The Economic Structure of Fiduciary Law

The Economic Structure of Fiduciary Law
Author: Robert H. Sitkoff
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2011
Genre: Trusts and trustees
ISBN:

"Abstract: This essay revisits the economic theory of fiduciary law. Nearly two decades have passed since the publication of the seminal economic analyses of fiduciary law by Cooter and Freedman (1991), and by Easterbrook and Fischel (1993), which together have come to underpin the prevailing economic, contractarian model of fiduciary law. The economic theory of agency that motivates those papers has come to permeate the literature on law and legal institutions generally. The law-and-economics movement has matured further, developing new tools and refining its understanding of previously applied concepts. The purpose of this essay is to restatethe economic theory of fiduciary law in an updated and accessible synthesis"--John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Business web site.

An Economic Theory of Fiduciary Law

An Economic Theory of Fiduciary Law
Author: Robert H. Sitkoff
Publisher:
Total Pages: 14
Release: 2014
Genre:
ISBN:

This chapter restates the economic theory of fiduciary law, making several fresh contributions. First, it elaborates on earlier work by clarifying the agency problem that is at the core of all fiduciary relationships. In consequence of this common economic structure, there is a common doctrinal structure that cuts across the application of fiduciary principles in different contexts. However, within this common structure, the particulars of fiduciary obligation vary in accordance with the particulars of the agency problem in the fiduciary relationship at issue. This point explains the purported elusiveness of fiduciary doctrine. It also explains why courts apply fiduciary law both categorically, such as to trustees and (legal) agents, as well as ad hoc to relationships involving a position of trust and confidence that gives rise to an agency problem.Second, this chapter identifies a functional distinction between primary and subsidiary fiduciary rules. In all fiduciary relationships we find general duties of loyalty and care, typically phrased as standards, which proscribe conflicts of interest and prescribe an objective standard of care. But we also find specific subsidiary fiduciary duties, often phrased as rules, that elaborate on the application of loyalty and care to commonly recurring circumstances in the particular form of fiduciary relationship. Together, the general primary duties of loyalty and care and the specific subsidiary rules provide for governance by a mix of rules and standards that offers the benefits of both while mitigating their respective weaknesses. Finally, this chapter revisits the puzzle of why fiduciary law includes mandatory rules that cannot be waived in a relationship deemed fiduciary. Committed economic contractarians, such as Easterbrook and Fischel, have had difficulty in explaining why the parties to a fiduciary relationship do not have complete freedom of contract. The answer is that the mandatory core of fiduciary law serves a cautionary and protective function within the fiduciary relationship as well as an external categorization function that clarifies rights for third parties. The existence of a mandatory fiduciary core is thus reconcilable with an economic theory of fiduciary law.

Fiduciary Law

Fiduciary Law
Author: Tamar Frankel
Publisher:
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2011
Genre: Law
ISBN: 019539156X

In Fiduciary Law, Tamar Frankel examines the structure, principles, themes, and objectives of fiduciary law. Fiduciaries, which include corporate managers, money managers, lawyers, and physicians among others, are entrusted with money or power. Frankel explains how fiduciary law is designed to offer protection from abuse of this method of safekeeping. She deals with fiduciaries in general, and identifies situations in which fiduciary law falls short of offering protection. Frankel analyzes fiduciary debates, and argues that greater preventive measures are required. She offers guidelines for determining the boundaries and substance of fiduciary law, and discusses how failure to enforce fiduciary law can contribute to failing financial and economic systems. Frankel offers ideas and explanations for the courts, regulators, and legislatures, as well as the fiduciaries and entrustors. She argues for strong legal protection against abuse of entrustment as a means of encouraging fiduciary services in society. Fiduciary Law can help lawyers and policy makers designing the future law and the systems that it protects.

