19.4 There is considerable legal controversy about product safety. Two extreme positions might be termed caveat emptor
Question:
19.4 There is considerable legal controversy about product safety. Two extreme positions might be termed caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) and caveat vendor (let the seller beware). Under the former scheme producers would have no responsibility for the safety of their products: buyers would absorb all losses. Under the latter scheme this liability assignment would be reversed: firms would be completely responsible under law for losses incurred from unsafe products. Using simple supply and demand analysis, discuss how the assignment of such liability might affect the allocation of resources. Would safer products be produced if firms were strictly liable under law? How do possible information asymmetries affect your results?
Step by Step Answer:
Microeconomic Theory Basic Principles And Extensions
ISBN: 9780324585377
10th Edition
Authors: Walter Nicholson, Christopher M. Snyder