Steven Shavell
Biographic Data
| ID | 1158844 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Steven Shavell |
| GIVEN NAMES | Steven |
| FAMILY NAME | Shavell |
| SIGNATURE | SHAVELL S |
| AFFILIATIONS | National Bureau of Economic Research |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8902-1128 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 99 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1975 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
On the Law of the Household
The basic principles that parents employ in disciplining their children in the household are described in the first part of this article. The description is based on a survey of parents, the major results of which are that parental disciplinary actions are premised on wrongdoing—not on the mere causation of harm; that parental sanctions are usually greater when wrongdoing results in harm than otherwise; that sanctions for intentionally harmful co…
On the Redesign of Accident Liability for the World of Autonomous Vehicles
This article proposes a scheme of liability that would desirably control accident risks in the coming world in which motor vehicles will be predominantly autonomous. In that world, the typical traveler will not be an active driver, which will render liability premised on driver fault largely irrelevant as a means of reducing vehicle accident dangers. Moreover, no other conventional principle of individual or of manufacturer liability would serve …
Law and Economics
Moral Rules, the Moral Sentiments, and Behavior
How should moral sanctions and moral rewards—the moral sentiments involving feelings of guilt and of virtue—be employed to govern individualsâ€TM behavior if the objective is to maximize social welfare? In the model that we examine, guilt is a disincentive to act and virtue is an incentive because we assume that they are negative and positive sources of utility. We also suppose that guilt and virtue are costly to inculcate and are subject to cert…
Any Non‐welfarist Method of Policy Assessment Violates the Pareto Principle
Fairness versus Welfare
Fairness versus Welfare
In Fairness versus Welfare, we advance the thesis that social policies should be assessed entirely on the basis of their effects on individuals’ well‐being. This thesis implies that no independent weight should be accorded to notions of fairness (other than many purely distributive notions). We support our thesis in three ways: by demonstrating how notions of fairness perversely reduce welfare, indeed, sometimes everyone’s well‐being; by revealin…
The Grounds of Welfare
In Fairness versus Welfare, Kaplow and Shavell argue that legal practice and calls for its reform ought to be assessed exclusively by their expected impact on welfare. In particular, they argue that insofar as considerations of fairness are not aspects of an individual's welfare, they have no place to play in the evaluation of the law. In this review essay, I show that this claim is not only inadequately defended in the book, but in fact indefens…
Fairness versus Welfare
Fairness versus Welfare
The thesis of this Article is that the assessment of legal policies should depend exclusively on their effects on individuals'welfare. In particular, in the evaluation of legal policies, no independent weight should be accorded to conceptions of fairness, such as corrective justice and desert in punishment. (However, the logic leading to this conclusion does not apply to concern about equity in the distribution of income, which is often discussed…
Any Non‐welfarist Method of Policy Assessment Violates the Pareto Principle
The public at large, many policymakers, and a number of economists hold views of social welfare that are non-welfarist. That is, they attach some importance to factors other than the effects of policies on individuals' utilities. We show, however, that any non-welfarist method of policy assessment violates the Pareto principle
The Economic Theory of Public Enforcement of Law
This article surveys the theory of the public enforcement of law—the use of public agents (inspectors, tax auditors, police, prosecutors) to detect and to sanction violators of legal rules. We first present the basic elements of the theory, focusing on the probability of imposition of sanctions, the magnitude and form of sanctions, and the rule of liability. We then examine a variety of extensions of the central theory, concerning accidental harm…
The conflict between notions of fairness and the Pareto principle
Most legal academics and policy makers believe that notions of fairness should be accorded positive weight in evaluating legal policies. We explain, however, that ascribing importance to any notion of fairness (other than one concerned solely with the distribution of income) will sometimes lead to a conflict with the Pareto principle. That is, to endorse a notion of fairness is to endorse the view that it can be desirable to adopt a legal rule th…
Rewards versus Intellectual Property Rights
Reconsidering Contractual Liability and the Incentive to Reveal Information
In an earlier work, we analyzed how the legal rules governing contractual liability affect the transfer of information between the parties to the contract. In particular, we showed how limitations on contractual liability might lead high valuation buyers to reveal their valuation of performance, and we identified the circumstances under which such limitations on liability are and are not socially desirable. In an article forthcoming in the Stanfo…
Optimal Law Enforcement with Self-Reporting of Behavior
