Property and Legal Institutions
Introductory
Bargaining Surplus
The joint gain available when parties can move from a lower-valued allocation to a higher-valued allocation through agreement.
Why It Matters
Bargaining surplus explains why legal rules matter for exchange, settlement, contract modification, corporate transactions, and the allocation of control rights.
Selected Literature
A short list of directly relevant archive entries.
1960
Introductory
1972
Intermediate
Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Inalienability: One View of the Cathedral
Guido Calabresi and A. Douglas Melamed
Harvard Law Review
2016
Advanced
2019
Advanced
Related Cases
1879
Foundations of Law and Economics
Sturges v. Bridgman
11 Ch. D. 852 (1879)
Nuisance, coming to the nuisance, and reciprocal conflicts over incompatible land uses.
1996
Corporate Law
In re Caremark International Inc. Derivative Litigation
698 A.2d 959 (Del. Ch. 1996)
Director oversight duties, compliance systems, and board liability for failure to monitor legal risk.