Manufacturer Liability for Harms Caused by Consumers to Others
研究当消费者使用产品伤害他人时，制造商是否应承担法律责任。分析表明，若消费者有足够资产，制造商责任不可取；若消费者资产有限，则“剩余制造商责任”规则可能更优，但会扭曲市场数量或产品安全。
Should the manufacturer of a product be held legally responsible when a consumer, while using the product, harms someone else? We show that if consumers have deep pockets, then manufacturer liability is not desirable. If homogeneous consumers have limited assets, then the best rule is “residual-manufacturer liability” where the manufacturer pays the shortfall in damages not paid by the consumer. Residual-manufacturer liability distorts the market quantity when consumers' willingness to pay is correlated with their propensity to cause harm. It distorts product safety when consumers differ in their wealth levels. In both cases, consumer-only liability may be preferred.