THE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF LAW - WILL THE ROMANIAN DOCTRINE FINALLY CATCH UP WITH IT?

Abstract

Although a well-established presence on the international legal scene, the economic analysis of law is still an unfamiliar concept to most Romanian scholars. While worldwide, prestigious universities offer special courses on this topic and an impressive body of legal studies continues to add up, only scant traces of this important legal school can be detected in some recent Romanian doctoral thesis and papers. This article explores the main concepts of the economic analysis of law, the recent spin-offs of this theory, especially in the area of comparative law, as well as some of the critiques addressed in the legal doctrine, concerning the consequences on law of overemphasizing “efficiency” to the expense of less quantifiable, moral and social considerations. Some explanations on why the Romanian doctrine is lagging behind with respect to the economic analysis of law will also be attempted, together with a tentative answer to whether this major legal theory will ever make an impact on local doctrinal developments in the near future.

Keywords

• economic analysis of law
• efficiency
• legal origins thesis
• comparative law
• legal reform