Showing papers on "Damages published in 2003"

Global Warming and Hyperbolic Discounting

Abstract: The use of a constant discount rate to study long-lived environmental problems such as global warming has two disadvantages: The prescribed policy is sensitive to the discount rate, and with moderate discount rates, large future damages have almost no effect on current decisions. Time-consistent quasi-hyperbolic discounting alleviates both of these modeling problems, and is a plausible description of how people think about the future. We analyze the time-consistent Markov Perfect equilibrium in a general model with a stock pollutant. The solution to the linear-quadratic specialization illustrates the role of hyperbolic discounting in a model of global warming.

Optimal control models and elicitation of attitudes towards climate damages

Abstract: This paper examines the consequences of various attitudes towards climate damages through a family of stochastic optimal control models (RESPONSE): cost-efficiency for a given temperature ceiling; cost-benefit analysis with a "pure preference for current climate regime" and full cost-benefit analysis. The choice of a given proxy of climate change risks is actually more than a technical option. It is essentially motivated by the degree of distrust regarding the legitimacy of an assessment of climate damages and the possibility of providing in due time reliable and non controversial estimates. Our results demonstrate that a) for early decades abatement, the difference between various decision-making frameworks appears to matter less than the difference between stochastic and non stochastic approach given the cascade of uncertainty from emissions to damages; b) in a stochastic approach, the possibility of non-catastrophic singularities in the damage function is sufficient to significantly increase earlier optimal abatements; c) a window of opportunity for action exists up to 2040: abatements further delayed may induce significant regret in case of bad news about climate response or singularities in damages.

The health costs of motor-vehicle-related air pollution. in: recent developments in transport economics

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to show that the possibility cannot be ruled out that ozone is linked to mortality and chronic illness, effects which are costly and would considerable raise the costs of ozone pollution. Particulates are the most damaging pollutant and diesel vehicles cause mare damages per mile than do gasoline vehicles. The results of this paper suggest that emphasis should be placed on the regulation of particulates.

Optimal Control Models and Elicitation of Attitudes towards Climate Damages

Abstract: This paper examines the consequences of various attitudes towards climate damages through a family of stochastic optimal control models (RESPONSE): cost-effectiveness for a given temperature ceiling; cost-benefit analysis with a “pure preference for current climate regime” and full cost-benefit analysis. The choice of a given proxy of climate change risks is actually more than a technical option. It is essentially motivated by the degree of distrust regarding the legitimacy of an assessment of climate damages and the possibility of providing in due time reliable and non controversial estimates. Our results demonstrate that (a) for early decades abatement, the difference between various decision-making frameworks appears to matter less than the difference between stochastic and non stochastic approach given the cascade of uncertainty from emissions to damages; (b) in a stochastic approach, the possibility of non-catastrophic singularities in the damage function is sufficient to significantly increase earlier optimal abatements; (c) a window of opportunity for action exists up to 2040: abatements further delayed may induce significant regret in case of bad news about climate response or singularities in damages.

Should Private Antitrust Enforcement Be Encouraged in Europe

Abstract: The EC antitrust prohibitions are regularly invoked in private litigation as a shield. Private parties also play an important role in public antitrust enforcement through complaints to the competition authorities. However, in marked contrast with the situation in the US, private actions for damages or for injunctive relief are rare. This article argues that this situation is a desirable one. Indeed, from the perspective of ensuring that the antitrust prohibitions are not violated, public antitrust enforcement is inherently superior to private enforcement, because of more effective investigative and sanctioning powers, because private antitrust enforcement is driven by private profit motives which fundamentally diverge from the general interest in this area, and because of the high cost of private antitrust enforcement. There is not even a case for a supplementary role for private enforcement, as the adequate level of sanctions and the adequate number and variety of prosecutions can be ensured more effectively and at a lower cost through public enforcement. It also seems difficult to justify an increased role for private antitrust enforcement in Europe by the pursuit of corrective justice, as there does not appear to be a clear social need for such action, and because truly achieving corrective justice in the antitrust context is in practice a very difficult task.

Systems and methods for qualifying expected loss due to contingent destructive human activities

Abstract: Systems and methods allow a user to specify states of influence variables with information from an expert system to perform assessment regarding probable damages caused by a terrorist attack to a property to which insurance premiums are to be established. The expert system provides information based on knowledge of terrorists, including their goals, methods, organization and financial structure. The systems and methods use quality information to establish a relevant set of variables and to subjectively define the probabilistic influences of the defined variables on the likelihood of attack and levels of damage.

