Economic Theories on Economic Growth - Dictionary of Arguments

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Economic growth: Economic growth is the increase in the production of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. It is typically measured as a percentage change in real gross domestic product (GDP), which is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a given year, adjusted for inflation. See also Economy, Economic development. _____________ Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments.

> Economic Theories	> Economic Growth	Economic Theories on Economic Growth - Dictionary of Arguments Parisi I 300 Economic growth/efficiency/wealth/Economic theories: Richard Posner (1979⁽¹⁾, 1980⁽²⁾, 1981a⁽³⁾, 1981b⁽⁴⁾) once argued that a wealth maximization norm justifies law and economics’ emphasis on efficiency. Several scholars doubt that wealth maximization constitutes a normative value justifying a central place for it in Parisi I 301 law (Dworkin, 1980a⁽⁵⁾; Weinrib, 1980⁽⁶⁾; Coleman, 1980⁽⁷⁾, 1982⁽⁸⁾; Kronman, 1980⁽⁹⁾; Mercuro and Ryan, 1984⁽¹⁰⁾). These critiques aim squarely, although not always explicitly, at Kaldor–Hicks efficiency. >Nicholas Kaldor. Dworkin: Because government decisions usually come about because of disputes among people, they rarely if ever can be Pareto optimal (Dworkin, 1980a⁽⁵⁾, 1980b⁽¹¹⁾; Calabresi, 1991⁽¹²⁾). In practice, therefore, law and economics scholars implicitly rely on a very different efficiency concept than the concept used in the economic analysis of markets, that of Kaldor–Hicks efficiency, the idea that a legal decision is efficient if it increases the wealth of the people benefiting from it more than it decreases the wealth of others (Posner, 2014⁽¹³⁾; Coleman, 1988⁽¹⁵⁾; Kronman, 1980⁽⁹⁾; e.g., Driesen, 2011a⁽¹⁶⁾). Kaldor–Hicks efficient legal decisions increase net wealth (Kronman, 1980⁽⁹⁾; Posner, 1980⁽²⁾). Kaldor–Hicks efficiency is said to be good, because those benefiting from the decision could compensate those harmed for their losses. This criterion, however, does not require that the law’s beneficiaries actually compensate those whom the law harms and therefore may rationalize theft or government takings without compensation, both of which may transfer assets to beneficiaries who value the good more than the current owner. In any case, scholars have sharply criticized the normative value of Kaldor–Hicks efficiency and claimed that Pareto efficiency cannot generally govern legal decisions (e.g. Coleman, 1988⁽¹⁵⁾; Calabresi, 1991⁽¹³⁾). Scholars criticizing wealth maximization argue that wealth functions as a means toward other ends. Accordingly, its maximization is neither good nor bad in and of itself, but rather good insofar as it advances ends that its defenders have not identified. Moral philosophers often endorse justice as a goal for society and do not consider wealth maximization as having any normative value independent of justice (compare Kaplow and Shavell, 2001⁽¹⁴⁾). Nussbaum/Sen/Purdy: Some scholars seeking to define justice more precisely have argued for a “capabilities” approach to human flourishing, which casts doubt on wealth maximization as an ideal (Nussbaum and Sen, 1993⁽¹⁶⁾; Nussbaum, 2000⁽¹⁷⁾; Williams, 2002⁽¹⁸⁾; Purdy, 2005⁽¹⁹⁾; Chon, 2006⁽²⁰⁾; Alexander et al., 2009⁽²¹⁾; Sen, 2009⁽²²⁾; Roesler, 2011⁽²³⁾). Proponents of this approach link human flourishing not to wealth aggregation but to the spread of capacities vital to human flourishing to all members of a society, for example, by improving public health. They criticize law and economics (and utilitarianism generally) for neglecting distribution, rights and freedoms, and the tendency of those suffering persistent harms to adapt (see Sen, 1999⁽²⁴⁾; Nussbaum, 2000⁽¹⁷⁾). 1. Posner, Richard A. (1979). “Utilitarianism, Economics, and Legal Theory.” Journal of Legal Studies 8: 103–140. 2. Posner, Richard A. (1980). “The Ethical and Political Basis of the Efficiency Norm in Common Law Adjudication.” Hofstra Law Review 8: 487–507. 