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even better, by showing the ones with power thebenefits of increased security, or of a larger classof prosperous customers.This analysis also suggests which theoretical conceptsand strands of empirical knowledge can behelpful to improve access to justice:- Political economy and sociology can help toidentify the deals that have to be forged inorder to facilitate inclusion.- The image of delivery of justice through asupply chain, points towards the perspectivesof transaction costs economics and logistics(supply chain management).- Legal anthropology, law and sociology, negotiationtheory, conflict resolution theory andgame theory can yield valuable informationabout the construction of environments thathelp people to settle their differences.- Removing barriers to justice and the similaritiesto the delivery of health care or education,suggest remedies that emphasise the efficientcorrection of market failures (Shavell 1997,Barendrecht and van Nispen 2007). While the‘unmet legal needs’ framework typically leadsdirectly to proposals to increase legal aid subsidiesor build a better formal legal infrastructure,the market failure framework both offersmore guidance on how to allocate scarcelegal aid subsidies and suggests other sorts ofstructural reforms that can improve access tojustice.- Knowing that the supply of justice is not apure market transaction, but involves publicgoods as well, and requires a substantial neutralinfrastructure invites the perspectives ofgovernment failure and of public management.- Many of the issues discussed above, and thelinks between access to justice and economicdevelopment, are topics studied by new institutionaleconomics, a body of thought thatemphasises the importance of public sectorinstitutions, including the legal system, ingenerating economic growth, and also focuseson transaction costs (North 1990).As we proceed with this section, we will discussfour strategies to improve access tojustice that have proven their value in practice,or seem to be particularly promising, and linkthem to these theoretical concepts. Our focuswill be on the need to respond to the essentialchallenge: how can the justness and fairness ofwhat is delivered be improved, and, in particular,how can costs are decreased? For this reason, thereduction of transaction costs figures prominentlyin our analysis.We start at the client end of the supply chain,with concerns about facilitating self-help, education,and with the theoretical concept of imperfectinformation. Then we turn to the provisionof legal services, using primarily a market failureperspective. Following this we will review strategiesto develop procedures that are better suitedto the legal needs and the resources of the poor.The potential of informal justice, and its links tothe formal legal system, are discussed at the endof this section.Enabling Self Help with Informationand Community OrganisingFor a person with limited resources trying to getaccess to justice, the first (and sometimes theonly) option is to decide what she can do herself.Her time may be less scarce than money. If shecan find ways to solve the problem without payinglegal fees that is what she will tend to prefer. Soa first strategy for legal empowerment may be toenhance the possibilities for self-help in the areaof access to justice.18