Liability Insurance at the Tort-Crime Boundary

Assessing the Insurance Role of Tort Liability after Calabresi

In his landmark 1961 article, Some Thoughts on Risk Distribution and the Law of Torts, Judge Calabresi provides a theoretical framework for analyzing tort liability as a risk-spreading device that functions in a manner similar to insurance. In our article, we examine the insurance objective of tort liability from the standpoint of modern tort law. Since Calabresi’s foundational article, there h...

What Drives Tort Reform Legislation? Economics and Politics of the State Decisions to Restrict Liability Torts1

This paper studies driving factors behind the timing of state-level tort reform enactments between 1971 and 2005. Using discrete time hazard models, we find the level of litigation activity, as measured by incurred liability insurance losses and premiums, number of lawyers at the state level, and tort cases commenced at the state level and national level, to be the most important and robust det...

The Effect of 1980s Tort Reform Legislation on General Liability and Medical Malpractice Insurance

A large number of states adopted tort reforms in the mid-1980s to limit the dramatic surge in insurance losses and premiums. Evidence based on liability insurance data by state indicates that these reforms substantially infiuenced general liability insurance. The levels of losses, premiums, and loss ratios (a measure of insurance profitability) all reflected the impact of the reforms. The large...

Who Pays for Tort Liability Claims? An Economic Analysis of the U.S. Tort Liability System

The Effect of No-fault on Fatal Accident Rates

Thirteen states currently either mandate no-fault auto insurance or allow drivers to choose between no-fault and tort insurance. No-fault auto insurance requires individuals to carry personal injury protection (PIP) insurance that compensates them for economic losses sustained in automobile accidents, regardless of whoever is at fault, and prohibits individuals from suing for non-economic damag...