The Research Onthe Analytical Paradigm Of Today' S Law And Economics Of The West

Law and economics is an important school of the West Law. Applying economics theories and methods to study and understand legal problems is the character of law and economics. The author analyzed deeply the economics base of Law and economics from the point of analysis paradigm. His objectives, the first is to understand deeply law and economics, the second is to test the successes and failures of economic analysis of law, and point the future development direction of law and economics. Kuhn and others thought that a complete paradigm of science should include metaparadigm, sociological paradigm and construct paradigm. The development of law and economics went through three stages: paradigm proposed, accepted and questioned. The analysis paradigms that are used by law and economics, are economics analysis methods. Rational choice theory is the metaparadigm of law and economics. Rational choice theory looks the legal rules as if they are an implicit market price system, and draws an analogy between the behavioral choice bonded by legal rules and the behavioral choice in market price system. Therefore the analysis methods and ideas of economics are applied naturally to analyze the choice behavior bonded by legal rules. But behavioral economics, experimental economics have proved that there were many "abnormal phenomena" of the rational choice theory, which showed that the rational choice theory needed further development. "The problem of social cost", Coase's article, and its core, Coase theorem, are the sociological paradigm of law and economics. The concept of transaction costs made law be the economics' analysis object, and the analysis method of transaction costs supplied the method which was used to analyze the economy effects by law. As a result, Coase unified the previous and scattered studies on the relation between law and economy, and showed the research directions and fields. Coase theorem was the birth symbol of Law and Economics.The bargaining theory which is the construct paradigm of Law and Economics, consider the best way to realize efficiency is to cooperate voluntarily, meanwhile there are so many obstruction factors that cooperation are very difficult. The economic theories, which further the cause of cooperation and conquer the cooperative obstructions, are made up of the theoretical base of legal rules, and unify the analysis of law under the efficiency theme. The game analysis of law mainly research the individuals strategy behavior bonded by legal rules, and make it possible to abandon the market-is-best idea. So we can understand the institutions from its own properties. The game analysis' advantages on analyzing nonmarket institutions are helping itself become the new construct paradigm of Law and Economics.According to the author's analysis, he considered the development of Law and Economics rely on the advancement of rational choice theory, which is the basic paradigm of Law and Economics. The author refined the concept of ration from two respects: form and content, and proposed a new rational choice theory. Finally the author believe that Law and Economics should have a good future if it is based on the new rational choice theory.