Conclusion: from law and economics to law, morality, and economics

Victor Dorokhin

Chapter 5 in Law, Morality and Economics, 2026, pp 216-227 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The conclusion synthesizes the main arguments developed throughout the book and articulates a comprehensive alternative to Richard Posner's theory of wealth maximization. Drawing on the Austrian school, moral psychology, neuroeconomics, and legal theory, it proposes a framework for legal policy centred on individual subjectivity, social rationality, and the principle of mutual legal recognition. The text critiques the neoclassical “fallacy” of treating institutions as exogenous and instead emphasizes their endogenous role in shaping economic and legal outcomes. Key normative elements of this alternative approach include the reduction of moral and transaction costs, the rejection of coercive cost-benefit allocations, and the incorporation of Rawls's difference principle as a criterion for legal justice. The concept of law is reconceptualized as a form of mental and normative order grounded in reciprocity, spontaneous coordination, and cognitive-affective capacities for recognizing others as legal subjects. Finally, the conclusion offers a set of normative guidelines for the creation of an ideal institutional environment that promotes freedom, equality, cooperation, and moral legitimacy in both national and international contexts.

Keywords: Difference principle; Friedrich Hayek; Moral costs; Neuroeconomics; Social rationality; Spontaneous order (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035379491
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