Foundations of Law and Economics
Introductory
Accident Costs
The combined costs associated with accidents, including accident losses, prevention expenditures, administrative costs, risk-bearing costs, and the institutional costs of allocating losses.
Why It Matters
Accident-cost analysis turns tort law into a comparative institutional problem: legal rules can be evaluated by how they reduce harms, allocate risk, preserve incentives, and administer compensation.
Selected Literature
A short list of directly relevant archive entries.
1961
Intermediate
1970
Advanced
2004
Advanced
2019
Advanced
Related Cases
1947
Foundations of Law and Economics
United States v. Carroll Towing Co.
159 F.2d 169 (2d Cir. 1947)
Negligence, precaution costs, accident probability, and expected loss.
1970
Foundations of Law and Economics
Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co.
26 N.Y.2d 219, 257 N.E.2d 870 (1970)
Permanent damages, injunctions, and the choice between property-rule and liability-rule protection.
1707
Foundations of Law and Economics
Keeble v. Hickeringill
11 East 574, 103 Eng. Rep. 1127 (K.B. 1707)
Property protection, malicious interference, and incentives to make productive use of land.
1805
Foundations of Law and Economics
Pierson v. Post
3 Cai. R. 175 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1805)
First possession, capture rules, and the administrability of property rights in wild animals.