Calabresi, "law and economics" and the Coase theorem

In this paper, we show that, in 1961 and before he had read "The Problem of Social Cost", Calabresi reached exactly the same conclusions as the one reached by Coase and summarized by Stigler as the "Coase theorem" but he believed that this result was valid only in the theoretical world of the economists. We also analyze how Calabresi's thought evolved, in particular including transaction costs in his reasoning, but nonetheless remained faithful to his conclusions about the practical validity of the Coase theorem. Calabresi's conclusions remained ignored by economists and by most of legal scholars until the early 1970s. It was only when scholars started to emphasize the unrealistic assumptions upon which rest the Coase theorem that they also started to pay attention to Calabresi. His works were quoted and essentially used to emphasize the limits of the Coase theorem. Calabresi and Coase were then put on the same footing; the works of the former presented as more complete and more practical than the works of the later.Calabresi, economic analysis of law, Coase theorem, invariance, problem of social cost.

Property Rules and Liability Rules, Once Again

Calabresi and Melamed published the seminal article on property rules and liability rules in 1972. In recent years new articles presenting rigorous analyses of bargaining incentives have overturned some of the fundamental claims of the Calabresi-Melamed analysis. In particular, the proposition that property rules are socially preferable to liability rules when transaction costs are low appears to be either no longer valid or severely weakened under the new analyses. This paper reexamines the property rule versus liability rule question in light of the contributions of the recent bargaining theory literature. In contrast to this literature, I find that the fundamental propositions of Calabresi-Melamed remain valid, and I extend the framework to provide a more detailed positive economic theory of common law rules. The key contribution of this paper is pointing out the importance of subjective valuations in the analysis of property and liability rules. This allows for a synthesis of Calabresi-Melamed and the bargaining theory literature within an expanded framework

Civil Recourse Defended: A Reply to Posner, Calabresi, Rustad, Chamallas, and Robinette

As part of a symposium issue of the Indiana Law Journal devoted to our Civil Recourse Theory of Tort Law, we respond to criticisms by Judge Calabresi, Judge Posner, and Professors Chamallas, Robinette, and Rustad. Calabresi and Posner criticize Civil Recourse Theory as a bit of glib moralism that fails to generate useful answers to the difficult questions that courts face when applying Tort Law. We show with several examples, both old and new, that the glibness is all on their side. From duty to causation to punitive damages, from products liability to fraud to privacy, our scholarship has had a great deal to say on pressing questions in tort. Posner and Calabresi seem to assume that, because our work engages rather than deconstructs concepts such as \u27duty\u27, it cannot address the ‘practical’ issues raised by tort cases. They have things exactly backwards. Civil Recourse Theory engages Tort Law’s concepts precisely in order to address those issues; that is, to a great extent, the point of the enterprise. In a similar vein, Professors Chamallas, Rustad, and Robinette allege that Civil Recourse Theory is blind to various ‘realities\u27; including that Tort Law’s value resides in part in its furtherance of certain policies, that it sometimes operates as an agent of injustice, and that it departs in practice from theory. Of course we have never denied any of these obvious truths. Rather, we have argued that, if Tort Law’s instrumental value is to be appreciated and enhanced, its content as a body of common law cannot be treated in a facile manner. If its discriminatory impact is to be grasped and eliminated, the particular way in which it empowers injury victims must be made clear. If the behavior of legal actors in the shadow of the law is be understood and evaluated, the structure and content of Tort Law’s rules must be rendered more transparent

Solar Rights and Restrictive Covenants: A Microeconomic Analysis

This comment addresses the enforceability of restrictive covenants in relation to solar energy rights. Articulating the framework for development of solar energy, this comment works through an economic model formulated by Professors Ellickson, Coase, Calabresi, and Malemed. Looking for an efficient allocation of resources, this comment proposes a modernization of common law property principles to ensure the proper growth of solar energy

Essay: Developing Appropriate Standards for Achieving Diversity in Faculty Appointments

I am writing today to talk about diversity within law school faculties. And when I say “diversity,” I mean all sorts of diversities, not just the ones that most of those who address the issue tend to focus on. I have, for many years, been thinking about the different types of diversities that seem crucial to a law school, and the appropriate ways of achieving them. Part I lists the categories of diversity that I think are important to considering diversity within law school faculties. It then indicates a problem that inheres with this list. Part II suggests how different schools may view the appropriateness of achieving some of these diversities. And finally, in Part III, I will come to the main thesis of this piece and propose how schools can achieve the diversities they deem desirable

Does the Fault System Optimally Control Primary Accident Costs?

