This is an expanded second edition of Nicholas Mercuro and Steven
Medema's influential book Economics and the Law, whose publication in
1998 marked the most comprehensive overview of the various schools of
thought in the burgeoning field of Law and Economics. Each of these
competing yet complementary traditions has both redefined the study of
law and exposed the key economic implications of the legal environment.
The book remains true to the scope and aims of the first edition, but
also takes account of the field's evolution.
At the book's core is an expanded discussion of the Chicago school,
Public Choice Theory, Institutional Law and Economics, and New
Institutional Economics. A new chapter explores the Law and Economics
literature on social norms, today an integral part of each of the
schools of thought. The chapter on the New Haven and Modern Civic
Republican approaches has likewise been expanded. These chapters are
complemented by a discussion of the Austrian school of Law and
Economics. Each chapter now includes an "At Work" section presenting
applications of that particular school of thought.
By providing readers with a concise, noncritical description of the
broad contours of each school, this book illuminates the fundamental
insights of a field with important implications not only for economics
and the law, but also for political science, philosophy, public
administration, and sociology.