Foundations of Law and Economics
Introductory
Social Cost
The total cost of an activity or institutional arrangement, including private costs, external harms, administrative costs, error costs, and the costs of avoiding or resolving conflicts.
Why It Matters
Social-cost analysis shifts legal reasoning from identifying a single wrongdoer to comparing institutional arrangements for reducing the combined costs of harm, prevention, enforcement, and adjudication.
Selected Literature
A short list of directly relevant archive entries.
1960
Introductory
1970
Advanced
2004
Advanced
2016
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.
1972
Foundations of Law and Economics
Spur Industries, Inc. v. Del E. Webb Development Co.
108 Ariz. 178, 494 P.2d 700 (1972)
Coming to the nuisance, injunctions, and indemnity for relocating incompatible land uses.
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.