Hugo A. Acciarri, Fernando Tohmé and Andrea Castellano* Causal Apportionment of Tort Liability: An Efficient Approach DOI 10.1515/rle-2014-0050 Published online February 12, 2016 Abstract: Mainstream economic analysis of Tort Law assumes that efficiency cannot be formally assured by allocating liability according to causal apportion- ing. In this paper we will present some ways to escape from the full scope of this claim. We start by reviewing the standard conception of causality in the eco- nomic analysis of Tort Law, to show how some underlying assumptions influence the currently held view on the relation between causal apportioning and effi- ciency. Then, we revisit those assumptions to see how plausible they actually are. In the light of this discussion we introduce an alternative framework of causal reasoning in Tort Law. We will show how our model yields a way of allocating liability in terms of a causal apportioning rule. The outcomes obtained through this procedure are closer to efficiency than those prescribed by the mainstream. Keywords: liability, causal apportioning, efficiency 1 Introduction As science historians know too well, scientific disciplines have to face, at some stages, shocking realizations. The past century, for instance, amidst uncountable novelties, exhibited a surprising number of pessimism-inducing results in many areas. While seemingly coordinated in time, they were not related to each other, at least in principle. But all of them went against the accepted wisdom of past eras, in which it seemed that exactness and all-encompassing knowledge were attainable. Among these results the best known are Gödel and Turing’s theorems in meta- mathematics and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics. On the other hand, Arrow’s and Sen’s theorems in economics challenged the previous wishful and soothing assumptions on the inner workings of human societies. *Corresponding author: Andrea Castellano, Universidad Nacional del Sur and Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales del Sur (IIESS), UNS-CONICET, Bahía Blanca, Argentina, E-mail: acastell@uns.edu.ar Hugo A. Acciarri, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca, Argentina Fernando Tohmé, National Council of Research of Argentina and Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca, Argentina Rev. Law Econ. 2016; 12(1): 37–55 Brought to you by | Stockholm University Library Authenticated Download Date | 1/7/19 1:07 PM