Energy supply in Sweden year 2011 amounted to 577 TWh. The final energy consumption for industrial, residential and service was 379 TWh. Sweden has energy policy goals to reduce energy use in buildings. One of these goals is to reduce the energy use by 20 % in 2020 compared to the year 1995. An important step to achieve this goal is to target energy efficiency measures in existing buildings. There are also financial incentives to implement energy efficiency measures due to the fact that the cost of energy represents 30-40% of a buildings maintenance costs. In general, up to 20 % of the energy consumption can be reduced without major reconstruction. In this master thesis project presented here, an energy audit was performed and energy efficiency measures was proposed for an existing building located at Järfälla, Stockholm. The property belongs to SAAB - Defence and Security. They have an internal target to reduce energy use in their buildings with 50 % by 2015 compared to 2009. The work of this master thesis project was limited to a building locally termed hus A. This part of the property is the oldest and was built in 1968, but has expanded gradually to the year 1977. Hus A contains of offices, a production hall, laboratories and storage areas. The energy audit showed that the electricity use is far greater in hus A, compared to the an average office and administration building. This is mainly due to production processes. A breakdown of the highest electricity consumers are: Industrial processes – 61.9 kWh/m2/year Lighting – 35.7 kWh/m2/year Fans – 33.2 kWh/m2/year Refrigeration – 21.8 kWh/m2/year Compressed air – 18.9 kWh/m2/year Computer units – 7.8 kWh/m2/year Frequency converters – 4.4 kWh/m2/year Waste heat from industrial processes, primarily from the production hall leads to high cooling demand to maintain good thermal comfort. Limitations in operation control of the buildings HVAC (Heating, Cooling and Air-conditioning) systems causes high heating and cooling demand and hence the buildings thermal mass is not properly utilized. Energy saving measures was mainly focused on increasing the controlling capability of HVAC systems. By implementing the energy efficiency measures presented in this master thesis report, building thermal mass will be more efficiently utilized. In addition, end use of electricity, heat and cooling will be reduced. In total, seven energy-saving measures proposed.  One measure is implemented to prevent heating and cooling at the same time. A brief description of the energy efficiency measures and the expected result is found below. Adjust set point for TAFA301 Energy saving: 94.0 MWh/yearPayback time: 0 year Establish time schedule for compressed air systemEnergy saving: 110.8 MWh/yearPayback time: 2.5 months Demand controlled temperature set point to heating systemEnergy saving: 167.0 MWh/yearPayback time: 3.5 months Demand control of airflow in the production hallEnergy saving: 155,5 MWh/yearPayback time: 2 years and 10 months Establish time schedule for frequency invertersEnergy saving: 104.0 MWh/yearPayback time: 3 years and 2 months Radiator thermostats to the first part of the production hall Energy saving: 6.5 MWh/yearPayback time: 5 years and 2 months Demand control of airflow in conference roomsEnergy saving: 11.0 MWh/yearPayback time: 12 years and 2 month

Is Local Consumer Protection Law a Better Retributive Mechanism than the Tax System

As Judge Calabresi has argued, preemption decisions are, at their core, a choice about which tier of government should have policy-making authority. In prior work, Mark Seidenfeld and I argued that the choice of whether or not to preempt state law decisions should be based explicitly on fiscal federalism considerations. The economic discipline of fiscal federalism attempts to measure the welfare effects of situating a given policy either locally, nationally, or somewhere in between