ABSTRACT
The economic theory of property rights emphasizes the dependence of the use of resources and of every division of labour on the assignment and specification of property rights, and infers from this assumption the need for an economic analysis of law. Many provisions of national and international economic law contain prohibitions whose legal effects are conditional on the ascertainment of specified economic effects. The interpretation and application of private and public, national and international economic law must take account not only of the effects of the respective rules of law, but also of their economic rationale and functions in order to assess the economic advantages and detriments of alternative courses of action. An evaluation of the potential effectiveness of international economic rules must therefore take account of the extent to which the legal, economic and political rationales of the respective rules coincide.
