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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Friehe, Tim; Rössler, Christoph; Dong, Xiaoge |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the workings of liability when harm-in icting consumers are present biased and both product safety and consumer care in uence expected harm. We show that present bias introduces a rationale for shifting some losses onto the manufacturer, in stark contrast with the baseline scenario in which strict consumer liability induces socially optimal product safety and precaution levels. In addition, we establish that strict liability with contributory negligence may induce socially optimal product safety and precaution choices without aggravating the output level distortion. |
| Keywords: | Liability,Present Bias,Product Safety,Consumer Precaution |
| JEL: | D91 H23 K13 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ilewps:20&r=all |
| By: | Lars Hornuf; Lars Klöhn |
| Abstract: | Historically, people have often expressed negative feelings toward speculators, a sentiment that might have even been reinforced since the latest financial crisis, during which taxpayer money was warranted or spent to bail out reckless investors. In this paper, we conjecture that judges may also have anti-speculator sentiment, which might affect their professional decision making. We asked 123 professional lawyers and 247 law students in Germany this question, and they clearly predicted that judges would have an anti-speculator bias. However, in an actual behavioral study, 185 judges did not exhibit such bias. In another sample of 170 professional lawyers, we found weak support for an anti-speculator bias. This evidence suggests that an independent audience may actually perceive unbiased judgments as biased. While the literature usually suggests that a communication problem exists between lawyers and non-lawyers (i.e. between judges and the general public), we find that this problem can also exist within the legal community. |
| Keywords: | speculator bias, judges, experimental law and economics |
| JEL: | C90 K41 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7375&r=all |
| By: | Mikołaj Malinowski (Lund University / Utrecht University) |
| Abstract: | With use of innovative proxies and new annual data, I demonstrate that relatively high legal capacity and regulatory activity of the early-modern Polish parliament was positively associated with deeper commodity market integration. Conversely, the lack of effective law-making, caused by the right of a single delegate to discontinue the parliamentary sessions, fostered market fragmentation. This indicates that early parliamentary regimes might have required legal capacity to harmonize domestic institutions and reduce the transaction costs. The Polish case suggests a hypothesis that the pre-1800 ‘Little Divergence’ between European parliamentary regimes could potentially be partially explained by differences in their capacities. |
| Keywords: | Legal capacity, market integration, preindustrial economic development, Eastern Europe |
| JEL: | N43 N73 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0143&r=all |
| By: | Luis Aguiar (European Commission - JRC - IPTS); Joel Waldfogel (University of Minnesota - Carlson School of Management) |
| Keywords: | Music Streaming, Music Industry, Copyright |
| JEL: | K42 L82 O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:decwpa:2018-04&r=all |
| By: | Mirza, Arshad; Singh, Nirvikar |
| Abstract: | The context of the paper's analysis is the arguably poor state of mental health care in India, as well as an unprecedented level of policy attention to the issue. The questions posed pertain to (1) the provision of such care in hospitals, (2) non-hospital provision, including by non-medical providers, (3) issues of education and social acceptance, (4) affordability, (5) within-country variation of care and possibilities for benchmarking, (6) aggregate resource impacts of a concerted effort to change policies and improve care, and (7) the shape of a more effective “continuum of care for mental health issues. The paper argues that, while new laws and policies being introduced in India propose ideas and changes that are groundbreaking for that country, leading to cautious optimism, there still are many gaps in the understanding of the challenges of the provision of increased access to, as well as better quality, mental health care throughout the country. These challenges can be understood on two fronts: one is the psychiatric and medical aspect of the issues, and the other is the management and administration of the system. A priority in achieving the goals of greater access and better quality is to increase the number of trained personnel at all levels of specialization and skilling that are relevant. Further, while the new legal framework and policy identify the importance of information technology in rapid expansion of access to mental healthcare, more context-specific research and trials are needed. With respect to the administration and management needs of the public system, important challenges will be the need for significant organizational innovations in the education system, and cultural changes that allow specialized medical professionals to accept the use of software and less-qualified, more dispersed, frontline providers. A final area is the interface between the public and private sectors, including the role of non-profit organizations: challenges include information sharing, division of responsibilities, and resource allocation. |
