1. Introduction 1
PART Ⅰ ECONOMIC CONCEPTS 11
2. Property Rights 11
Introduction 11
Private Property and Efficiency 12
Testing the Theory 15
Summary 25
3. The Coase Theorem 27
Conflicting Uses of Property 27
The Assumptions Underlying the Coase Theorem 32
Summary 39
4. Economic Efficiency 41
Pareto Optimality 41
The Efficiency Version of the Coase Theorem 45
Economic Profits and Producers’ Surplus 46
Consumers’ Surplus 49
The Kaldor-Hicks Criterion 57
Distributional Considerations 62
PART Ⅱ LAW 67
5. Entitlements and their Defence 67
6. Property 79
Nuisance 79
Public Regulation of Land Use 88
Compulsory Purchase and Eminent Domain 113
7. Tort 129
Strict Liability and Negligence 133
Contributory and Comparative Negligence 138
Risk-aversion and Insurance 143
The Economic Formulation of Negligence and the Courts 147
Liability in a Market Setting 150
8. Contract 155
Optimal Promises 157
Optimal Breach 160
Specific Performance 167
Standard-form Contracts 173
Neo-institutionalism 184
9. The Efficiency of the Common Law 194
References 210
Index 218