The Coase Theorem

This two-volume collection provides an overview of essential works for understanding one of the most important contributions to the field of law and economics: the Coase Theorem. A variety of prominent scholars contribute crucial essays, each exploring different aspects of Coase’s work. Volume I explores the origins, restatements and extensions of Coase’s Theorem and contains subsections on sources, positive restatements, normative corollaries, ‘Coaseanism’, and Coase’s intellectual legacy. Volume II considers criticisms and applications of the Coase Theorem covering surveys and applications, Coasean Bargaining, Coase and the Constitution, political markets, liability, critiques, and experimental testing of the Theorem.

Along with a new and original introduction, the diverse array of authors and topics makes this compendium an indispensable tool to study one of the most cited economic theories of the 20th century.

Edited by Richard A. Posner, retired Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and formerly Senior Lecturer, University of Chicago Law School, US and Francesco Parisi, Oppenheimer Wolff and Donnelly Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School, US and Professor of Economics, University of Bologna, Italy