory	14
                   II.	Some Fundamental Concepts: Maximization, 
                   	Equilibrium, and Efficiency	15
                   III.	Mathematical Tools	17
                   IV.	The Theory of Consumer Choice and Demand	21
                   V.	The Theory of Supply	31
                   VI.	Market Equilibrium	33
                   VII.	Game Theory	38
                   VIII.	The Theory of Asset Pricing	42
                   IX.	General Equilibrium and Welfare Economics	43
                   X.	Decision-making Under Uncertainty: Risk and Insurance	49

                   I.	The Civil Law and the Common Law   
                   	Traditions	60
                   II.	The Institutions of the Federal and the State Court 
                   	Systems in the United States	63
                   III.	The Nature of a Legal Dispute	66
                   IV.	How Legal Rules Evolve	68

                   I.	The Legal Concept of Property	77
                   II.	Bargaining Theory	78    
                   III.	The Origins of the Institution of Property: 
                   	A Thought Experiment	80
                   IV.	An Economic Theory of Property	85
                   V.	How Are Property Rights Protected?	99
                   VI.	What Can Be Privately Owned?-Public and Private Goods	107
                   VII.	What May Owners Do with Their Property?	110
                   VIII.	On Distribution	111
                   Appendix:	The Philosophical Concept of Property	115

                   I.	What Can Be Privately Owned?	120
                   II.	How are Property Rights Established and Verified?	144
                   III.	What May Owners Do with Their Property	157
                   IV.	What Are the Remedies for the Violation 
                   	of Property Rights?	166
      

                   I.	Bargain Theory: An Introduction to Contracts	189
                   II.	An Economic Theory of Contract		195
      

                   I.	Remedies as Incentives		237
                   II.	Formation Defenses and Performance Excuses	267
                   Mathematical Appendix	 	296

                   I.	Defining Tort Law	309
                   II.	An Economic Theory of Tort Liability	320
                   Appendix: Liability and Symmetry	348

                   I.	Extending the Economic Model	350
                   II.	Computing Damages	368
                   III.	Applying the Economic Theory of Tort 
                   	Liability: Tort Law Reform	377

                   I.	Why Sue?	392
                   II.	Exchange of Information	406
                   III.	Settlement Bargaining	413                         
                   IV.	Trial	421
                   V.	Appeals	435

                   I.	The Traditional Theory of Criminal Law	447
                   II.	An Economic Theory of Crime and Punishment	451
               

                   I.	Crime in the United States	478
                   II.	Does Punishment Deter Crime?	484
                   III.	Efficient Punishment	492
                   IV.	The Death Penalty	500
                   V.	The Economics of Addictive Drugs and Crime	507
                   VI.	The Economics of Handgun Control	512

                   Case Index	517
                   Name Index	519
                   Subject Index	522