New Economics Papers
on Law and Economics
Issue of 2008‒10‒28
four papers chosen by
Jeong-Joon Lee, Towson University


  1. The Long Term Effects of Legalizing Divorce on Children By Libertad González Luna; Tarja Viitanen
  2. Evidence on women trafficked for sexual exploitation: A rights based analysis By Francesca Bettio; Tushar K. Nandi
  3. A Case Study about the Reputation of Insurance Companies in Craiova (Romania) By Otovescu Frasie, Maria Cristina
  4. The Limited Partnership in New York, 1822-1853: Partnerships without Kinship By Eric Hilt; Katharine E. O'Banion

  1. By: Libertad González Luna; Tarja Viitanen
    Abstract: We estimate the effect of divorce legalization on the long-term well-being of children. Our identification strategy relies on exploiting the different timing of divorce legalization across European countries. Using European Community Household Panel data, we compare the adult outcomes of cohorts who were raised in an environment where divorce was banned with cohorts raised after divorce was legalized in the same country. We also have “control” countries where all cohorts were exposed (or not exposed) to divorce as children, thus leading to a difference-in-differences approach. We find that women who grew up under legal divorce have lower earnings and income as well as worse health as adults compared with women who grew up under illegal divorce. These effects are not found for men. We find no effects of divorce legalization on children’s family formation or dissolution patterns.
    Keywords: Divorce, legislation, intergenerational effects, child outcomes
    JEL: J12 J13 K36
    Date: 2008–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1122&r=law
  2. By: Francesca Bettio; Tushar K. Nandi
    Abstract: The aim of this paper is to investigate which factors influence the pattern of enforcement (violation) of basic rights among women trafficked for sexual exploitation. A conceptual frameworkis adopted where the degree of agency and the possibility to influence the terms of sex-based transactions are seen as conditional on the enforcement of some basic rights. Using IOM data on women assisted in exiting from trafficking for sexual exploitation, we investigate the enforcement (violation) of five uncompromisable rights, namely the right to physical integrity, to move freely, to have access to medical care, to use condoms, and to exercise choice over sexual services. By combining classification trees analysis and ordered probit estimation we find that working location and country of work are the main determinants of rights enforcement, while individual and family characteristics play a marginal role. Specifically, we find that (i) in lower market segments working on the street is comparatively less ‘at risk’ of rights violation; (ii) there is no consistently ‘good’ or ‘bad’ country of work, but public awareness on trafficking within the country is important; (iii) the strength of organized crime in the country of work matters only in conjunction with other local factors, and (iv) being trafficked within one’s country, as opposed to being trafficked internationally, is associated with higher risk of rights violation
    Keywords: human trafficking, sexual exploitation, basic rights, classification and regression trees, ordered probit
    JEL: J49 J8 J16 K42 C35
    Date: 2008–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:543&r=law
  3. By: Otovescu Frasie, Maria Cristina
    Abstract: For the present work we consulted the representative specialty works in our country and abroad, which allowed us to establish the current degree of knowledge and debate in the insurance field. We also carried out a survey focused on the population’s interest and opinion regarding the insurance domain in Romania. The gathered data helped us compose a coherent and unitary image of the insurance field and to establish all the conditions and juridical implications of the insurance contract.
    Keywords: insurance activities; policy; facultative insurances; obligatory
    JEL: G22 K22
    Date: 2008–09–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:11196&r=law
  4. By: Eric Hilt; Katharine E. O'Banion
    Abstract: In 1822, New York became the first common-law state to authorize the formation of limited partnerships, and over the ensuing decades, many other states followed. Most prior research has suggested that these statutes were utilized only rarely, but little is known about their effects. Using newly collected data, this paper analyzes the use of the limited partnership in nineteenth-century New York City. We find that the limited partnership form was adopted by a surprising number of firms, and that limited partnerships had more capital, failed at lower rates, and were less likely to be formed on the basis of kinship ties, compared to ordinary partnerships. The latter differences were not simply due to selection: even though the merchants who invested in limited partnerships were a wealthy and successful elite, their own ordinary partnerships were quite different from their limited partnerships. The results suggest that the limited partnership facilitated investments outside kinship networks, and into the hands of talented young merchants.
    JEL: K2 N81
    Date: 2008–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14412&r=law

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