Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2024
ISSN
0144-8188
Publisher
Elsevier
Language
en-US
Abstract
Legal rights impose concomitant legal burdens. This paper considers the valuation and disposition of legal rights, and legal burdens, when courts cannot be relied upon to perfectly enforce rights. Because courts do not perfectly enforce rights, victims suffer some loss in the value of their rights depending on the degree of underenforcement. The welfare implications of trading away and abandoning rights are examined. Victims do not necessarily trade away rights when and only when such trade is socially desirable. Relatively pessimistic victims (who believe
/="/">their rights are weaker than injurers do) trade away rights too cheaply. Extremely pessimistic victims abandon their rights. Implications for the enforceability of waivers, discrimination in courts, and legal ethics are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Keith N. Hylton,
Selling and abandoning legal rights
,
80
International Review of Law and Economics
106219
(2024).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/1431
Please note the file available on SSRN may not be the final published version of this work.
