Understanding Legal Convergence: Economic Theories and Alternatives

Yun-chien Chang's Property Law is a quantified survey of property laws across the globe-the first of its kind.Chang's database took many years to compile and code and is, without a doubt, one of the more significant empirical contributions to the fields of private law and comparative law in recent years.It opens up an enormous range of comparative and theoretical inquiries that previously could only be pursued in highly abstract or piecemeal forms.On that basis alone, the book deserves robust praise and widespread reference.When it comes to theoretical arguments about sociolegal causality and normative evaluation, Chang positions himself firmly within a very specific kind of microeconomics-oriented private law theory and, therefore, is vulnerable to all the controversy that has traditionally surrounded that school of thought.Taking a somewhat stylized view of property and contract relations as rational bargaining between self-interested parties, this school generally seeks to minimize the transaction costs and information costs involved in such bargains-and when that is impossible, seeks to mimic the outcomes of zero-transaction cost bargaining (Merrill and Smith 2000;Kaplow and Shavell 1996).It has long been criticized for taking an overly simplistic view of socioeconomic behavior (Alexander 2011; Zhang 2020) and often responds by arguing that its models are more empirically robust than those of its detractors (Chang and Smith 2012).Chang's book operates quite comfortably within this latter strand of argument.Fortunately, it represents the school in its best form, careful and precise enough that any potential disagreement can be productive and mutually beneficial.All in all, this is an extraordinary achievement that solidifies Chang's position as one of the most resourceful and thoughtful comparative private law scholars of his generation.