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on Law and Economics |
| By: | MICHAEL ARNOLD (Department of Economics,University of Delaware); ERIC DARMON (CREM, University of Rennes); SYLVAIN DEJEAN (CREM, LR-MOS, University of La Rochelle); THIERRY PENARD (CREM, University of Rennes 1 & University of Delaware) |
| Abstract: | Most developed countries have tried to restrain digital piracy by strength- ening laws against copyright infringement. In 2009, France implemented the Hadopi law. Under this law individuals receive a warning the first two times they are detected illegally sharing content through peer to peer (P2P) networks. Legal action is only taken when a third violation is detected. We analyze the impact of this law on individual behavior. Our theoretical model of illegal be- havior under a graduated response law predicts that the perceived probability of detection has no impact on the decision to initially engage in digital piracy, but may reduce the intensity of illegal file sharing by those who do pirate. We test the theory using survey data from French Internet users. Our econometric results indicate that the law has no substantial deterrent effect. In addition, we find evidence that individuals who are better informed about the law and piracy alternatives substitute away from monitored P2P networks and illegally access content through unmonitored channels. |
| Keywords: | Digital Piracy, digital media, Hadopi, three-strikes law, property rights |
| JEL: | L82 O34 K42 D11 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dlw:wpaper:14-07.&r=law |
| By: | Sergey V. Tretyakov (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The main idea of this paper is that some sort of legal theory dealing with the law’s social impact is an indispensable element of the legal profession in the time of late modernity. Can legal theory pro-vide an adequate understanding of the social context of the application of law, relying solely on in-ternal resources? If not, which interdisiplinary discourse is the best and why? |
| Keywords: | efficiency, effectiveness, social context of law, neoclassical economics, behav-ioral law and economics, Hart, Kelsen, Sunstein, Glaeser |
| JEL: | K10 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:31/law/2014&r=law |
| By: | William E. Kovacic, Petros C. Mavroidis, Damien J. Neven (IHEID, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to discuss and compare the role that different constituencies play in US and EU procedures for merger control. We describe the main constituencies (both internal and external) involved in merger control in both jurisdictions and discuss how a typical merger case would be handled under these procedures. At each stage, we consider how the procedure unfolds, which parties are involved, and how they can affect the procedure. Our discussion reveals a very different ecology. EU and US procedures differ in terms of their basic design and in terms of the procedures that are naturally associated with these alternative designs. On the one hand, there is a single investigator and decision maker operating under a symmetric mandate in the EU and on the other hand, an investigation and settlement operating under the threat of a court decision in case of challenge only in the US. The EU has developed numerous procedures and has granted extensive rights to the parties in the context of these procedures in order to provide some guarantee that the Commission’s role as investigator and decision maker at first instance is not abused. By contrast, the US procedures appear to be rather informal, the balance in the investigation and evaluation of the merger being provided by the credible threat of a court decision. With a strong federal government that has extensive competences for regulation, merger control on competition grounds is subject to the additional public interest test of regulators in the US. Such additional control is weak in the EU, which has more limited competences for regulation. In addition, both the executive and the legislative powers are more fully developed at the federal level in the US. Both the executive power and the legislative seem to be in position to wield greater influence on enforcement in the US than is the case in the EU. |
| JEL: | K21 K40 K4 |
| Date: | 2014–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:giihei:heidwp01-2014&r=law |
| By: | Arnaud Chevalier; Olivier Marie |
| Abstract: | We study the link between parental selection and children criminality in a new context. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany experienced an unprecedented temporary drop in fertility driven by economic uncertainty. We exploit this natural experiment to estimate that the children from these (smaller) cohorts are 40 percent more likely to commit crimes. We show that women who gave birth at this period were negatively selected. Investigation of the underlying mechanisms reveals that emotional attachment and risk attitudes play important roles in the fertility-crime relationship. Finally, results for siblings support a causal interpretation of our findings. |
| Keywords: | Crime, parental selection, fertility, economic uncertainty, risk attitude |
| JEL: | J13 K42 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1256&r=law |
| By: | Mario Mariniello |
| Abstract: | The issue: Excluding cartels, most investigations into suspected infringements of European Union competition law are resolved with â??commitment decisionsâ??. The European Commission drops the case in exchange for a commitment from the company under investigation to implement measures to stop the presumed anti-competitive behaviour. Commitment decisions are considered speedier than formal sanctions (prohibition decisions) in restoring normal competitive market conditions. They have a cost, however: commitments are voluntary and are unlikely to be subject to judicial review. This reduces the European Commissionâ??s incentive to build a robust case. Because commitment decisions do not establish any legal precedent, they provide for little guidance on the interpretation of the law. Policy challenge: The European Commission relies increasingly on commitment decisions. More transparency on the substance of allegations, and the establishment of a higher number of legal precedents, are however necessary. This applies in particular to cases that tackle antitrust issues in new areas, such as markets for digital goods, in which companies might find it difficult to assess if a certain behaviour constitutes a violation of competition rules. To ensure greater transparency and mitigate some of the drawbacks of commitment decisions, while retaining their main benefits, the full detail of the objections addressed by the European Commission to defendants should be published. |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:polbrf:809&r=law |
