Category Archives: Causation
Jane Stapleton, ‘An “Extended But-For” Test for the Causal Relation in the Law of Obligations’
Abstract: This article explores the question of what character relations must have before the orthodox law of obligations will describe them as ‘causal’ relations. The article does not purport to identify the metaphysical nature of ‘causation’. Instead it provides a non-reductive account of what is essential before the law has described the relation between a […]
Keith Hylton, ‘Information and Causation in Tort Law: Generalizing the Learned Hand Test for Causation Cases’
Abstract: This paper discusses the economics of causation in tort law, describing precise implications for precautionary incentives when courts are and are not perfectly informed. With precautionary incentives identified, we can ask whether the causation inquiry enhances welfare, and if so under what conditions. Perhaps the most important innovation applies to the Hand Formula. When […]
Hylton, Lin and Chu, ‘Negligence and two-sided causation’
Abstract: We extend the economic analysis of negligence and intervening causation to ‘two-sided causation’ scenarios. In the two-sided causation scenario the effectiveness of the injurer’s care depends on some intervention, and the risk of harm generated by the injurer’s failure to take care depends on some other intervention. We find that the distortion from socially […]
Richard Wright, ‘The New Old Efficiency Theories of Causation and Liability’
Abstract: For the last forty years, efficiency theorists have attempted to demonstrate that tort liability in general and negligence liability in particular can best/only be explained by the hypothesis that judges are trying to maximize aggregate social welfare. Thirty years ago I published a pair of articles criticizing these attempts, noting especially the efficiency theorists’ […]
Just Published: Sandy Steel, Proof of Causation in Tort Law
“Causation is a foundational concept in tort law: in claims for compensation, a claimant must demonstrate that the defendant was a cause of the injury suffered in order for compensation to be awarded. Proof of Causation in Tort Law provides a critical, comparative and theoretical analysis of the general proof rules of causation underlying the […]
Sandy Steel, ‘Justifying Exceptions to Proof of Causation in Tort Law’
Abstract: This article defends a set of exceptions to the general rule in tort law that a claimant must prove that a particular defendant’s wrongful conduct was a cause of its injury on the balance of probabilities in order to be entitled to compensatory damages in respect of that injury. The basic rationale for each […]
‘Causation and Care in Tort Law’
“Causation is a topic that has generated a lot of interest from torts theorists. Law and economics has been a bit late to the party, but at least they have brought some interesting findings with them. The innovation offered by law and economics is a set of predictions about the incentive effects of causation rules. […]
Keith Hylton, ‘Information and Causation in Tort Law: Generalizing the Learned Hand Test for Causation Cases’
Abstract: This paper discusses the economics of causation in tort law, describing precise implications for precautionary incentives when courts are and are not perfectly informed. With precautionary incentives identified, we can ask whether the causation inquiry enhances welfare, and if so under what conditions. Perhaps the most important innovation applies to the Hand Formula. When […]
Ernest Weinrib, ‘Causal Uncertainty’
Abstract: This article examines, from the standpoint of corrective justice, three basic situations of causal uncertainty in the law of negligence. In the first situation the uncertainty is about which of the possible defendants wrongfully caused the injury. In the second situation the uncertainty is whether the injury resulted from the innocent or the wrongful […]
Dehez and Ferey, ‘Multiple Causation, Apportionment and the Shapley Value’
Abstract: Multiple causation is one of the most intricate issues in contemporary tort law. Sharing a loss suffered by a victim among multiple tortfeasors is indeed difficult and Courts do not always follow clear and consistent principles. Here, we argue that the axiomatic approach provided by the theory of cooperative games can be used to […]