Making the Other Path Efficient: Economic Analysis and Tort Law in Less Developed Countries

Bussani, Mauro; Mattei, Ugo

Making the Other Path Efficient: Economic Analysis and Tort Law in Less Developed Countries

E. Buscaglia, W. Ratcliff and R. Cooter (eds.), The Law and Economics of Development, Jai Press, Greenwich, Ct.-London, 1997, pp. 149-180

38 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2013 Last revised: 11 Jan 2022

See all articles by Mauro Bussani

Ugo Mattei

UC Law, San Francisco

Date Written: January 1, 1997

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to advance our understanding of whether and to what extent Law & Economics has a future in addressing, both from a positive and from a normative point of view, legal systems which are outside the Western legal tradition. The analysis proceeds in the following way: Part One focuses on general issues of Comparative Law & Economics. We try to explain from an economic perspective what characteristics make Western law homogeneous in order to have a clear picture of which legal systems we are considering. Part Two discusses some of the assumptions of Law & Economics which may limit the possibility of a successful transplantation of this method outside the West. Part Three takes environmental tort law in several African and Latin American countries as an application of Law & Economics outside of the Western legal tradition. Part Four offers some general conclusions regarding the application of Law & Economics to legal analysis of so-called less developed countries.

Keywords: Law and Development, Comparative Law, Environmental Tort Law

JEL Classification: K10

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Bussani, Mauro and Mattei, Ugo A., Making the Other Path Efficient: Economic Analysis and Tort Law in Less Developed Countries (January 1, 1997). E. Buscaglia, W. Ratcliff and R. Cooter (eds.), The Law and Economics of Development, Jai Press, Greenwich, Ct.-London, 1997, pp. 149-180, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2199341