Please join our virtual ACE Departmental Seminar series and co-sponsored by pERE
Dr. Jeff Wagner
Professor of Economics
Rochester Institute of Technology
"Tort Reform, Public Harm, and Welfare"
Friday, October 30, 2020 by ZOOM @ 12 noon CST
Co-authored with John K Stranlund, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Abstract: A surprisingly diverse array of US manufacturers enjoy broad immunity from tort liability for
public harm. We examine the consequences of such immunity with a model of buyer and manufacturer
care-taking in a market relationship that features incomplete liability assignment and a probability that the representative manufacturer could lose its immunity as the public grows frustrated with increasing public harm. We find that reduced manufacturer liability can lead to less harmful products only under very restrictive conditions; and even when these conditions are met, reduced manufacturer liability leads to lower expected social welfare.
ZOOM link: https://illinois.zoom.us/j/83667136367?pwd=SnYxTy90bWd4d0U1cTBnRkp1b3gyQT09
Meeting ID: 836 6713 6367
Password: 700481