Decreasing Liability Contracts

Abstract: Like constructing a building, performance on many contracts occurs in phases. As time passes, the promisor sinks more costs into performance and less expenditure remains. For phased performance, we show that optimal liability for the breaching party decreases as the remaining costs of completing performance decrease. In brief, efficiency requires a decreasing liability contract. To implement such a contract, we recommend deducting past expenditure on incomplete performance from liability. We show that progress payment contracts, which are commonplace in some industries, are materially equivalent to decreasing liability contracts. Our analysis should prove useful for elucidating progress payment contracts and for drafting and litigating phased contracts.

An Economic Analysis of Corporate Directors' Fiduciary Duties

Abstract: This paper studies how the legal liability rules for directors can be optimally designed to provide them with the incentives to fulfill their fiduciary duties and to maximize ex-ante firm value. I present a principal-agent model where the shareholders can obtain a verifiable but costly and imperfect signal on the director's fulfillment of his fiduciary duties by taking legal action against him. This allows the firm to make the director's remuneration contingent not only on performance but also upon the court's decision. The paper shows that, when damages awards are high, the widespread use of liability insurance and limited liability provisions that is observed in the US is optimal because it allows shareholders to credible commit to an optimal suing strategy. The results on the use of liability insurance are maintained when the parties can settle out of court.

Intended or Unintended Consequences? Resource Erosion in New Zealand's Government Departments

Abstract: Internationally, a feature of public sector reforms over the last twenty years is the characterisation of negative effects as unintended consequences, yet the reform programme continues as before (Humphrey et al., 1993 and 1998). This article reports the findings from an investigation of ostensibly unintended consequences of New Zealand's public sector financial management system: resource erosion in government departments which both escapes parliamentary scrutiny and damages departments' capability to perform even core functions (State Services Commission, 1998a; and Controller and Auditor-General, 1999). The findings suggest that these effects might not be unintended. The system's structures and processes, including designed-in resource erosion processes and a surreptitious approach, are highly consistent with those advocated to facilitate privatisation.

Why tobacco litigation

Abstract: Just how important is litigation in achieving the goals of the tobacco control community? When a Los Angeles jury recently assessed $28 billion in punitive damages against Philip Morris in Bullock v Philip Morris Companies1 the tobacco control community cheered. The jury had calculated that only one in 28 000 Californians who have suffered from tobacco caused disease ever sues, so to make Philip Morris confront the real cost of its misbehaviour, they multiplied a typical $1 million compensatory damage award (for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering) by 28 000. Right on! Even though the trial judge subsequently reduced the award to $28 million2 that is still enough to encourage many more suits to be filed. Why ask “why tobacco litigation?” The reason is that the tobacco control community may soon have to decide just how important litigation is to achieving our goals. Two current examples put the issue nicely. First, the recently certified “Simon II” punitive damage class action3 would strip the punitive damages claims from all cases that may be brought against tobacco companies by Americans who have become ill from their products, and allow these instead to be decided by a single jury verdict or settlement. Although in theory plaintiffs would still be able to recover compensatory damages in individual actions (medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and so on), in practice they may not be able to find lawyers willing to take their case on contingency fee where punitive damages are off the table. Thus while this procedure, if upheld on appeal, may offer financial benefits for tobacco victims and the tobacco control community, it may also effectively quash tobacco litigation in America. Furthermore, a possible jury decision finding the tobacco companies owe little or no punitive damages would …

Punitive Damages as Societal Damages

Abstract: I. EXISTING CONCEPTIONS OF PUNITIVE DAMAGES AND PLAINTIFFS’ WINDFALL GAINS 356 A. Punishment and Retribution: The Individual Harm Paradigm.... 359 B. Deterrence: The Societal Harm Paradigm 363 1. Economic Theory: The Internalization of Full Costs 365 2. The Punitive Damages “Multiplier” and Its Limitations ...... 367 C. The Plaintiff’s Windfall as a Necessary Consequence 370

