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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Andres, Maximilian; Bruttel, Lisa; Friedrichsen, Jana |
| JEL: | C92 D43 L41 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc21:242372&r= |
| By: | Christoph Engel (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods); Klaus Heine (Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Erasmus School of Law); Shaheen Naseer (Lahore School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Often, religion, law and tradition co-evolve. Religious precepts shape social practice, which translates into law. Yet this harmony is not universal. The Sharia guarantees daughters their share in the family estate. Yet in Pakistan, this rule clashes with tradition. While the country was jointly governed with (mainly Hindu) India, it had been customary that the entire estate goes to the eldest son. Combining a survey with a lab in the field experiment, we show that this is still the descriptive and the injunctive norm. Yet participants have a strong preference for the conflict to be dissolved by legislative intervention. |
| Keywords: | religious norm, legal rule, descriptive and injunctive social norm, inheritance, gender discrimination, Sharia, experiment |
| JEL: | C91 C93 D01 D15 D31 D63 J16 K00 O12 O53 R22 |
| Date: | 2021–05–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpg:wpaper:2021_13&r= |
| By: | G.S Ascione; L. Ciucci; C. Detotto; V. Sterzi |
| Abstract: | In an attempt to increase revenues from patenting and licensing activities, some universities have started in recent years to pursue "overzealous" strategies to protect their existing patents, by enforcing them in court and selling them to the highest bidder. In our paper, we provide the first comprehensive evidence on the characteristics of universities' litigation strategies, by comparing patents litigated by universities to those litigated by patent trolls and other entities. In doing so, we collect data on patent infringement lawsuits in the United States in the years 2003-2016 and we analyze three dimensions that have been identified in the literature as characteristics of patent trolls' behavior - (i) the intensity with which a patent is litigated, (ii) the choice to file a patent lawsuit in the Federal District Court of Texas Eastern, and (iii) the quality of the asserted patents. We find that while overall universities' litigation strategies seem to differ from those of patent trolls, this is not the case in the ICT field, the most targeted by trolls, where universities frequently litigate their patents in the Eastern District of Texas and that are of lower quality compared to patents litigated by other entities. |
| Keywords: | University patents;patent litigation;patent assertion entities;patent quality |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:202105&r= |
| By: | Eugen Dimant; Tobias Gesche |
| Abstract: | The enforcement of social norms is the fabric of a functioning society. Through the lens of mul-tiple studies using different methodologies (a behavioral experiment and a vignette experiment in Study 1, as well as a norm elicitation experiment in Study 2), we examine how motives for lying and norm perceptions steer norm enforcement. Pursuing a pre-registered three-part data collection effort, our study investigates the extent to which norm breaches are sanctioned, how norm-nudges affect punishment behavior, and how enforcement links to norm perceptions. Using a representative sample of U.S. participants, we provide robust evidence that norm-enforcement is not only sensitive to the magnitude of the observed transgression (= size of the lie) but also to the consequence of the transgression (= whether the lie remedies or creates payoff inequalities). We also find that norm enforcers are sensitive to different norm-nudges that convey social in-formation about actual lying behavior or its social disapproval. Importantly, these results hold both in the behavioral experiment and in an add-on vignette study that confirm the robustness of our findings in the context of whistleblowing. To explain the punishment patterns of the behavioral experiment in Study 1, we subsequently examine how norms are perceived across dif-ferent transgressions and how norm-nudges change these perceptions. We find that social norm perceptions are malleable: norm-nudges are most effective when preexisting norms are vague. Importantly, we find that punishment patterns in the first experiment closely follow these norm perceptions. With that, our findings suggest that norm enforcement can be nudged successfully. |
| Keywords: | lying, norm-nudges, nudging, punishment, social norms |
| JEL: | B41 D01 D90 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9385&r= |
| By: | Claudio Deiana (Università di Cagliari and University of Essex); Ludovica Giua (European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)); Roberto Nisticò (Università di Napoli Federico II, CSEF and IZA) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the long-run effects of ineligibility for legalization on immigrants' formal employment and assimilation at work. Our empirical approach exploits the exogenous change in probability of obtaining legal status induced by a 2002 Italian amnesty program targeting irregular foreign workers. We show that immigrants unexposed to the amnesty have a 15% lower probability of being regularly employed a decade later than their counterparts. They also experience a deterioration in their working conditions in the long run, with increases in job immobility and segregation, and a decline in linguistic assimilation. |
| Keywords: | Undocumented immigrants, Amnesty program, Formal employment, Discrimination, Segregation. |
| JEL: | J15 J61 K37 |
| Date: | 2021–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:625&r= |
| By: | Gilbert Cette; Jimmy Lopez |
