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The Economic Analysis of Tort Law Abstract In the presented thesis I discuss the economic analysis of tort law. The economic analysis of law can be described as the application of economic theory - primarily microeconomics and the basic concepts of welfare economics - to examine the formation, structure, processes, and economic impact of law and legal institutions. The economic analysis of tort law can help understand the impact of tort liability on individuals' behavior, why some areas of human activity are governed by negligence or strict liability, or why, in some cases, the amout of damages is limited. First two chapters describe the economic approach to law as such, they serve as an introduction into this field of study and present the most important methodological approaches. In the first chapter, I also discuss the basic tendencies that have shaped the economic analysis of law throughout its development. Second chapter then discusses some of the fundamental concepts of the economic analysis of law, namely the assumption of rational action, the concept of transaction costs, the efficiency criterion, the importance of the Coase theorem, and the distinction between property rules and liability rules. Following the examination of the concept of economic efficiency, an alternative approach based on the... |