The Theory of Pollution Policy

Abstract: Physically, pollution occurs because it is virtually impossible to have a productive process that involves no waste; economically, pollution occurs because polluting is less expensive than operating cleanly. This chapter explores the sources and consequences of, and remedies for, pollution and associated environmental damages. If all goods had well-defined property rights and could be traded in markets, environmental goods would be no different than other goods; however, markets fail for these goods because property rights cannot or do not exist and because of the nonexclusive, nonrival nature of these goods. Thus, environmental goods provide the classic case where government intervention can increase efficiency. Achieving efficient levels of pollution involves charging per unit of pollution based on damages caused by that unit. In practice, this policy can be difficult to achieve, due to difficulties in measuring and differentiating damages by source, difficulties in monitoring and enforcing pollution policies, and the financial and political costs of pollution taxes. Additionally, pre-existing market distortions influence the nature of efficient pollution abatement strategies. Thus, many regulatory approaches that do not achieve first-best outcomes may be used because their technological or political feasibility is superior. Market-based instruments provide flexibility to polluters, while command-and-control (standards-based) approaches limit choice, often through an emissions limit or a technology requirement. Market-based approaches typically achieve a specified level of emissions with lower abatement costs than standards, but their greater efficiency may not hold in the presence of the problems mentioned above. Non-regulatory approaches to pollution control include the use of liability law to define and enforce property rights and some voluntary pollution control initiatives by polluters. While these approaches can play an important role, they are unlikely to achieve adequate provision of environmental goods.

Coupling Climate Damages and GHG Abatement Costs in a Linear Programming Framework

Abstract: The paper discusses the coupling of non-linear non-convex damage costs due to climate change with a cost-efficiency analysis based on a technical-economic linear programming model like MARKAL and studies the implications for the computation of cooperative and non-cooperative solutions Our empirical analysis of climate damages based on different world emissions levels and paths prove (a) that the dependency of damages on the trajectory of emissions may be neglected, so that the only relevant variables are the cumulative emissions in each country, and (b) that a linear relationship links regional damages and cumulative global emissions Based on these results, cooperative and non-cooperative equilibria can be much more easily calculated by solving local optimization problems in a case where international trade effects of GHG policies are neglected: given the linearity of damage functions, each country chooses its non-cooperative strategy by considering only the part of its own damage cost due to its own emissions; in the cooperative case, each country takes into account its contribution to the damages done to all countries Of course, any cost-benefit conclusion that will be produced by this approach is fully dependent on the damage functions Also, this approach may be extended to the case where trade effects are modeled

Incidents and accidents in winter navigation in the baltic sea, winter 2002 - 2003

Abstract: Damage statistics of ships sailing in the Baltic Sea were gathered during the winter 20022003. The main purpose of the work is to collect hull damages, but also other ice related damages are included. The statistics gathered includes 98 incidents. Altogether 111 ships were involved to these incidents. The percentage of structural damages caused by ship-ice interaction was approximately 30 %. Other types of damages were propeller damages (35 %), ship collisions in ice (25 %), rudder damages and grounding events due to difficult ice conditions. The work was done by surveying the ships during dry-docking and by interviewing the technical personnel of the shipping companies. Other sources of information were authorities, a ship insurance company and media. This data can be used in development of ice class rules concerning ice strengthening of ships and in risk evaluation of winter navigation.

Punishment and Disgorgement as Contract Remedies

Abstract: This Paper examines contract remedies, especially damage awards that are punitive or restitutionary, from the standpoint of corrective justice. The function of the damage award in corrective justice is to undo, so far as possible, the defendant's violation of the plaintiff's right. Because the nature of the right determines the nature of the remedy, a discussion of contract damages requires elucidation of the right infringed by a breach of contract. Drawing on Kant's now almost forgotten discussion of contractual rights, the Paper sketches the relationship between the promisee's right to contractual performance and expectation damages, which give the promisee the value of that right. The Kantian account of contractual right not only justifies expectation damages as compensatory in accordance with corrective justice (thus resolving the perplexity about expectation damages formulated by Fuller and Perdue), but also discloses the inaptness of requiring the disgorgement of gains resulting from contract breach. Turning then to punitive damages, the Paper addresses the question of how corrective justice and punishment - and the institutions devoted to them - coexist, and how they are differentiated in a legal order based on rights. It then discusses the difficulties that emerge from the elaborate but ultimately unsatisfying recent attempt by the Supreme Court of Canada to work out a coherent treatment of punitive damages for contract breach.

