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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Elliott Ash (ETH Zurich); Sam Asher (Johns Hopkins); Aditi Bhowmick (Development Data Lab); Sandeep Bhupatiraju (World Bank); Daniel Chen (Toulouse; World Bank); Tanaya Devi (Harvard); Christoph Goessmann (ETH Zurich); Paul Novosad (Dartmouth College); Bilal Siddiqi (UC Berkeley; Center for Global Development) |
| Abstract: | We study judicial in-group bias in Indian criminal courts using a newly collected dataset on over 5 million criminal case records from 2010–2018. After detecting gender and religious identity using a neural-net classifier applied to judge and defendant names, we exploit quasi-random assignment of cases to judges to examine whether defendant outcomes are affected by assignment to a judge with a similar identity. In the aggregate, we estimate tight zero effects of in-group bias based on shared gender, religion, and last name (a proxy for caste). We do find limited in-group bias in some (but not all) settings where identity is salient—in particular, we find a small religious in-group bias during Ramadan, and we find shared-name in-group bias when judge and defendant match on a rare last name. |
| JEL: | J15 J16 K4 O12 |
| Date: | 2023–03–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:637&r=law |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | This report assesses the continued relevance of the OECD Recommendation on Cross-Border Co-operation in the Enforcement of Laws Protecting Privacy, originally adopted in 2007. It examines whether the Recommendation has kept pace with the evolving needs of Privacy Enforcement Authorities (PEAs) in light of significant technological and legal changes over the past 15 years. While the principles underlying the Recommendation are seen to remain solid, the report highlights several gaps and challenges for cross-border enforcement co-operation. It concludes that the OECD could either provide additional guidance to support the implementation of the Recommendation or consider revising it to better address current challenges. |
| Date: | 2023–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaab:359-en&r=law |
| By: | Hoynes, Hilary (University of California Berkeley); Maestas, Nicole; Strand, Alexander |
| Abstract: | Legal representatives play a prominent role in the Social Security Disability Insurance adjudication process, earning fees totaling $1.2 billion in 2019. Long ubiquitous in appellate hearings, disability representatives—including attorneys and non-attorneys—have begun appearing more frequently at the beginning of cases, during the initial review. This development has raised questions about the motives of disability law firms, who are sometimes perceived to prioritize their own interests in response to incentives in the fee structure set by the Social Security Administration. At the same time, these concerns have revealed just how little is understood about the value of legal representation for claimants in disability cases. We provide the first estimates of the causal impact of legal representation on case outcomes when representatives are engaged from the initial stage. Our analysis is made possible by new administrative data identifying representatives appointed to disability claims at the initial and appellate levels. To address selection into representation, we instrument for initial representation using geographic and temporal variation in disability law firm market shares in the closely related but distinct appellate market. Among applicants on the margin of obtaining representation at the initial level, representation improves case outcomes and administrative efficiency across several metrics. Legal representation increases the probability of initial award by 23 percentage points, reduces the probability of appeal by 45 points, and induces no detectable change in the ultimate probability of award (including appeals). This pattern indicates that legal representation in the initial stage leads to earlier disability awards to individuals who would otherwise be awarded benefits only on appeal. Furthermore, by securing earlier awards and discouraging unsupported appeals, representation reduces total case processing time by nearly one year. Our analysis explores several mechanisms. (Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Working Paper) |
| Date: | 2023–09–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:svcy3&r=law |
| By: | Perrotta Berlin, Maria (Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics); Latour, Chiara (Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics); Spagnolo, Giancarlo (Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the causal effect of the asymmetric criminalization of prostitution on sex tourism. We exploit legal reforms in five countries that switched from systems where prostitution was legal (Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Canada), or where only buying sex was legal (France), to the “Nordic model” where only buying is criminalized. Using a difference-in-differences approach on data from Google trends and tourism statistics, we estimate the impact of the reforms on tourism flows to neighboring countries and popular sex tourism destinations. We find significant effects for countries where prostitution was legal, but not for France where selling sex was prohibited. |
| Keywords: | Prostitution law; Nordic model; Sex tourism; Google Trends; Policy spillovers |
| JEL: | D04 K14 |
| Date: | 2023–09–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:hasite:0063&r=law |
| By: | Jeroen Hinloopen (CPB Netherlands); Sander Onderstal (University of Amsterdam); Adriaan Soetevent (University of Groningen) |
| Abstract: | This special issue marks the 25th anniversary of the introduction of a leniency program for antitrust in the EU and contains five original papers: Each paper examines the effects of design parameters of leniency programs on their performance. Before introducing each contribution separately, we put them in perspective by introducing readers to the existing theoretical, empirical, and experimental literature on corporate leniency programs for antitrust. |
| Keywords: | Leniency programs, antitrust, competition policy, cartel. |
| JEL: | L41 L44 |
| Date: | 2023–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20230045&r=law |
| By: | Valerio Sterzi (GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Jean Paul Rameshkoumar (GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Johannes van Der Pol (GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | While various studies in the fields of law and economics have analysed the business models of patent aggregators and large non-practicing entities (NPEs) in the US, small NPEs operating in Europe typically escape academic and media attention. Here, to address this imbalance, we specifically identify and characterize the patent portfolios of NPEs registered as dormant companies in the UK and investigate whether they are created for the purpose of acquiring valuable IP assets or launching litigation campaigns. Our econometric analysis – based on more than two hundred NPEs registered as dormant companies in 2019 – supports the second hypothesis. Finally, as an illustrative example of how small NPEs use UK dormant companies to acquire and litigate patents in Europe, we describe the business model of Dragon Green Development Balboa SA, an entity incorporated in the Republic of Panama that controls thirteen UK dormant companies and which is involved in fourteen patent litigation cases in Germany. © 2021 |
| Keywords: | Balboa, Business Models, Dormant Company, Economics, Laws And Legislation, Media Attention, Non-Practicing Entity, Patent Assertion Entity, Patent Litigation, Patent Ownership, Patent Portfolio, Patent Transparency, Patent Trolls, Patents And Inventions, Transparency |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03432871&r=law |
| By: | Belinda Archibong; Nonso Obikili |
| Abstract: | Institutions of justice, like prisons, can be used to serve economic and other extrajudicial interests, with lasting deleterious effects. We study the effects on incarceration when prisoners are primarily used as a source of labor using evidence from British colonial Nigeria. We digitized 65 years of archival records on prisons from 1920 to 1995 and provide new estimates on the value of colonial prison labor and the effects of labor demand shocks on incarceration. We find that prison labor was economically valuable to the colonial regime, making up a significant share of colonial public works expenditure. Positive economic shocks increased incarceration rates over the colonial period. This result is reversed in the postcolonial period, where prison labor is not a notable feature of state public finance. We document a significant reduction in present-day trust in legal institutions, such as the police, in areas with high historical exposure to colonial imprisonment; the resulting reduction in trust is specific to legal institutions. |
| JEL: | H5 J47 N37 O10 O43 |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31637&r=law |