To what extent is the opposition between civil law and common law relevant for law and economics?

Régis Lanneau

pp. 23-46

in: Klaus Mathis (ed), Law and economics in Europe, Berlin, Springer, 2014

Abstract

The distinction between common law and civil law has been used in the law and economic literature at epistemological, methodological and prescriptive levels. The present article will focus on the epistemological level. Is this divide relevant for assessing the relative value of law and economics in a legal system? It will be shown that this divide is largely irrelevant but that some characteristics of legal systems (instrumentality of law , autonomy of legal reasoning and freedom of judges) are relevant. This article will also advocate to distinguish between functions of law and economics and between agents involved in order to gain a better understanding of the role of law and economics in a legal system.