A Law and Economics Perspective on Judicial Risk Regulation

Abstract

This special issue provides several perspectives on the potential and limits of judicial risk regulation as a mechanism to redress actual and perceived regulatory failures. Central to this inquiry is the legitimacy of the court system to act as a risk regulator, specifically as compared to governmental actors. This Article focuses on the question of institutional competency of juridical risk regulators from a law and economics (‘L&E’) perspective. L&E scholarship will be used to help to understand the relative strengths and weaknesses of courts of risk regulators and helps us decide when court may act as substitute risk regulators or when they are better positioned as complements.

Keywords: Risk Regulation, Courts, Law and Economics, Legitimacy

JEL Classification: K10, K41