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The Economics of Law: Economic Imperialism in Negligence Law, No‐Fault Insurance, Occupational Licensing and Criminology?
Author(s) -
Swan Peter L.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
australian economic review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.308
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 1467-8462
pISSN - 0004-9018
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8462.1984.tb00460.x
Subject(s) - deterrence (psychology) , commission , law , deterrence theory , compensation (psychology) , economics , economic analysis , contributory negligence , actuarial science , political science , business , tort , liability , psychology , agricultural economics , psychoanalysis
The aim is to examine the contribution which economic and quantitative analysis can make to a better understanding of the law. I concentrate on the common law action of negligence and how it is related to the optimal deterrence of accidents, rather than to the compensation of all accident victims. A critique is made of the New South Wales Law Reform Commission's proposal to prohibit negligence actions for motor vehicle accidents and to introduce a compulsory ‘no‐fault’ scheme. An econometric analysis of new Zealand and Australian ‘no‐fault’ schemes finds that the negligence system appears to have some deterrent effect on motor vehicle accidents.