Document Type

Article

Publication Title

William and Mary Law Review

Abstract

Despite the expenditure of considerable effort, scholars have been unable to develop tort rules to govern serious physical injuries to strangers that satisfy the Pareto criterion without resorting to theoretical devices that appear unrealistic even in the rarefied atmosphere of economic models. An analysis of single activity accidents demonstrates that expanding the economic model of accident law to reflect the reciprocal nature of the risks that the participants in such activities impose on each other enables the design of tort rules for the resulting physical injuries that satisfy the Pareto criterion without resort to unrealistic theoretical devices. Because most tortious accidents result from bilateral risks, the present analysis indicates the need for a fundamental revision of the basic economic model of accident law.

First Page

41

Volume

32

Publication Date

1990

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