The Use of Investor–State Arbitration under Bilateral Investment Treaties to Seek Relief for Breaches of WTO Law

Abstract: This contribution advances the proposition that the development of a global network of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) may increasingly offer foreign investors an opportunity directly to challenge breaches of WTO law and to seek relief in the form of cessation of the WTO-inconsistent measure and, when the measure can be shown to have proximately caused them injury, damages. Measures affecting intra-firm trade, the investments of foreign service suppliers, or the rights of intellectual property rights holders may, in certain circumstances, constitute breaches of a host State's obligations under both the WTO Agreement and the applicable BIT. When a foreign investor initiates investor -- State arbitration under the applicable BIT to seek withdrawal of and-or damages for such measures, WTO law may arguably come into play in two -- formally -- distinct manners. First, WTO law may be applicable to the investment dispute. Second, WTO law may in any event provide important interpretative context for the regulatory treatment obligations of the BIT. In either case, the strongly held precept that private entities cannot directly invoke WTO law in the state courts of WTO Members and claim monetary damages for breaches of WTO law, cannot be replicated to BIT arbitrations without further qualification. Copyright Oxford University Press 2003, Oxford University Press.

Sources of Data on Freezing Rain and Resulting Damages

Abstract: Freezing rain produces major damages each year in the United States, and various affected groups continue to seek data on the incidence and losses produced by freezing rain. The various kinds of data available about freezing rain and related damages have been identified and assessed as part of a project to develop long-term databases. Data include long-term records of the occurrences of freezing rain, 50-yr records of insured property losses, and measures and estimates of ice loading on wires and structures. Many years of interactions with affected and interested groups and individuals, such as the insurance industry and design engineers, led to the preparation of this summary that describes the various sources of data on freezing-rain and ice-storm damages. The benefits and limitations of each form of data are presented to help to guide potential data users.

Possibilities and limitations of economically valuating ecological damages

Abstract: Ecological damages have to be evaluated in monetary terms for implementation in an economic analysis. Economic theory is based upon individual preferences (methodological individualism): Ecological damages can only be socially evaluated when individual values are available. However, in sharp contrast to marketable goods and services, ecological damages generally are pure public goods and, thus, market prices as a lower value bound do not exist. Therefore, we have to use alternative evaluation methods to get economic values of ecological damages. In this paper, we concentrate on four main points of the evaluation of ecological damages in economic models: Firstly, we show the general economic approach to obtain values of non­marketable goods and services on a micro­ economic level. Afterwards, we discuss the assumptions and shortcomings of the economic approach. Thirdly, we determine optimal social environmental levels from a macro­perspective which is followed by an analysis of the applicability of this approach. Some summarizing remarks close the paper.

Disaster Management and Cyclone Warning System in Bangladesh

Abstract: Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world. Natural hazards, i.e. cyclones, storm surges and floods extract heavy tolls on human lives and animals. Tremendous property damages, and the total disruption of development activities of the country occur almost every year. With about 120 million people living within 144000 km2 of land, Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. It is estimated that a total 775 303 people died in the coastal and offshore islands of Bangladesh within the last 222 years (1775–1997) due to cyclone and storm surges alone. The main causes of these huge casualties were: 1. A weak cyclone warning and weather forecasting system, 2. false alarm with no cyclone/storm event, despite of high warning signals, 3. no disaster awareness programmes were implemented in advance.

Global Climate Change: The Science, Economics, and Politics

Abstract: The carbon cycle - human perturbations and potential management options climate change over the next century benefit-cost analysis and climate change policy assessing the market damages from climate change the difficulties of estimating global nonmarket damages from climate change what are the costs of limiting CO2 concentrations? energy, the environment and the economy - hedging our bets international agreements and the struggle to tame carbon five letters to the president.

