George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series

George Mason University Working Paper Series

 

Soft Negligence and Cause In Fact: A Comment on Ganuza and Gomez

Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci, Universiteit van Amsterdam & George Mason University

Abstract

Lowering the standard of negligence below the first-best socially optimal level has been shown by Ganuza and Gomez (2004) to increase the level of care taken by judgment proof injurers. In this paper, I consider a more complex model of negligence in which cause in fact is taken into account, and I show that this conclusion holds when the injurer’s care reduces the magnitude of the accidental harm but not when the injurer’s care reduces the probability of the accident. Thus, such soft negligence strategies aimed at tackling the adverse effects of judgment proofness need to be conditioned to the accident prevention technology available to injurers.

Subject Area

Environmental Law, Health Law and Policy, Products Liability, Torts

Recommended Citation

Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci, "Soft Negligence and Cause In Fact: A Comment on Ganuza and Gomez" (October 2004). George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series. George Mason University Working Paper Series. Working Paper 4.
http://law.bepress.com/gmulwps/gmule/art4

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