Law and Economics of Class Actions in Europe

Edited by Jürgen G. Backhaus, Krupp Chair in Public Finance and Fiscal Sociology, Erfurt University, Germany, Alberto Cassone, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Italy and Giovanni B. Ramello, Department of Economics and Statistics "Cognetti de Martiis",Università degli studi di Torino, Italy

‘. . . this is a book which covers a broad range of issues within this rather fascinating and topical area of inquiry. Although targeted mainly at law and economics students and scholars, it should also interest commercial, corporate and IP lawyers, as well as economic theorists. Extensively footnoted, it opens up any number of avenues for further research and is, of course, an innovation in itself!’

• Contents:PART I: CLASS ACTION LITIGATION: THE ORIGINS AND ITS MAIN FEATURES1. The Law and Economics of Class Action Litigation: Setting the Research AgendaJürgen G. Backhaus, Alberto Cassone and Giovanni B. Ramello2. Class Actions in the US Experience: The Legal PerspectiveHon. Guido Calabresi3. Class Actions in the US Experience: An Economist’s PerceptionFrederic M. Scherer4. Will Aggregate Litigation Come to Europe? Samuel Issacharoff and Geoffrey P. Miller5. Class Action as a Remedy for Market FailureJürgen G. Backhaus6. The Economics of Class Action LitigationThomas S. UlenPART II: DISENTANGLING THE LAW AND ECONOMICS OF CLASS ACTION7. Private, Club and Public Goods: The Economic Boundaries of Class Action Litigation Alberto Cassone and Giovanni B. Ramello8. Class Action Finance and Legal Expense InsuranceJürgen G. Backhaus 9. Punitive Damages and Class ActionsFrancesco Parisi and Marta Silvia Cenini10. A Case for Information Sharing in Class Action SuitsBruno Deffains and Eric Langlais11. Good Law and Economics Needs Better Microeconomic Models: The Case Against ‘Contingent Fees’ as Application of Agency Models to the ProfessionsLorenzo Sacconi12. Collective Litigation versus Legislation: A Rent-Seeking Approach to Class ActionsSophie Harnay and Alain Marciano PART III: COMPARATIVE LEGAL VIEWS: ISSUES, NATIONAL EXPERIENCES AND A PROPOSAL13. Class Actions in Private Enforcement of EC Antitrust Law: The Commission Green Paper Francesco Denozza and Luca Toffoletti 14. The Enforcement of Management Passivity Duty in Take-over Law: Class Action or Government Action? Fernando Gomez and María Isabel Saez15. The Constitutional Impact of Class Actions in European Legal SystemsJörg Luther16. Introducing Class Actions in Finland: An Example of Law-making Without Economic AnalysisMikko Välimäki17. Class Actions in Portugal Mariana França Gouveia and Nuno Garoupa 18. The Class Action Code: A Model for Civil Law CountriesAntonio GidiIndex