Measuring Business Interruption Losses and Other Commercial Damages

Abstract: Preface. 1 Introduction. Development of the Field of Litigation Economics. Development of the Field of Forensic Accounting. Lost Profits Business Interruption Analysis Compared to Personal Injury and Employment Litigation. Qualifications of an Economic Expert. Qualifications of an Accounting Expert on Damages. Interdisciplinary Nature of Commercial Damages Analysis. Difference Between Disciplines of Economics and Finance. Finding a Damages Expert. Critically Reviewing a Potential Expert's Curriculum Vitae. Getting the Damages Expert on Board Early Enough. Court's Position on Experts on Economic Damages. Standards for Admissibility of Expert Testimony. Expert Reports. Defense Expert as a Testifying Expert, Not Just a Consultant. Quantitative Research Evidence on the Benefits of Calling a Defense Expert. Treatment of the Relevant Case Law. Legal Damage Principles. Other Types of Damages Cases. Summary. References. 2 Economic Framework for the Lost Profits Estimation Process. Foundation for Damages Testimony. Role of Assumptions in Damages Analysis. Hearsay. Approaches to Proving Damages. Causality and Damages. Using Demonstrative Evidence to Help the Client Understand its Losses or Lack of Losses. Causality and Loss of Customers. Graphical Sales Analysis and Causality. Causality and The Special Case of Damages Resulting from Adverse Publicity. Length of Loss Period: Business Interruption Case. Length of Loss Period: Plaintiff Goes Out of Business. Length of Loss Period: Breach of Contract. Methodological Framework. Summary. References. 3 Economic Analysis in Business Interruption Loss Analysis. Economic Fluctuations and the Volume of Litigation. Macroeconomic Analysis. Definition of a Recession. Measuring Economic Growth and Performance. Business Cycles and Economic Damages. Using More Narrowly Defined Economic Aggregates. Overstatement of Inflation Statistics. Regional Economic Trends. International Economic Analysis. Macroeconomic and Regional Economic Analysis and The Before and After Method. Summary. References. 4 Industry Analysis. Sources of Industry Data. New North American Industry Classification System. Retaining an Industry Expert. Conducting an Industry Analysis. Relating Industry Growth to The Plaintiff's Growth. Other Industry Factors. Yardstick Approach and Industry Analysis. Summary. References. 5 Projecting Lost Revenues. Projections Versus Forecasts: Economic Versus Accounting Terminology. Using Graphical Analysis as an Aid in the Forecasting Process. Methods of Projecting Lost Revenues. Curve-Fitting Methods and Econometric Models. Understanding Regression Output and Diagnostics. Common Problems Affecting Regression Models. Confidence in Forecasted Values. Frequency of the Use of Econometrics Techniques in Commercial Litigation. Seasonality and the Forecasting Process. Capacity Constraints and Forecasts. Sensibility Check for the Forecasted Values. Projecting Lost Sales for a New Business. Projecting Losses for an Unestablished Business. Summary. Appendix. References. 6 Cost Analysis and Profitability. Presentation of Costs on the Company's Financial Statements. Measures of Costs. Profit Margins and Profitability. Appropriate Measure of Profitability for a Lost Profits Analysis. Burden of Proof for Demonstrating Costs. Fixed Versus Variable Costs. Using Regression Analysis to Estimate Costs as Opposed to More Basic Methods. Pitfalls of Using Regression Analysis to Measure Incremental Costs. Possible Nonlinear Nature of Total Costs. Limitations of Using Unadjusted Accounting Data for Measuring Incremental Costs. Treatment of Overhead Costs. Must a Plaintiff Be a Profitable Business to Recover Damages? Mitigation of Damages. Cash Flows versus Net Income: Effects ont Discounting Process. Recasted Profits. Firm-Specific Financial Analysis. Cross-Sectional Versus Time Series Analysis. Summary. References. 7 Time Value of Money Considerations. Determination of Interest Rates. Types of Interest Rates. Financial Markets: Money Market versus Capital Market. Money Market Securities and Interest Rates. Capital Market. Real Versus Nominal Interest Rates. Determinants of Interest Rates. Rejudgment Losses. Components of The Cost of Capital. Discounting Projected Future Profits. Common Errors Made in Discounting by Damages "Experts". Summary. References. 8 Business Valuations. Legal Standard for Business Valuations in Business Interruption and Business Failure Lawsuits. Lost Profits Versus Lost Business Value. Business Valuation Framework. Theoretical Value of a Business. Public versus Private Companies. Business Valuation Parameters. Revenue Ruling 59-60 and Factors to Consider in Valuation. Valuation Concepts. Most Commonly Used Valuation Methods. Capitalization of Earnings. Comparable Multiples. Adjustments and Discounts. Summary. References. 9 Intellectual Property. Patents. Computation of Damages for Patent Infringement. Legal Requirements Necessary to Prove Lost Profits. Lost Profits Due to Price Erosion. Lost Profits Due to Changing Cost Conditions. Royalty Arrangements Copyrights. Measurement of Damages for Copyright Infringement. Trademarks. Trade Secrets. Summary. References. 10 Securities-Related Damages. Key Securities Laws. Damages in Securities Litigation. Fraud-on-the-Market. Comparable Index Approach. Event Study Approach. Broker Raiding Cases. Mergers-Related Damages. History of Mergers in the United States. Client-Broker Claims. Churning. Appendix 10 A: Case Study: In Re Computer Associates, International, Inc. References. 11 Antitrust. Antitrust Laws. Antitrust Enforcement. Economics of Monopoly. Changing Pattern of Antitrust Enforcement. Antitrust and the New Economy. Monopolization and Attempts at Monopolization. Market Definition and Microeconomic Analysis. Market Power. Measures of Market Concentration. Common Types of Antitrust Cases. Summary. References. 12 The Economics of Punitive Damages. Evolving Position of the U.S. Supreme Court on Punitive Damages. Frequency of Punitive Damages. Frequency of Punitive Damages and the Shadow Effect of Punitive Damages. Purposes of Punitive Damages. Punishment of Corporations and Corporate Governance. Spillover Effects and Punishment of Corporations. Deterrence Theory and the Changing Litigation Environment. Deterrence and Regulatory Processes. Typical Financial Measures Used in the Determination of Punitive Damages. Net Worth. Market Capitalization. The Uncertain Litigation Environment. Summary. References. Index.