| By: | Grossbard, Shoshana (San Diego State University, California); Vernon, Victoria (Empire State College) |
| Abstract: | Does availability of common law marriage (CLM henceforth) in the U.S help explain variation in the labor force participation, hours of work and hours of household production of men and women over time and across states? As CLM offers more legal protection to household producers at the margin between single status and marriage, we expect it to discourage labor supply and encourage household production on the part of household producers who are married or cohabit. In the context of traditional gender roles this implies a negative association between availability of CLM and the labor supply of women who are either married or cohabit. Also assuming traditional gender roles, men are then expected to work more in the labor force when CLM is available. We analyze micro data from CPS-iPums for the period 1995-2011 to investigate labor outcomes and from the ATUS for the period 2003-11 to study effects on household production and total hours of work. Labor supply effects of CLM availability are almost always negative for cohabiting and married women, and sometimes also for single women. The effects of CLM on men's labor supply tend to be negative when samples include all men aged 18-35. However, for the groups that we identified as most likely to be affected by CLM availability – the youngest white men w/o college education – we find positive effects. Married non-black men and women and work less in home production under CLM. |
| Keywords: | labor supply, marriage, law and economics, household production |
| JEL: | J12 J16 J22 K36 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7937&r=law |
| By: | Lindo, Jason M. (Texas A&M University); Siminski, Peter (University of Wollongong); Yerokhin, Oleg (University of Wollongong) |
| Abstract: | A large literature has documented significant public health benefits associated with the minimum legal drinking age in the United States, particularly because of the resulting effects on motor vehicle accidents. These benefits form the primary basis for continued efforts to restrict youth access to alcohol. It is important to keep in mind, though, that policymakers have a wide variety of alcohol-control options available to them, and understanding how these policies may complement or substitute for one another can improve policy making moving forward. Towards this end, we propose that investigating the causal effects of the minimum legal drinking age in New South Wales, Australia provides a particularly informative case study, because Australian states are among the world leaders in their efforts against drunk driving. Using an age-based regression-discontinuity design applied to restricted-use data from several sources, we find no evidence that legal access to alcohol has effects on motor vehicle accidents of any type in New South Wales, despite having large effects on drinking and on hospitalizations due to alcohol abuse. |
| Keywords: | health, alcohol, minimum legal drinking age, drunk driving |
| JEL: | I18 K32 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7930&r=law |
| By: | Olivier Thévenon (INED) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the response of female labour force participation to changes in labour markets and policies supporting the reconciliation of work and family life, with country-level data from the early 1980s for 18 OECD countries. It includes an original analysis of interactions and complementarity between different policy measures, as well as of potential variations in the influence of policies across different family policy regimes. The results highlight that while employment rates react to changes in tax rates and in leave policies, increased provision of formal childcare services to working parents with children below three years old is a key policy driver of female labour force participation. The coverage of childcare services is found to have a greater effect on women's labour market participation in countries with relatively high levels of employment protection, longer paid leave, and with other measures supporting working mothers. In all, it suggests that policy measures securing the labour market participation of women with young children interact with each other to maximise their overall effect on employment rates. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idg:wpaper:201&r=law |
| By: | Ana Lourenço (Faculdade de Economia e Gestão - Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto) |
| Abstract: | This article was written as a tribute to Professor Ronald Coase. It acknowledges his scholarly contributions to understanding the existence and boundaries of the firm, and the role of legal rules in organizing economic activity. It also recognizes the reflexivity, realism, simplicity and wit inherent to the work of Professor Ronald Coase. |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cap:wpaper:062013&r=law |
| By: | Nicolas Dias Gomes (Faculty opf Economics, University of Coimbra and INESC-Coimbra, Portugal); Pedro André Cerqueira (Faculty opf Economics, University of Coimbra and GEMF, Portugal); Luís Alçada Almeida (Faculty opf Economics, University of Coimbra and INESC-Coimbra, Portugal) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the relation between levels of taxation among different types of households in the European Union and the levels of software piracy from 1996 to 2010. It extends previous works introducing a large panel data set for the European Union and it´s different regions. We estimate our model using the fixed effect, comparing results from the Euro Area and the Countries that joined EU in 2004 and 2007. Results show that levels of taxation increase the levels of software piracy losses; moreover these results depend on marital status and number of children. The weight of taxation on GDP, namely the taxes on consumption, have a positive effect on piracy losses while the impact of inflation is negative and marginal. Additional to this we also found that the relative importance of these taxes in relation to total taxation can affect this phenomenon. An increase in the weight of capital taxation would decrease software piracy while this effect was opposite when considering the relative importance of consumption taxes. |
| Keywords: | Panel data, personal taxation, software piracy. |
| JEL: | C23 H20 O52 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gmf:wpaper:2014-03.&r=law |