| Abstract: | We assess the economic impact of reforms promoting self-employment in the three countries that have implemented such reforms since the early 2000s: the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France. To that end, we use an unbalanced cross country-industry dataset of 4,226 observations, including 12 OECD countries and 20 market industries, over the 1995-2016 period. We first observe, using country-level data, that the share of self-employed workers in total employment is quite stable or declines over the period in all countries in our dataset, except in the three countries where large reforms promoting self-employment have been implemented, and only after these reforms. We econometrically confirm this impact on self-employment in our set of 20 industries and we find that, at the end of the period, the reforms may have increased the share of self-employed workers in total employment by 5.5pp on average in the Netherlands, 2.5pp in the United Kingdom and 2pp in France. Then, we investigate the impact of reforms on total employment and value added using a difference-in-differences approach. In spite of a broad sensitivity analysis, we find no evidence that the reforms may have impacted either total employment or value-added.These results suggest that the reforms promoting self-employment may have raised the number of self-employed workers, but mostly through a substitution effect between the self-employed and employees, and not through a supply effect or a substitution effect with informal activities. This means that the reforms may have failed to achieve their main objectives. |
| Keywords: | Self-employment, Entrepreneurship, Structural Reforms. |
| JEL: | H24 J21 J38 K31 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:838&r= |
| By: | Ghazala Azmat (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR, CEP - LSE - Centre for Economic Performance - LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science); Vicente Cunãt (LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science); Emeric Henry (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR) |
| Abstract: | Using a nationally representative longitudinal survey of lawyers in the U.S., we document a sizeable gap between men and women in their early aspirations to become law firm partners, despite similar early investments and educational characteristics. This aspiration gap can explain a large part of the gender promotion gap that is observed later. We propose a model to understand the role of aspirations and then empirically test its predictions. We show that aspirations create incentives to exert effort and are correlated with expectations of success and the preference for becoming a partner. We further show that aspirations are affected by early work experiences—facing harassment or demeaning comments early in the career affects long-term promotion outcomes mediated via aspirations. Our research highlights the importance of accounting for, and managing, career aspirations as an early intervention to close gender career gaps. |
| Date: | 2020–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03393067&r= |
| By: | Gallo, Michael A.; Thinyane, Hannah. |
| Abstract: | The development and expansion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has had far-reach- ing consequences for governance and the world of work, including how labour administrations and inspec- torates manage and deliver services. Labour inspection is an essential part of labour administration and ensures the enforcement of worker’s rights and compliance with relevant legal obligations. As such, labour inspection is one of the many different pathways available for reducing informality through inspectorates’ mandated information sharing and sanctioning activities.An increasing number of governments around the world are interested in exploring, promoting and unlock- ing the full potential of new technologies to facilitate the transition from the informal to the formal economy. Research and evidence on effective strategies, programs, and practical applications of ICTs in this area to date is limited and policymakers stand to benefit from a greater understanding of what works in addressing informality through technology. In this working paper, we broadly explore the relationship and intersection between labour inspection, technology, and formalization and provide a detailed case study of Apprise, an innovative mobile solution that was developed to assist inspectors and other frontline responders in their preliminary screening of workers for indicators of labour violations and exploitation. Although additional impact evaluation studies are necessary, the study concludes that technology-enhanced labour inspection shows promise as a central component of integrated strategies targeting reductions in informality. |
| Keywords: | labour inspection, information technology, informal economy, decent work, case study |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:995151993002676&r= |
| By: | Syed Muhammad All-E-Raza Rizvi (CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne); Marie-Ange Véganzonès-Varoudakis (CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - UCA [2017-2020] - Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | In this article, we use Fixed Effect Poisson Regression (FEPR) with robust standard errors to study the economic, social, and institutional determinants of domestic conflict in 58 fragile states over the period 2004 to 2017. We show that effective institutions (measured by judicial effectiveness) and higher incomes would help reduce conflict in these countries. By contrast, democracy would not mitigate violence, democratic experiences generally showing an increase in conflicts in fragile countries. It would also seem that the development of human capacity does not contribute to the reduction of conflict. This would imply that fragile states first improve the social, economic and institutional conditions of their populations before they benefit from political reforms and of education. The same would be true for economic reforms in the context of globalization, which would not help reduce violence in fragile countries either. |
| Keywords: | Fragile Countries,Conflict,Economic Reforms,Education,Institutions,Democracy |
| Date: | 2021–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03378481&r= |