Loss of Earnings Following Personal Injury: Do the Courts Adequately Compensate Injured Parties?

Abstract: The law provides that any person injured through the fault of another can claim monetary compensation in the form of damages. This study focuses on compensation paid for loss of future earnings and the fact that little use has been made of economic analysis by courts in Britain in determining such damages. This is in contrast both to what happens in the US and to the extensive use made in British courts of experts from other disciplines. A comparison of awards adjudicated in British courts with a US-style approach reveals substantial and systematic under-compensation under the English legal system.

The Internet and the First Amendment

Abstract: public services such as education, the National Health Service or even the police.'61 He concluded, that it is 'unlikely' that Parliament intended 'cash payments to be made by way of damages' to persons who, in breach of a local authority duty have not 'received benefits in kind'.62 Whether Parliament may have intended a private law right to compensatory damages for breaches of sections 21-26 NAA 1948, for individuals who suffer a loss of money, rather than a loss of benefits in kind, has not been put to the test in the cases of Sefton's elderly. Moreover, despite the intuitive reaction that there should be a readily available remedy for the recovery of money wrongfully charged by a public authority, the absence of a developed common law right to restitution in such cases63 and the non-enforceability of remedial decisions reached by the ombudsman, give continued cause for concern about the accountability of local authorities and the rights of citizens to remedial justice.

The Structure of Aggravated and Exemplary Damages

Abstract: This paper explores aggravated and exemplary damages in terms of their structure. It argues that the awards are distinguishable and that once they have been appropriately analysed it can be seen that aggravated damages have a secure foundation in the private law and that they are importantly different from other compensatory awards. The paper then argues that many of the reasons given in favour of exemplary damages are not consistent with the structure of that award. The paper concludes by insisting that exemplary damages should be abolished as they are in serious tension with the nature of civil liability.

Actions for Damages Against the Police and the Attitudes of Claimants

Abstract: This article presents the attitudes of a sample of persons who succeeded with damages claims against the police in three key areas: initial contact with police, the decision to commence proceedings and degree of satisfaction with the process. Claimants rationalized their experiences as victims of crimes committed by police officers and displayed a tendency to suffer some form of psychological trauma. Their decision to turn to the law was largely determined by the legal advice they received as defendants in criminal proceedings and their distrust of the complaints process. In general, they expressed satisfaction with civil procedure, and concluded their actions with their views on the police largely unchanged as a consequence of their experiences.

Court Awards of Damages for Loss of Future Earnings: An Empirical Study and an Alternative Method of Calculation

Abstract: This article examines the effect upon damages for personal injury of methods used in the United States of America to calculate loss of future earnings. The work of lawyers is examined from the perspective of labour economists. The damages calculated by using these alternative methods are compared with those actually awarded in over a hundred cases determined by courts in England and Wales. This interdisciplinary and comparative study reveals that the tort system fails to satisfy one of its main objectives in that it does not provide recipients of damages with "full" compensation.