Self-reporting -- the reporting by parties of their own behavior to an enforcement authority -- is a commonly observed aspect of law enforcement, as in the context of environmental and safety regulation. We add self-reporting to the model of the control of harmful externalities through probabilistic law enforcement. Optimal self-reporting schemes are characterized and are shown to offer two advantages over schemes without self-reporting: enforcem…
Specific versus General Enforcement of Law
Optimal enforcement of law is examined in a model with specific enforcement effort--effort devoted toward apprehending individuals who have committed a single type of harmful act--and general enforcement effort--effort devoted toward apprehending individuals who have committed any of a range of harmful acts (a police officer on patrol, for instance, is able to apprehend many types of violators of law). If enforcement effort is specific, optimal s…
Economic Analysis of Accident Law
Accident law is the body of legal rules governing the ability of victims of harm to sue and to collect payments from those who injured them.This paper contains the chapters on accident law from a general, forthcoming book, Foundations of Economic Analysis of Law (Harvard University Press, 2003).The analysis is first concerned (chapters 2-4) with the influence of liability rules on incentives to reduce accident risks.Then consideration of accident…
Contribution and Claim Reduction among Antitrust Defendants
The Optimal Payment of Unemployment Insurance Benefits over Time
Sharing Risks of Deferred Payment
The Air Pollution and Property Value Debate
Any Non‐welfarist Method of Policy Assessment Violates the Pareto Principle
The public at large, many policymakers, and a number of economists hold views of social welfare that are non-welfarist. That is, they attach some importance to factors other than the effects of policies on individuals' utilities. We show, however, that any non-welfarist method of policy assessment violates the Pareto principle
Economic Analysis of Accident Law
Accident law is the body of legal rules governing the ability of victims of harm to sue and to collect payments from those who injured them.This paper contains the chapters on accident law from a general, forthcoming book, Foundations of Economic Analysis of Law (Harvard University Press, 2003).The analysis is first concerned (chapters 2-4) with the influence of liability rules on incentives to reduce accident risks.Then consideration of accident…
The Optimal Payment of Unemployment Insurance Benefits over Time
Optimal Law Enforcement with Self-Reporting of Behavior
Self-reporting -- the reporting by parties of their own behavior to an enforcement authority -- is a commonly observed aspect of law enforcement, as in the context of environmental and safety regulation. We add self-reporting to the model of the control of harmful externalities through probabilistic law enforcement. Optimal self-reporting schemes are characterized and are shown to offer two advantages over schemes without self-reporting: enforcem…
Moral Rules, the Moral Sentiments, and Behavior
How should moral sanctions and moral rewards—the moral sentiments involving feelings of guilt and of virtue—be employed to govern individualsâ€TM behavior if the objective is to maximize social welfare? In the model that we examine, guilt is a disincentive to act and virtue is an incentive because we assume that they are negative and positive sources of utility. We also suppose that guilt and virtue are costly to inculcate and are subject to cert…
Specific versus General Enforcement of Law
Optimal enforcement of law is examined in a model with specific enforcement effort--effort devoted toward apprehending individuals who have committed a single type of harmful act--and general enforcement effort--effort devoted toward apprehending individuals who have committed any of a range of harmful acts (a police officer on patrol, for instance, is able to apprehend many types of violators of law). If enforcement effort is specific, optimal s…
The Grounds of Welfare
In Fairness versus Welfare, Kaplow and Shavell argue that legal practice and calls for its reform ought to be assessed exclusively by their expected impact on welfare. In particular, they argue that insofar as considerations of fairness are not aspects of an individual's welfare, they have no place to play in the evaluation of the law. In this review essay, I show that this claim is not only inadequately defended in the book, but in fact indefens…
Any Non‐welfarist Method of Policy Assessment Violates the Pareto Principle
Sharing Risks of Deferred Payment
The Air Pollution and Property Value Debate
Sharing Risks of Deferred Payment
The Optimal Payment of Unemployment Insurance Benefits over Time
Contribution and Claim Reduction among Antitrust Defendants
Economic Analysis of Accident Law
Accident law is the body of legal rules governing the ability of victims of harm to sue and to collect payments from those who injured them.This paper contains the chapters on accident law from a general, forthcoming book, Foundations of Economic Analysis of Law (Harvard University Press, 2003).The analysis is first concerned (chapters 2-4) with the influence of liability rules on incentives to reduce accident risks.Then consideration of accident…
Specific versus General Enforcement of Law
Optimal enforcement of law is examined in a model with specific enforcement effort--effort devoted toward apprehending individuals who have committed a single type of harmful act--and general enforcement effort--effort devoted toward apprehending individuals who have committed any of a range of harmful acts (a police officer on patrol, for instance, is able to apprehend many types of violators of law). If enforcement effort is specific, optimal s…
Optimal Law Enforcement with Self-Reporting of Behavior
