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Deterrence

Michigan Law Review

Torts

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Full-Text Articles in Law

A Financial Economic Theory Of Punitive Damages, Robert J. Rhee Oct 2012

A Financial Economic Theory Of Punitive Damages, Robert J. Rhee

Michigan Law Review

This Article provides a financial economic theory of punitive damages. The core problem, as the Supreme Court acknowledged in Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, is not the systemic amount of punitive damages in the tort system; rather it is the risk of outlier outcomes. Low frequency, high severity awards are unpredictable, cause financial distress, and beget social cost. By focusing only on offsetting escaped liability, the standard law and economics theory fails to account for the core problem of variance. This Article provides a risk arbitrage analysis of the relationship between variance, litigation valuation, and optimal deterrence. Starting with settlement …


Road Signs And The Goals Of Justice, Joseph Sanders May 1987

Road Signs And The Goals Of Justice, Joseph Sanders

Michigan Law Review

Review of Ideals, Beliefs, Attitudes, and the Law: Private Law Perspectives on a Public Law Problem by Guido Calabresi