A Note on the Social versus Private Value of Suits when Care is Bilateral
Abstract
This paper re-examines the social versus private value of lawsuits when both injurers and victims can take care. The basic conclusions of that literature remain valid in this context: the private and social values generally differ, and there is no necessary relationship between them, meaning that there may be either too many or too few suits. Introducing the possibility of victim care does, however, alter the calculation of the deterrent effect of lawsuits. In particular, because allowing suits tends to reduce the incentives for victims to invest in precaution, the social value of prohibiting suits increases in direct relation to the productivity of victim care in lowering accident risk.Download Info
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Paper provided by University of Connecticut, Department of Economics in its series Working papers with number 2008-13.Length: 15 pages
Date of creation: Apr 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:uct:uconnp:2008-13
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Postal: University of Connecticut 341 Mansfield Road, Unit 1063 Storrs, CT 06269-1063
Phone: (860) 486-4889
Fax: (860) 486-4463
Web page: http://www.econ.uconn.edu/
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Related research
Keywords: Accidents; deterrence; lawsuits; litigation costs; social versus private value;Other versions of this item:
- Thomas J. Miceli, 2008. "A Note on the Social versus Private Value of Suits when Care is Bilateral," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 17.
- K13 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Tort Law and Product Liability
- K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General
- K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2008-04-29 (All new papers)
- NEP-LAW-2008-04-29 (Law & Economics)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Shavell, Steven, 1999. "The level of litigation: private versus social optimality of suit and of settlement," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 99-115, March.
- A. Mitchell Polinsky & Yeon-Koo Che, 1993.
"Decoupling Liability: Optimal Incentives for Care and Litigation,"
NBER Working Papers
3634, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- A. Mitchell Polinsky & Yeon-Koo Che, 1991. "Decoupling Liability: Optimal Incentives for Care and Litigation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 22(4), pages 562-570, Winter.
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