Frezza, Giampaolo; Parisi, Francesco --- "Pietro Trimarchi (1934–)" [2005] ELECD 182; in Backhaus, G. Jürgen (ed), "The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics, Second Edition" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2005)

Book Title: The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics, Second Edition

Editor(s): Backhaus, G. Jürgen

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845420321

Section: Chapter 58

Section Title: Pietro Trimarchi (1934–)

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

Number of pages: 18

Extract:

58 Pietro Trimarchi (1934­)
Giampaolo Frezza and Francesco Parisi


Introduction
In 1961, Pietro Trimarchi published Rischio e Responsabilità Oggettiva (Risk
and strict liability) (Trimarchi, 1961), a monograph that has become a `mile-
stone' in the economic analysis of the law in Italy. Meanwhile, in the United
States, the writings of Ronald Coase, Richard A. Posner, Guido Calabresi and
Gary Becker were popularizing the so-called `new law and economics'.
Trimarchi, however, studied the delicate question of strict liability separately.
His independent study focused on the function and the structure of strict
liability in microeconomic terms.
Trimarchi's works include other publications concerning the economic
approach to law. Particularly relevant, and quoted in Trimarchi (1961), is Il
`caso fortuito'quale limite della responsabilita per il danno da cose (`Fortu-
itous event' as a limit of the liability for damage caused by things) (Trimarchi,
1959). Another monograph, titled Causalità e danno (Causality and damage)
(Trimarchi, 1967), synthesizes the content of his theory on strict liability for
enterprise risk.
This chapter first assesses Trimarchi's theory and also devotes particular
attention to the economic analysis of the principles of contractual liability
that Trimarchi takes pains to develop and contrast with widespread and
respected theories from the United States. According to Trimarchi, a legal
system, not a conventional system of contractual liability, provides an opti-
mal distribution of productive resources, as supported in a famous essay by
Coase (1960). In `L'analisi economica del diritto: tendenze e prospettive'
(Economic analysis of law: tendencies and ...