Abstract
For roughly three decades, legal scholarship has been dominated by the application of mainstream economic theory to law.1 The “law and economics” movement, as it is called, has had a substantial influence on nearly every domain of legal analysis. In addition to the financial subjects such as antitrust, bankruptcy, corporations, and tax law, economic analysis has become prevalent in basic fields such as contracts, torts, and property. It has even made inroads into subjects that have traditionally been noneconomic in nature, such as substantive criminal law.2
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
Bibliography
Austin, John. The Province of Jurisprudence Determined. Ed. Wilfrid E. Rumble. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995 [1832].
Baird, Douglas G., Robert H. Gertner, and Randal C. Picker. Game Theory and the Law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994.
Bentham, Jeremy. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1907 [1789].
Binmore, Ken G. Game Theory: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Buchanan, James M. The Limits of Liberty: Between Anarchy and Leviathan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975.
Coase, Ronald H. “The Problem of Social Cost.” Journal of Law and Economics 3 (1960): 1–44.
Coleman, Jules L. “Efficiency, Utility, and Wealth Maximization.” In Markets, Morals, and the Law, 95–132. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Dolovich, Sharon. “Legitimate Punishment in Liberal Democracy.” Buffalo Criminal Law Review 7 (2004): 314–329.
Dworkin, Ronald. Law’s Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986.
—. Taking Rights Seriously. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977.
Finkelstein, Claire. “Legal Theory and the Rational Actor.” In The Oxford Handbook of Rationality, edited by Alfred R. Mele and Piers Rawling, 399–416. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Finnis, John. Natural Law and Natural Rights. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980.
Fletcher, George. Basic Concepts of Legal Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Fuller, Lon L. “Positivism and Fidelity to Law: A Reply to Professor Hart.” Harvard Law Review 71 (1958): 630–672.
Gauthier, David P. Morals by Agreement. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986.
Hart, H. L. A. The Concept of Law. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994 [1961].
—. “Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals.” Harvard Law Review 71 (1958): 593–629.
Kaplow, Louis, and Steven Shavell. Fairness versus Welfare. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002.
Kronman, Anthony T. “Wealth Maximization as a Normative Principle.” Journal of Legal Studies 9 (1980): 227–242.
Moore, Michael S. Placing Blame: A General Theory of the Criminal Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Pennock, J. Roland, and John W. Chapman (eds). Criminal Justice: NOMOS XXVII. New York: New York University Press, 1985.
Posner, Richard A. Economic Analysis of Law. 7th ed. New York, NY: Aspen Publishers, 2007.
Posner, Richard A., and William M. Landes. “The Influence of Economics on Law: A Quantitative Study.” Journal of Law and Economics 36 (1993): 385–424.
Rawls, John. “Justice as Fairness: Political not Metaphysical.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 14 (1985): 223–251.
—. Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
—. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1971.
Sandel, Michael J. Liberalism and the Limits of Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
Sidgwick, Henry. The Methods of Ethics. 7th ed. London: Macmillan, 1907 [1874].
Singer, Peter. Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals. New York: Random House, 1975.
Treanor, William M. “Rawls and the Law.” Fordham Law Review 72 (2004): 1385–1386.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2015 Mark D. White
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Finkelstein, C. (2015). Toward a Contractarian Theory of Law. In: White, M.D. (eds) Law and Social Economics. Perspectives from Social Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137443762_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137443762_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-49562-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-44376-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Economics & Finance CollectionEconomics and Finance (R0)