Law and Economics

An analysis of how law and economics relate to property and liability, as seen in the cases of "Miller et al. v. Schoene" and "Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co".

1,069 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the cases of "Miller et al. v. Schoene" (1928) and "Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co" (1970), which both touch upon similar issues in law and economics related to property and liability. The paper argues, in comparing and contrasting the rulings in the two cases, that in evaluating real world circumstances and cases the law does not reflect pure economic analysis of these questions. It suggests that the law has tended to treat negative externalities by a liability rule as opposed to a property rule.

From the Paper:

"In this analysis, we can see that the court in the case of Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co. generally followed the trend of courts and has "been reluctant to go beyond the requirement that damages be paid". In this regard, the court was restricting itself to issues of liability and not delving into the more complex economic issues in judging the costs of air pollution against damages to the community. Indeed, as Ronald Coase observes, purely economic considerations and analyses of cases before courts often does not impact court rulings: "it has to be remembered that the immediate question faced by the courts is not what shall be done by whom but who has the legal right to do what". As another critic notes, the issues of cost interdependence in ruling between property owners in such cases is often "a technical-economic interdependence not a legal one"."

Sample of Sources Used:

Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co. (1970).
Buchanan, James and Faith, Roger. "Entrepreneurship and the Internalization of Externalities." in Course Reader: Economic Analysis of Law. Ed. Janet Landa. Toronto: York University, 2002.
Coase, Ronald. "The Problem of Social Cost." in Course Reader: Economic Analysis of Law. Ed. Janet Landa. Toronto: York University, 2002.
Demsetz, Harold. "When Does the Rule of Liability Matter?" in Course Reader: Economic Analysis of Law. Ed. Janet Landa. Toronto: York University, 2002.
Miller et a. v. Schoene. (1928)