Skip to main content

Public Enforcement

  • Living reference work entry
  • Latest version View entry history
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Law and Economics
  • 34 Accesses

Synonyms

Law enforcement by government

Definition

Public enforcement (PE) is a compulsory activity based on the law involving a wide variety of government people such as police, prosecutors, and regulators.

Introduction

Public enforcement (PE) is a government activity sometimes with the use of physical force, involving a wide variety of people in the public sector such as police, prosecutors, and various regulators. In fact, the phenomenon of public enforcement playing such a predominant role is very recent in human history terms.

Believing that an efficient sanctioning mode differs with situations, a number of scholars have examined the issue of enforcement for some time under themes such as “system of social control,” “structure of enforcement,” “modalities of regulation,” or “methods of public control” (Ellickson 1973; Shavell 1993; Posner 2011). In particular, since Becker (1968), scholars have paid special attention to public enforcement and have produced numerous articles.

In...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Becker G (1968) Crime and punishment: an economic approach. J Polit Econ 76:169–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker G, Stigler G (1974) Law enforcement, malfeasance, and compensation of enforcers. J Leg Stud 3:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhole B, Wagner J (2008) The joint use of regulation and strict liability with multidimensional care and uncertain conviction. Int Rev Law Econ 28:123–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blume L, Rubinfeld D, Shapiro P (1984) The takings of land: when should compensation be paid? Q J Econ 99:71–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowles R, Faure M, Garoupa N (2008) The scope of criminal law and criminal sanctions: an economic view and policy implications. J Law Soc 35:389–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breton A, Wintrobe R (1982) The logic of bureaucratic control. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Calabresi G, Melamed D (1972) Property rules, liability rules, and inalienability: one view of the cathedral. Harv Law Rev 85:1089–1128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Antoni M (2019) The complementary role of liability and safety regulation. Am Law Econ Rev 21:150–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Geest G, Dari-Mattiacci G (2007) Soft regulators, tough judges. Supreme Court Econ Rev 15:119–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich I, Becker G (1972) Market insurance, self-insurance and self-protection. J Polit Econ 80:623–648

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellickson R (1973) Alternatives to zoning: covenants, nuisance rules, and fines as land use controls. Univ Chic Law Rev 40:681–714

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epstein R (1985) Talkings: private property and the power of eminent domain. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischel W, Shapiro P (1989) A constitutional choice model of compensation for takings. Int Rev Law Econ 9:115–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garoupa N, Gomez-Pomar F (2004) Punish once or punish twice: a theory of the use of criminal sanctions in addition to regulatory penalties. Am Law Econ Rev 6:410–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Innes R (2000) The economics of takings and compensation when land and its public use value are in private hands. Land Econ 76:195–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim I, Lee H (2019) Constitutional principles of regulatory takings: a utilitarian perspective. Supreme Court Econ Rev 26:81–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolstad C, Ulen T, Johnson G (1990) Ex-post liability for harm vs. ex-ante safety regulation: substitutes or complements? Am Econ Rev 80:888–901

    Google Scholar 

  • La Porta R, Lopez-de-Silanes F, Shleifer A (2006) What works in securities laws? J Financ 61:1–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michelman F (1967) Property, utility, and fairness: comments on the ethical foundations of “just compensation” law. Harv Law Rev 80:1165–1258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mungan M (2018) Optimal preventive law enforcement and stopping standards. Am Law Econ Rev 20:289–317

    Google Scholar 

  • Niemann P, Shapiro P (2008) Efficiency and fairness: compensation for takings. Int Rev Law Econ 28:157–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polinsky M, Shavell S (1984) The optimal use of fines and imprisonment. J Public Econ 24:89–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polinsky M, Shavell S (2000a) The economic theory of public enforcement of law. J Econ Lit 38:45–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polinsky M, Shavell S (2000b) The fairness of sanctions: some implications for optimal enforcement policy. Am Law Econ Rev 2:223–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polinsky M, Shavell S (2007) The theory of public enforcement of law. In: Handbook of law and economics, vol 1. Elsevier, North Holland, pp 403–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner R (2011) Economic analysis of law, 8th edn. Aspen Publishers, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Schäfer H, Singh R (2018) Takings of land by self-interested governments: economic analysis of eminent domain. J Law Econ 61:427–459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweizer U (2017) Efficient compensation: lessons from civil liability. J Inst Theor Econ 173:54–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shavell S (1984a) Liability for harm versus regulation of safety. J Leg Stud 13:357–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shavell S (1984b) A model of the optimal use of liability and safety regulation. Rand J Econ 15:271–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shavell S (1993) The optimal structure of law and enforcement. J Law Econ 36:255–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Iljoong Kim .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Kim, I., Lee, H. (2021). Public Enforcement. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_391-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_391-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Public Enforcement
    Published:
    24 October 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_391-2

  2. Original

    Public Enforcement
    Published:
    26 May 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_391-1