Remark 1. The previous discussion establishes the intuitive result
that negligence yields first-best choices by polluters if compensation
exceeds or is weakly less than harm. This contrasts with the privately
optimal decisions under strict liability. In fact, there are no circumstances
underwhich negligence doesworse than strict liability,whereas
there are circumstances underwhich negligence performs strictly better
than strict liability when it comes to minimizing social costs.