Legal Precedent: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis / William M. Landes, Richard A. Posner.

By:

Landes, William M

Contributor(s):

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) ; no. w0146.Publication details: Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1976.Description: 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white)Online resources:

Available additional physical forms:

Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers

Abstract: The use of precedents to create rules of legal obligation has, to our knowledge, received little theoretical or empirical analysis. This paper presents and tests empirically an economic approach to legal precedent that is derived mainly from the analysis of capital formation and investment. We treat the body of legal precedents created by judicial decisions in prior periods as a capital stock that yields a flow of information services which depreciates over time as new conditions arise that were not foreseen by the framers of the existing precedents. New (and replacement) capital is created by investment in the production of precedents.

Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.

Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)

Holdings
Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Working Paper	Biblioteca Digital	Colección NBER	nber w0146 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Not For Loan

Total holds: 0

Collection: Colección NBER Close shelf browser (Hides shelf browser)

Previous	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	No cover image available	Next
Previous	nber w0143 The Distribution of Earnings Profiles in Longitudinal Data /	nber w0144 Optimal Income Redistribution When Individual Welfare Depends Upon Relative Income /	nber w0145 Intergenerational Externalities /	nber w0146 Legal Precedent: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis /	nber w0147 Factors Affecting Divorce: A Study of the Terman Sample /	nber w0148 Who is the Family's Main Breadwinner? The Wife's Contribution to Full Income /	nber w0149 Age, Education and Occupational Earnings Inequality /	Next

August 1976.

The use of precedents to create rules of legal obligation has, to our knowledge, received little theoretical or empirical analysis. This paper presents and tests empirically an economic approach to legal precedent that is derived mainly from the analysis of capital formation and investment. We treat the body of legal precedents created by judicial decisions in prior periods as a capital stock that yields a flow of information services which depreciates over time as new conditions arise that were not foreseen by the framers of the existing precedents. New (and replacement) capital is created by investment in the production of precedents.