| Keywords: | Mental health, India, healthcare, insurance, public policy, human rights, discrimination |
| JEL: | I10 I18 J78 K39 Z18 |
| Date: | 2018–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:91046&r=all |
| By: | Larcinese, Valentino; Sircar, Indraneel |
| Abstract: | Does democracy make politicians accountable? And which role does information play in the accountability process? There are several reasons making the 2009 {UK} expenses scandal an ideal setting to answer these questions. Our study of the scandal reaches two main conclusions: 1) the removal of corrupt politicians happens mostly at the pre-election stage; 2) information availability is a crucial ingredient in the accountability process. We also show that punishment was directed to individual {MPs} rather than their parties and that voters displayed a substantial partisan bias, not only at the voting stage but also by perceiving co-partisan {MPs} to be less involved in the scandal. Ceteris paribus, female {MPs} attracted more press coverage and, for the same amount of coverage, were more likely to stand down. Finally, we show that press coverage was ideologically balanced, i.e., newspapers with different ideological leaning devoted similar amount of news to each MP. |
| Keywords: | mass media; accountability; corruption; voting; partisan bias; female politicians |
| JEL: | F3 G3 |
| Date: | 2017–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:68709&r=all |
| By: | Giovanni Immordino (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF); Salvatore Piccolo (Università di Bergamo and CSEF); Paolo Roberti (Università di Bergamo) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the relationship between competition and self-reporting incentives within a criminal network formed by a supplier of an illegal good and two dealers distributing the good to final consumers. The Legislator designs a leniency program to deter crime. We show that the comparison between the optimal amnesty with competition and monopoly in the dealership market depends on the strength of the externalities between dealers at the reporting stage. While in monopoly a leniency program is al- ways feasible, the opposite may happen with competition. This impossibility result is more relevant when the demand for the illegal product is large, when the market is neither too competitive nor too concentrated and when dealers know too much about each other. Moreover, in contrast to monopoly, the policy does not necessarily increase welfare in a competitive environment. |
| Keywords: | Accomplice-witnesses, Criminal Organizations, Leniency, Whistle-Blower |
| Date: | 2018–12–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:519&r=all |
| By: | Taschdjian, Martin; Alleman, James |
| Abstract: | There can be no doubt that the FANG companies – Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google, as well as Twitter – have transformed society since their emergence. Like all social transformations, the changes wrought by their services have had ripple effects that are both positive and negative. On the positive side, soaring consumer access to information, news, social networks, and entertainment has been stimulated by the ever-more ubiquitous and falling prices of broadband fixed and mobile bandwidth. E-government has transformed the delivery of public services. However, negative effects have likewise been stark. Certainly, there have been huge disruptions caused by e-commerce. Retail industries, industrial supply chains, banking and publishing are just a few obvious examples. State tax collectors are fighting the loss of sales tax collections. These problems tend to get highlighted by the losers from the process of "creative destruction." Because Facebook and Google are two-sided markets, their economic rents are "hidden" from the public . On the user side of the market, prices are zero – "free." The other side, advertising rate are "hidden." Facebook's and Google's revenues are derived from advertising which appear when you go to their sites. They can extract exorbitant prices for ads, since they are virtually the only source that can target ads directly to potential clients. Because these companies can identify you, the ads can be targeted to your specific wants and needs, even creating "wants and needs" based on your profile. So, what the "customer" – you – perceived as free is not. Indeed, you are the commodity being sold to the advertisers. While Facebook and Google Herfindahl-Hirschman indices (HHI) are high, indicating a concentrated market or highly concentrated market by several different definitions of their markets. For example, Google has 93 percent of the search market. Combined Google and Facebook currently control over half of digital advertising and one-third of total advertising. Nevertheless, no serious antitrust case or legislation has addressed this monopoly power. This paper examines the antitrust cases against Facebook and Google. In this paper, we attempt to go back to first principles to discern whether there is a more appropriate approach to examine the underlying economics of these industries in the hopes that tools can be applied that more directly address the problems. |
