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Rational Choice versus Lawful Choice

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  • Leo Katz

Abstract

The legal and the economic perspective on a policy proposal are likely to differ far more fundamentally than is commonly appreciated. Economists will impose certain minimal requirements of rationality on the evaluation process, which lawyers routinely violate. Economists will expect the evaluation process to be coherent in the sense of not exhibiting any intransitivity, not violating the Pareto principle, and not being susceptible to framing effects. Lawyers will routinely run afoul all of these. This paper shows what is at the root of these seeming irrationalities and why they are not so irrational after all.

Suggested Citation

  • Leo Katz, 2014. "Rational Choice versus Lawful Choice," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 170(1), pages 105-121, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:mhr:jinste:urn:sici:0932-4569(201403)170:1_105:rcvlc_2.0.tx_2-t
    DOI: 10.1628/093245613X13819084995207
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Zamir, Eyal & Medina, Barak, 2010. "Law, Economics, and Morality," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195372168, Decembrie.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mario J. Rizzo, 2019. "Inconsistency is not pathological: a pragmatic perspective," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 18(1), pages 77-85, June.
    2. Christoph Engel & Urs Schweizer, 2014. "What Makes Intervention Legitimate? 31st International Seminar on the New Institutional Economics June 12-15, 2013, Weimar, Germany," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 170(1), pages 1-4, March.
    3. Eyal Zamir, 2014. "Rational Choice versus Lawful Choice: On Law, Economics, and Morality," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 170(1), pages 129-136, March.
    4. A. Y. Klimenko, 2015. "Intransitivity in Theory and in the Real World," Papers 1507.03169, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)
    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General

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