| By: | Marc Flandreau (University of Pennsylvania); Stefano Pietrosanti (Bank of Italy); Carlotta E. Schuster (UNCTAD) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the reasons why sovereign borrowers post collateral. Such behavior is paradoxical because conventional interpretations of collateral stress repossession of the assets pledged as the key to securing lenders against information asymmetries and moral hazard. However, repossession is generally difficult in the case of sovereign debt and in some cases impossible. Nevertheless, such sovereign `hypothecations` have a long history and are again becoming very popular today in developing countries. To explain sovereign collateralization, we emphasize an informational channel. Posting collateral produces information on opaque borrowers by displaying borrowers` behavior and resources. We support this interpretation by examining the hypothecation `mania` of 1849-1875, when sovereigns borrowing in the London Stock Exchange pledged all kinds of intangible revenues. Yet, at that time, sovereign immunity fully protected both sovereigns and their assets and possessions. Still, we show that hypothecations significantly decreased the cost of sovereign debt. To explain how, we stress the pledges` role in documenting sovereigns` wealth and the management of revenue streams. Based on an exhaustive library of bond prospectuses collected from primary sources, matched with a panel of sovereign bond yields and an innovative measure of sovereign fiscal transparency, we show that collateral minutely described in debt covenants served to document and monitor sovereign resources and development prospects. Encasing this information in contracts written by lawyers served to certify the quality of the resulting data disclosure process, explaining investors` readiness to pay a premium. |
| Keywords: | Collateral, Information, Sovereign debt, Informal enforcement, Financial innovation, Contract innovation |
| JEL: | N20 G24 K12 K33 H63 |
| Date: | 2021–10–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:thk:wpaper:inetwp167&r= |
| By: | Michela Bia; German Blanco; Marie Valentova |
| Abstract: | Within the context of Luxembourg, we analyze the causal effect of parental leave take up on post-birth hourly wages of an important subpopulation of parental-leave-eligible mothers, i.e., first-time mothers that are always employed regardless of having taken parental leave. In our analysis, we simultaneously address selection of eligible mothers in taking parental leave, and selection of eligible mothers into employment. To deal with the first complication, we assume that conditional on observed pre-intervention covariates there are no unobserved factors associated to both the assignment to parental leave and the potential post-birth hourly wages. To this end, we control for a rich set of pre-intervention characteristics that were obtained from Social Security administrative data from 2005 to 2010. The second complication arises since the outcome of hourly wages is only defined for the (post-birth) employed subpopulation. We deal with selection into employment by utilizing a Principal Stratification framework and recent non-parametric bounds. We argue that the monotonicity-type assumptions employed for bounding causal parameters are plausible in the context analyzed and potentially weaker than conventional alternatives. Our estimated bounds allow us to undertake inference for a subpopulation of parental-leave-eligible mothers that are always employed regardless of having taken parental leave. This subpopulation accounts for about 80 percent of all eligible mothers in our dataset. Our estimated bounds on average effects of parental leave take-up on hourly wages are consistent with important, albeit statistically insignificant, reductions in all periods analyzed (i.e., 2, 3, 4 and 5 years after birth). Interestingly, we find evidence of heterogeneous impacts of parental leave take-up across the distribution of post-birth wages. Our estimated bounds, in general, show that the quantile treatment effects of parental leave take-up on post-birth wages of always employed mothers are negative and significant in most quantiles above the median. |
| Keywords: | parental leave; wage; human capital; take-up |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2021-08&r= |
| By: | Cyprien Batut (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, DGTPE - Direction Générale du Trésor et de la Politique Economique - Ministère de l'Economie, des Finances et de l'Industrie); Caroline Coly (Bocconi University - Bocconi University [Milan, Italy], PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, AXA - Groupe AXA, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Sarah Schneider-Strawczynski (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Sexual harassment and sexists behaviors are pervasive issues in the workplace. Around 12% of women in France have been subjected to toxic behaviors at work in the last year, including sexist comments, moral, sexual or physical harassment, or violence. Such toxic behaviors can not only deter women from entering the labor market, but can also lead them to leave toxic workplaces at their own expense. This article is one of the first to examine the relationship between toxic behaviors and worker flows. We use the #MeToo movement as an exogenous shock to France's workplace norms regarding toxic behaviors. We combine survey data on reported toxic behaviors in firms with exhaustive administrative data to create a measure of toxic behaviors risk for all French establishments. We use a tripledifference strategy comparing female and male worker flows in high-risk versus low-risk firms before and after #MeToo. We find that #MeToo increased women's relative quit rates in higher-risk workplaces, while men's worker flows remained unaffected. This demonstrates the existence of a double penalty for women working in high-risk environments, as they are not only more frequently the victims of toxic behaviors, but are also forced to quit their jobs in order to avoid them. |
| Keywords: | Occupational Gender Inequality,Workflows,Sexual harassment,Social Movement |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-03403513&r= |
| By: | Michele Fioretti (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that a firm's objectives can extend beyond profit maximization. I use data from a for-profit firm offering charity auctions of celebrities belongings whose donations affect both revenues and costs. Comparing actual donations with the profit-maximizing benchmark indicates that the firm donates in excess of profitmaximization. I provide additional evidence pointing to donations as a further objective of the firm. Also, donations do not substantially increase willingness to pay, indicating that demand cannot explain expenditures in CSR. My results shed light on the functioning of benefit corporations and open questions on the competitive conduct of non-profit maximizing companies. |
| Keywords: | Objectives of the firm,Corporate Social Responsibility,Donations,Structural Estimation,Externalities |
| Date: | 2020–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03393065&r= |