Critiques of Law and Economics
20 Pages Posted: 4 Mar 2015
Date Written: March 2, 2015
Abstract
This chapter summarizes leading critiques of law and economics. For the most part, we put aside objections to particular applications of law and economics to distinct fields of law. We focus on rather general criticisms that properly apply to widely shared core commitments within the field of law and economics. We have grouped these critiques into three categories. We first address concerns about the normative value of economic efficiency as a leading goal for law. We next address methodological criticisms, which often call into question the coherence of the allocative efficiency concept. Finally, we discuss the criticisms of law and microeconomics from the perspective of rhetoric and interpretation theory.
Keywords: Law and economics, efficiency, economic methodology, cost and benefit, Kaldo-Hicks, wealth maximization, norms
JEL Classification: A1, A10, A11, A12, A13, A14, A19, K, K10, K19
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