3. Posner, Richard A. (1981a). The Economics of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 4. Posner, Richard A. (1981b). “A Reply to Some Recent Criticisms of the Economic Theory of the Common Law.” Hofstra Law Review 9: 775–794. 5. Dworkin, Ronald (1980a). “Is Wealth a Value?” Journal of Legal Studies 9: 191–226. 6. Weinrib, Ernest J. (1980). “Utilitarianism, Economics, and Legal Theory.” University of Toronto Law Journal 30: 307–332. 7. Coleman, Jules (1980). “Efficiency, Utility and Wealth Maximization.” Hofstra Law Review 8: 509–551. 8. Coleman, Jules (1982). “The Normative Basis of Economic Analysis: A Critical Review of Richard Posner’s The Economics of Justice (Book Review).” Stanford Law Review 34: 1105–1132. 9. Kronman, Tony (1980). “Wealth Maximization as a Normative Principle.” Journal of Legal Studies 9: 227–242. 10. Mercuro, Nicholas and Timothy P. Ryan (1984). Law, Economics and Public Policy. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. 11. Dworkin, Ronald (1980b). “Why Efficiency?: A Response to Calabresi and Posner.” Hofstra Law Review 8: 563–589. 12. Calabresi, Guido (1991). “The Pointlessness of Pareto: Carrying Coase Further.” Yale Law Journal 100: 1211–1238. 13. Posner, Richard A. (2014). Economic Analysis of Law. 9th edition. Austin, TX: Wolters Kluwer. 14. Kaplow, Louis and Steven M. Shavell (2001). “Fairness Versus Welfare.” Harvard Law Review 114: 961–1388. 15. Coleman, Jules (1988). Markets, Morals, and the Law. New York: Cambridge University Press. 16. Nussbaum, Martha C. and Amartya Sen, eds. (1993). The Quality of Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 17. Nussbaum, Martha C. (2000). Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 18. Williams, Cynthia A. (2002). “Corporate Social Responsibility in an Era of Economic Globalization.” U.C. Davis Law Review, 35: 705–778. 19. Purdy, Jedediah (2005). “A Freedom-Promoting Approach to Property: A Renewed Tradition for New Debates.” University of Chicago Law Review 72: 1237–1298. 20. Chon, Margaret (2006). “Intellectual Property and the Development Divide.” Cardozo Law Review 27: 2821–2912. 21. Alexander, Gregory S., Eduardo M. Penalver, Joseph William Singer, and Laura S. Underkuffler (2009). “A Statement of Progressive Property.” Cornell Law Review 94: 743–745. 22. Sen, Amartya (2009). The Idea of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 23. Roesler, Shannon M. (2011). “Addressing Environmental Injustices: A Capability Approach to Rulemaking.” West Virginia Law Review 114: 49–107. 24. Sen, Amartya (1999). Development As Freedom. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Driesen, David M. and Robin Paul Malloy. “Critics of Law and Economics”. In: Parisi, Francesco (ed) (2017). The Oxford Handbook of Law and Economics. Vol 1: Methodology and Concepts. NY: Oxford University. - - - Mause I 220f Def Economic Growth/Economic Theory: the increase in the production or value added potential of an economy dependent on available production factors and the increase in factor productivity as a function of technological progress. The conceptual separation of the concept of the economy is not always clear. Example: Def Economic fluctuations: are generally defined as perennial, more or less regular fluctuations in overall economic activity or fluctuations in the degree of utilisation of production potential. ⁽¹⁾ 1. G. Tichy, Konjunkturpolitik. Quantitative Stabilisierungspolitik bei Unsicherheit, Berlin/ Heidelberg 2008, S. 8. _____________ Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition.	Economic Theories Parisi I Francesco Parisi (Ed) The Oxford Handbook of Law and Economics: Volume 1: Methodology and Concepts New York 2017 Mause I Karsten Mause Christian Müller Klaus Schubert, Politik und Wirtschaft: Ein integratives Kompendium Wiesbaden 2018

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Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-29

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