The Economic Structure of Corporate Law

The Economic Structure of Corporate Law
Author: Frank H. Easterbrook
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 386
Release: 1996
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780674235397

This text argues that the rules and practices of corporate law mimic contractual provisions that parties involved in corporate enterprise would reach if they always bargained at zero cost and flawlessly enforced their agreements. It states that corporate l

The Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law

The Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law
Author: Evan J. Criddle
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 912
Release: 2019-04-29
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0190634111

The Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law provides a comprehensive overview of critical topics in fiduciary law and theory through chapters authored by leading scholars. The Handbook opens with surveys of the many fields of law in which fiduciary duties arise, including agency law, trust law, corporate law, pension law, bankruptcy law, family law, employment law, legal representation, health care, and international law. Drawing on these surveys, the Handbook offers a synthetic analysis of fiduciary law's key concepts and principles. Chapters in the Handbook explore the defining features of fiduciary relationships, clarify the distinctive fiduciary duties that arise in these relationships, and identify the remedies available for breach of fiduciary duties. The volume also provides numerous comparative perspectives on fiduciary law from eminent legal historians and from scholars with deep expertise in a diverse array of the world's legal systems. Finally, the Handbook lays the groundwork for future research on fiduciary law and theory by highlighting cross-cutting themes, identifying persistent theoretical and practical challenges, and exploring how the field could be enriched through empirical analysis and interdisciplinary insights from economics, philosophy, and psychology. Unparalleled in its breadth and depth of coverage, The Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law represents an invaluable resource for practitioners, policymakers, scholars, and students in this essential field of law.

Philosophical Foundations of Fiduciary Law

Philosophical Foundations of Fiduciary Law
Author: Andrew S. Gold
Publisher:
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2014
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0198701721

Fiduciary law is one of the most important areas of law, governing a wide range of relationships that affect people in their daily lives. These new and innovative essays explore the foundations of fiduciary relationships and the duties of loyalty fiduciaries owe to their beneficiaries.

The Economic Structure of Trusts

The Economic Structure of Trusts
Author: M. W. Lau
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2011-01-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199602409

Providing an economic account of why trusts exist and how trust law should be shaped, this book explains the economic benefits of trusts as an extension of the law of property, arguing against accounts of trusts law grounded in the law of personal obligations. The theoretical model is then used to criticise recent developments in the law.

Research Handbook on Fiduciary Law

Research Handbook on Fiduciary Law
Author: D. Gordon Smith
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 471
Release:
Genre: Electronic books
ISBN: 1784714836

The Research Handbook on Fiduciary Law offers specially commissioned chapters written by leading scholars and covers a wide range of important topics in fiduciary law. Topical contributions discuss: various fiduciary relationships; the duty of loyalty and other fiduciary obligations; fiduciary remedies; the role of equity; the role of trust; international and comparative perspectives; and public fiduciary law. This Research Handbook will be of interest to readers concerned with both theory and practice, as it incorporates significant new insights and developments in the field.

Fiduciaries and Trust

Fiduciaries and Trust
Author: Paul B. Miller
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2020-04-02
Genre: Law
ISBN: 110848042X

Explores the interactions of fiduciary law and personal and political trust in private, public and international law.

Fiduciary Law and Responsible Investing

Fiduciary Law and Responsible Investing
Author: Benjamin J. Richardson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2013-08-21
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1135941068

This book is about fiduciary law’s influence on the financial economy’s environmental performance, focusing on how the law affects responsible investing and considering possible legal reforms to shift financial markets closer towards sustainability. Fiduciary law governs how trustees, fund managers or other custodians administer the investment portfolios owned by beneficiaries. Written for a diverse audience, not just legal scholars, the book examines in a multi-jurisdictional context an array of philosophical, institutional and economic issues that have shaped the movement for responsible investing and its legal framework. Fiduciary law has acquired greater influence in the financial economy in tandem with the extraordinary recent growth of institutional funds such as pension plans and insurance company portfolios. While the fiduciary prejudice against responsible investing has somewhat waned in recent years, owing mainly to reinterpretations of fiduciary and trust law, significant barriers remain. This book advances the notion of ‘nature’s trust’ to metaphorically signal how fiduciary responsibility should accommodate society’s dependence on long-term environmental well-being. Financial institutions, managing vast investment portfolios on behalf of millions of beneficiaries, should manage those investments with regard to the broader social interest in sustaining ecological health. Even for their own financial self-interest, investors over the long-term should benefit from maintaining nature’s capital. We should expect everyone to act in nature’s trust, from individual funds to market regulators. The ancient public trust doctrine could be refashioned for stimulating this change, and sovereign wealth funds should take the lead in pioneering best practices for environmentally responsible investing.