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The Specific Consumer Expectations Test For Product Defects, W. Kip Viscusi, Clayton J. Masterman
The Specific Consumer Expectations Test For Product Defects, W. Kip Viscusi, Clayton J. Masterman
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
The consumer expectations test in products liability law holds firms liable for producing goods that are more dangerous than the reasonable consumer would anticipate. But judicial experience in the majority of states that have utilized the consumer expectations test demonstrates that it is ambiguous and impossible to apply predictably. The test is ill-suited for regulating complex products or markets with heterogeneous consumers; moreover, the test requires courts to expend significant resources to identify consumers' ex ante beliefs about product risks, even when consumers lacked tangible beliefs about products at the time of purchase. The other major test that courts apply …
The Governmental Composition Of The Insurance Costs Of Smoking, W. Kip Viscusi
The Governmental Composition Of The Insurance Costs Of Smoking, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
The estimated health risks from smoking have significant external financial consequences for society. Studies at the national level indicate that cigarettes are selffinancing since external costs such as those due to illnesses are offset by cost savings associated with premature death, chiefly pension costs. This paper extends this analysis to all 50 states and considers the costs considered in the state attorneys general suits against the cigarette industry. Cigarettes are always self-financing from the standpoint of costs to each state. The extent of the cost savings is less than at the federal level. However, smokers' higher medical costs are outweighed …
Why There Is No Defense Of Punitive Damages, W. Kip Viscusi
Why There Is No Defense Of Punitive Damages, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
This paper is a response to the comments by David Luban and Theodore Eisenberg on my article on punitive damages to be published in the Georgetown Law Journal (1998) and entitled "The Social Costs of Punitive Damages against Corporations in Environmental and Safety Tort." Neither of these authors presents any evidence indicating that there is a determent effect of punitive damages. They suggest, however, that there could be retribution objectives or other rationales for punitive damages. In addition, they claim that punitive damages are predictable and that cognitive biases may not tilt juries against corporations. This paper reviews these diverse …
From Cash Crop To Cash Cow, W. Kip Viscusi
From Cash Crop To Cash Cow, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
The 1990s have witnessed a blizzard of antismoking efforts. Hillary Clinton and a variety of supporters of the Clinton health care plan urged dramatically higher cigarette taxes to pay for expanded health insurance efforts. And many state and local governments have imposed smoking restrictions or have undertaken antismoking ad campaigns. Those antismoking efforts recently culminated with a pro posed $368.5 billion settlement to address many liability and regulatory issues. The focal point of the bargain was the settlement of a series of lawsuits filed by the states against cigarette companies to recoup smoking-related Medicaid costs. Several state attorney generals composed …
The Dimensions Of The Product Liability Crisis, W. Kip Viscusi
The Dimensions Of The Product Liability Crisis, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
Examination of a variety of sources of statistics indicates that the product liability crisis is real, and it is not simply imagined or contrived by the insurance industry. Litigation in the product liability area has escalated dramatically, but to some extent the industry was able to mute the effect of this escalation because of the influence of rising interest rates in the early 1980s as well as because the shrinking market for product liability insurance masked much of the explosion that was occurring in terms of the costs of product liability coverage. The dominant pattern in the early 1980s was …
The Performance Of Liability Insurance In States With Different Products-Liability Statutes, W. Kip Viscusi
The Performance Of Liability Insurance In States With Different Products-Liability Statutes, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
The liability crisis of the mid-1980s has led to an extensive reexamination of the liability system. A number of explanations have been offered for the substantial increase in insurance premiums and, in some cases, a decline in the availability of insurance. These include stimulation of the underwriting cycle by a decline in interest rates, collusion among insurance firms, rising tort costs, and uncertainty with respect to the liability burden.' Most observers, however, also point to changes in tort law itself. For example, plaintiffs may now have a more favorable environment for obtaining an award and, if they are successful, they …
Wading Through The Muddle Of Risk-Utility Analysis, W. Kip Viscusi
Wading Through The Muddle Of Risk-Utility Analysis, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
The original emphasis of risk-utility analysis on the need for balanced decisions with respect to product liability is a correct and fundamental principle. Moreover, many traditional factors that have been considered are legitimate, but they did not provide a framework for comprehensive and consistent risk-utility judgments. The development in this Article of a series of economic formulations of the risk-utility test is intended to establish a sounder basis for a products liability defect doctrine.
The Determinants Of The Disposition Of Product Liability Claims And Compensation For Bodily Injury, W. Kip Viscusi
The Determinants Of The Disposition Of Product Liability Claims And Compensation For Bodily Injury, W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
The frequency and severity of products liability lawsuits have become a matter of increasing importance and concern to the public at large and to American business in particular. The number of product liability cases filed each year escalated dramatically in the 1970s both in absolute terms and as a fraction of all civil cases.' The economic incentives for safety created by these product liability claims no longer are a minor concern but are now a fundamental influence on the economic environment of the firm. In recent years many larger firms have established corporate product safety offices to integrate these product …