| Keywords: | Advertising,antitrust,competition,internet,media,regulation,pricing |
| JEL: | D4 K2 L1 L2 L5 L9 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itsb18:190343&r=all |
| By: | Jesse Kalinowski (Quinnipiac University); Matthew B. Ross (New York University); Stephen L. Ross (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses state police stop data in Texas to assess patrol activity. We find that both the types of stops and the allocation of resources over space change in darkness relative to daylight, and that the changes in stop type and manpower allocation are correlated within police officers. We also find that the counties receiving more police resources in darkness have a higher share of minority residents. Veil of Darkness (VOD) tests of racial discrimination in traffic stops require that the distribution of motorists be independent of darkness, which is unlikely to be the case without detailed geographic controls. |
| Keywords: | Police, Traffic Stops, Patrol Locations, Veil of Darkness, Racial Profiling, Racial Discrimination |
| JEL: | K14 K42 J15 H11 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2018-22&r=all |
| By: | Brender, Agnes; Pfaff, Katharina |
| Abstract: | Small arms and light weapons (SALWs) imports have been found to be linked to a worsening of human rights conditions in the importing state. In this paper, we reexamine the relationship of government’s SALW imports and the decision to engage in violations of physical integrity rights using updated and more reliable repression data as well as proposing a different estimation strategy. Analyzing physical integrity rights violations and SALW imports of 176 countries from 1991 to 2010, empirical results indicate that SALW imports have a negative impact on respect for physical integrity rights. When disaggregating findings by regime type, we find that SALW imports in autocracies are associated with more repression, while we have mixed results for democracies. |
| Keywords: | arms trade,SALW,repression |
| JEL: | F14 H56 K33 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ilewps:22&r=all |
| By: | Alleman, James |
| Abstract: | Free!! Google and Facebook!!! We all know them, what to worry about? Everything! The giants of the internet are expanding into every corner of the economy, politics and our lives. They control the majority of digital advertising; Alphabet, Google's parent, and Facebook receive more than 60 percent of digital advertising revenue (Media Buying 2017); Google controls over 90 percent of search on the web (Statcounter 2017); Facebook and Google represent 40% of consumption of digital content (Economist 2017c). Facebook dominates the social media market (Galloway 2017, p. 96); Amazon has nearly 40 percent of online Xmas sales and is destroying the traditional retail outlets (Galloway 2017, p. 28). Apple earns over 90 percent of smart phone profits, although it has less than 20 percent of the market (Galloway 2017, p. 75). This paper will examine the threat to social order and democracy posed by Facebook and Google, as well as others in the internet space. Facebook, and Google have control over what information and news we receive though "black‐box" algorithms; they select what "we need." In addition, these platforms have not taken significant measures to address "fake‐news", bots, trolls, or other malicious software on the internet. Indeed, they make money off the proliferation of this misinformation. For example, even by its own calculation, "Facebook has estimated that Russian content on its network, including posts and paid ads, reached 126 million Americans, around 40% of the nation's population." (Economist 2017c) Up to 60 million Facebook accounts are fake, according to its own estimate (Shane and Isaac 2017). And according to the Economist (2017c), in the United States' presidential campaign, one out of every five political messages was posted by robots (bots) on Twitter. FANGs have a business models which encourages this type of practice (Shane and Isaac 2017). These models are designed to maximize growth and maintain users. Thus, they involve easy sign up, lack of verification of authenticity; and only, reluctantly, if at all, closing accounts with significant cause (Shane and Isaac 2017, Zittrain 2014). This paper will examine these issues in depth. |
| Keywords: | Advertising,Antitrust Policy,Democracy,Elections,Propaganda ICT,Internet Platforms,Political Economy |
| JEL: | K21 L1 L2 L4 L5 L9 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itsb18:190349&r=all |