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| | The Coase "Theorem" |
 | | Nobel laureate Ronald Coase is Professor Emeritus of Law and Economics at the University of Chicago. |
 | | He is interested in the "efficiency" of tort rules, i.e., in the rules' tendency to bring about an "efficient" outcome, defined as one in which the net sum of social wealth (a proxy for social happiness, but more easily measured) is maximized. |
 | | Recognizing that safety has costs, Coase and his followers think of an efficient rule as one that minimizes the sum of accident costs and prevention costs, because such a rule will, given other assumptions, subtract the least from social wealth. |
| law.gsu.edu /wedmundson/Syllabi/Coase.htm (861 words) |
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