Frezza, Giampaolo; Parisi, Francesco --- "Augusto Graziani (1865-1944)" [1999] ELECD 35; in Backhaus, G. Jürgen (ed), "The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 1999)

Book Title: The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics

Editor(s): Backhaus, G. Jürgen

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781858985169

Section: Chapter 28

Section Title: Augusto Graziani (1865-1944)

Author(s): Frezza, Giampaolo; Parisi, Francesco

Number of pages: 9

Extract:

28 Augusto Graziani (1865-1944)
Giampaolo Frezza and Francesco Parisi


Introduction
The work of the Italian scholar Augusto Graziani anticipates in many re-
spects some insights of modern law and economics and institutional theory.
With extremely clear argument, it focuses on the link between economics and
legal studies. In the view of Graziani, such a link is twofold. To identify and
exemplify laws independent of their natural development and of any formal
qualification of them - a particular need in the fundamental works under
study here - Graziani illustrates the generic relationship between economic
reasoning and legal choices (especially on the part of the lawmaker). Some-
times, in fact, the very existence of certain legal institutions is ontologically
dictated by economic requirements: one example that can be cited even
without deeper analysis is the institution of the state, which represents the
modern constitutional entity and owes its origin to economic reasons. The
state was born of the need to draft public budgets in order to accomplish
public goals. On the other hand, and more specifically, the author analyses
some legal developments in terms of efficiency, and according to the strict
criteria of microeconomic method, especially in the areas of inheritance and
contract. Interestingly, Graziani introduced the modern concept of `efficient
breach' of contract.

The economic foundation of law
We start our analysis of Graziani's work by considering his perspective on
the `economic foundation of law'. His `The Economic Foundation of Law', a
lecture inaugurating the 1893-4 academic year at the ...