Self-reporting -- the reporting by parties of their own behavior to an enforcement authority -- is a commonly observed aspect of law enforcement, as in the context of environmental and safety regulation. We add self-reporting to the model of the control of harmful externalities through probabilistic law enforcement. Optimal self-reporting schemes are characterized and are shown to offer two advantages over schemes without self-reporting: enforcem…
The conflict between notions of fairness and the Pareto principle
Most legal academics and policy makers believe that notions of fairness should be accorded positive weight in evaluating legal policies. We explain, however, that ascribing importance to any notion of fairness (other than one concerned solely with the distribution of income) will sometimes lead to a conflict with the Pareto principle. That is, to endorse a notion of fairness is to endorse the view that it can be desirable to adopt a legal rule th…
Rewards versus Intellectual Property Rights
Reconsidering Contractual Liability and the Incentive to Reveal Information
In an earlier work, we analyzed how the legal rules governing contractual liability affect the transfer of information between the parties to the contract. In particular, we showed how limitations on contractual liability might lead high valuation buyers to reveal their valuation of performance, and we identified the circumstances under which such limitations on liability are and are not socially desirable. In an article forthcoming in the Stanfo…
The Economic Theory of Public Enforcement of Law
This article surveys the theory of the public enforcement of law—the use of public agents (inspectors, tax auditors, police, prosecutors) to detect and to sanction violators of legal rules. We first present the basic elements of the theory, focusing on the probability of imposition of sanctions, the magnitude and form of sanctions, and the rule of liability. We then examine a variety of extensions of the central theory, concerning accidental harm…
Fairness versus Welfare
The thesis of this Article is that the assessment of legal policies should depend exclusively on their effects on individuals'welfare. In particular, in the evaluation of legal policies, no independent weight should be accorded to conceptions of fairness, such as corrective justice and desert in punishment. (However, the logic leading to this conclusion does not apply to concern about equity in the distribution of income, which is often discussed…
Any Non‐welfarist Method of Policy Assessment Violates the Pareto Principle
The public at large, many policymakers, and a number of economists hold views of social welfare that are non-welfarist. That is, they attach some importance to factors other than the effects of policies on individuals' utilities. We show, however, that any non-welfarist method of policy assessment violates the Pareto principle
Fairness versus Welfare
Fairness versus Welfare
Fairness versus Welfare
In Fairness versus Welfare, we advance the thesis that social policies should be assessed entirely on the basis of their effects on individuals’ well‐being. This thesis implies that no independent weight should be accorded to notions of fairness (other than many purely distributive notions). We support our thesis in three ways: by demonstrating how notions of fairness perversely reduce welfare, indeed, sometimes everyone’s well‐being; by revealin…
The Grounds of Welfare
In Fairness versus Welfare, Kaplow and Shavell argue that legal practice and calls for its reform ought to be assessed exclusively by their expected impact on welfare. In particular, they argue that insofar as considerations of fairness are not aspects of an individual's welfare, they have no place to play in the evaluation of the law. In this review essay, I show that this claim is not only inadequately defended in the book, but in fact indefens…
Any Non‐welfarist Method of Policy Assessment Violates the Pareto Principle
Moral Rules, the Moral Sentiments, and Behavior
How should moral sanctions and moral rewards—the moral sentiments involving feelings of guilt and of virtue—be employed to govern individualsâ€TM behavior if the objective is to maximize social welfare? In the model that we examine, guilt is a disincentive to act and virtue is an incentive because we assume that they are negative and positive sources of utility. We also suppose that guilt and virtue are costly to inculcate and are subject to cert…
Law and Economics
On the Redesign of Accident Liability for the World of Autonomous Vehicles
This article proposes a scheme of liability that would desirably control accident risks in the coming world in which motor vehicles will be predominantly autonomous. In that world, the typical traveler will not be an active driver, which will render liability premised on driver fault largely irrelevant as a means of reducing vehicle accident dangers. Moreover, no other conventional principle of individual or of manufacturer liability would serve …
On the Law of the Household
The basic principles that parents employ in disciplining their children in the household are described in the first part of this article. The description is based on a survey of parents, the major results of which are that parental disciplinary actions are premised on wrongdoing—not on the mere causation of harm; that parental sanctions are usually greater when wrongdoing results in harm than otherwise; that sanctions for intentionally harmful co…
Economics (18 works) · Political science (15 works) · Law and economics (14 works) · Law (13 works) · Business (9 works) · Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (7 works) · Legal and Constitutional Studies (6 works) · Microeconomics (6 works)