Law and Market Economy: Reinterpreting the Values of Law and Economics / Edition 1

by Robin Paul Malloy

Overview

This integrated study of law, economics and Peircian semiotics re-examines the relationship between law and market theory, and introduces the idea of law and market economy. Overcoming the traditional dichotomy between efficiency and justice, Malloy focuses on the relationship between creativity and sustainable wealth formation. He shows how creativity and sustainable wealth formation have more to do with an ethic of social responsibility than with a concern for economic efficiency. In presenting his case, Malloy uses numerous examples as he reinterprets classic problems related to rational choice, the Coase Theorem, public choice, efficient breach, social contract theory, and wealth maximization, among others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521787314
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/10/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	190
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.51(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. A general framework; A basic introduction to semiotics; A brief overview of the general argument; 3. Law and market economy: further clarification; Market as community; Market as a process of semiotic signification; 4. Wealth as a process of discovery (wealth, discovery, and imaginative choice); Coase's theorem; Public choice; 5. Social organization and the discovery process; The relationship between social organization and proactive wealth formation; An ethic of social responsibility for law and market economy; Outlining an ethic of social responsibility (humility, diversity, reciprocity); The ethic of social responsibility and wealth: some supportive evidence; 6. Implications of law and market economy; Efficiency does not maximize wealth; An extensive distribution promotes wealth; Rhetorical strategies have consequence; 7. Conclusions.

Editorial Reviews

"Malloy develops a semiotic interpretation of work in law and economics that links exchange and creativity to ethical values. The result is a powerful new perspective on law and markets that brings to mind work from Hayek to Hurst. This book is an exceptionally important contribution to contemporary scholarship on the nature of law." John Brigham, University of Massachusetts

"In bringing the language and concerns of ethics, moral theory, and social responsibility back into the discipline of market theory and law, this book is timely and significant, and should be read by anyone who cares about more just and inclusive alternatives to present forms of social organization." Sharon Hom, City University of New York

"Providing the reader with a rich menu of humanistic values, economic analysis, and interpretation theory, this work will enliven debate and open new avenues of inquiry in an academic field on the verge of becoming arid by its current confining focus." Denis Brion, Washington and Lee University

From the Publisher