Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
We introduce altruism into standard models of bargaining and explore its implications for the Coase Theorem. A strict interpretation of the Coase Theorem holds in the presence of pure altruism, but it fails when agents have impure altruism. Both pure and impure altruism also generally prevent private bargaining from achieving an efficient allocation of property rights.

Gilbert, Michael and Hayashi, Andrew T, Altruism and Coasean Bargaining (April 23, 2025), Virginia Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper No 2025-33; Virginia Law and Economics Research Paper No 2025-08.