The Economic Structure of Tort Law
William M. Landes
Richard A. Posner
The prolific team of William Landes and Richard Posner have drawn upon their previous path-breaking work to issue [one of] the most important books in the law and economics of tort law since the release in 1970 of Guido Calabresi's The Costs of Accidents...Landes and Posner, who are always forceful and often controversial, directly challenge the charges of overdeterrence and underdeterrence, concluding that the common law of torts has succeeded admirably in achieving economically optimal incentives...Landes and Posner's thoroughly accessible work is an interesting and readable narrative...[An] excellent book...Landes and Posner have played a major role in replacing the traditional legal justification of the tort system based on notions of fairness and compensation with a concern for efficiency and deterrence. The profound revolution has come...Landes and Posner deserve considerable credit for identifying the extent to which efficiency considerations are significant in many areas of tort law.
--John J. Donohue III, Harvard Law Review
This collection is a spirited defense of economic analysis...Together [with Steven Shavell's Economic Analysis of Accident Law] they constitute the most comprehensive defense of the economic analysis of tort law currently available, and are strongly recommended accordingly.
--Jules L. Coleman, Yale Law Journal
The Economic Structure of Tort Law is a significant piece of scholarship...More wondrous still, Landes and Posner have produced a highly readable book.
--Thomas S. Ulen, Law and Society Review
photo of Richard Posner.
William M. Landes is Clifton R. Musser Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Chicago Law School.
Richard A. Posner is Circuit Judge, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.