Kirjahaku

Economic analysis of law is an interesting and challenging attempt to employ the concepts and reasoning methods of modern economic theory so as to gain a deeper understanding of legal problems. According to Richard A. Posner it is the role of the law to encourage market competition and, where the market fails because transaction costs are too high, to simulate the result of competitive markets. This would maximize economic efficiency and social wealth. In this work, the lawyer and economist Klaus Mathis critically appraises Posner’s normative justification of the efficiency paradigm from the perspective of the philosophy of law. Posner acknowledges the influences of Adam Smith and Jeremy Bentham, whom he views as the founders of normative economics. He subscribes to Smith’s faith in the market as an ideal allocation model, and to Bentham’s ethical consequentialism. Finally, aligning himself with John Rawls’s contract theory, he seeks to legitimize his concept of wealth maximization with a consensus theory approach. In his interdisciplinary study, the author points out the possibilities as well as the limits of economic analysis of law. It provides a method of analysing the law which, while very helpful, is also rather specific. The efficiency arguments therefore need to be incorporated into a process for resolving value conflicts. In a democracy this must take place within the political decision-making process. In this clearly written work, Klaus Mathis succeeds in making even non-economists more aware of the economic aspects of the law.

Eine Entwicklung ist nachhaltig, wenn sie den Bedürfnissen der heutigen Generationen entspricht, ohne dass sie die Möglichkeit der zukünftigen Generationen, ihre Bedürfnisse zu befriedigen, gefährdet. Klaus Mathis verfolgt einen interdisziplinären Ansatz und leuchtet die Thematik der nachhaltigen Entwicklung und Generationengerechtigkeit aus rechtlicher, ökonomischer und philosophischer Sicht aus. Angesichts der globalen Tragweite des Themas wird dabei nicht nur die schweizerische, sondern auch die internationale Debatte abgebildet. Die Publikation richtet sich deshalb an ein breites Publikum aus verschiedenen Disziplinen im gesamten deutschsprachigen Raum. Dabei sind aus rechtsvergleichender Perspektive insbesondere die mannigfaltige rechtliche Verankerung der nachhaltigen Entwicklung in der schweizerischen Bundesverfassung und ihre Umsetzung in der Gesetzgebung und Rechtsanwendung von Bedeutung.

Economic analysis of law is an interesting and challenging attempt to employ the concepts and reasoning methods of modern economic theory so as to gain a deeper understanding of legal problems. According to Richard A. Posner it is the role of the law to encourage market competition and, where the market fails because transaction costs are too high, to simulate the result of competitive markets. This would maximize economic efficiency and social wealth. In this work, the lawyer and economist Klaus Mathis critically appraises Posner’s normative justification of the efficiency paradigm from the perspective of the philosophy of law. Posner acknowledges the influences of Adam Smith and Jeremy Bentham, whom he views as the founders of normative economics. He subscribes to Smith’s faith in the market as an ideal allocation model, and to Bentham’s ethical consequentialism. Finally, aligning himself with John Rawls’s contract theory, he seeks to legitimize his concept of wealth maximization with a consensus theory approach. In his interdisciplinary study, the author points out the possibilities as well as the limits of economic analysis of law. It provides a method of analysing the law which, while very helpful, is also rather specific. The efficiency arguments therefore need to be incorporated into a process for resolving value conflicts. In a democracy this must take place within the political decision-making process. In this clearly written work, Klaus Mathis succeeds in making even non-economists more aware of the economic aspects of the law.