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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Emanuela Carbonara (Università di Bologna); Giuseppina Gianfreda (Università della Tuscia); Enrico Santarelli (Università di Bologna); Giovanna Vallanti (LUISS "Guido Catli") |
| Abstract: | Focusing on 22 OECD countries we estimate the impact of constitutional provisions and of lower-rank norms aimed at protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) on labor productivity at industry level. Our analysis allows us to answer the following questions: Are IPR more likely to be enforced if they are envisaged in the constitution rather than provided for in ordinary legislation? And if constitutional protection implies an accrued defense or enforcement of those principles, is this difference relevant enough to translate into a higher impact on firms’ outcome? By using IV techniques and controlling for a full set of year-, industry- and country fixed effects (and their interactions), we show that constitutional provisions protecting IPR positively affect the differential in labor productivity between high and low R&D intensive sectors. This effect is driven by the impact of IPR protection on R&D investment of the highly innovative sectors. Our results hold after controlling for lower-rank norms. Furthermore, the interaction between constitutional norms and lower legislation is negative, suggesting that the two are substitutes: the impact of constitutions is stronger in those countries where IPR protection by lower norms is weaker. On turn, in those countries where IPR are protected by constitutional norms, lower norms do not have a significant effect on the productivity of high R&D intensive sectors. |
| Keywords: | Constitutions; Intellectual Property Rights; R&D; Labor productivity; OECD countries |
| JEL: | D24 K10 O47 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lui:lleewp:19151&r=all |
| By: | L. Franzoni |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the optimal nature of law making under uncertainty. I focus on a case in which a harmful activity will be subjected to some regulatory measures (a standard, exposure to liability, or a corrective tax). The bene fits and costs of precaution are ex-ante uncertain, and this places a risk burden on both injurers and victims. The optimal policy should, at the same time, strike a balance between benefi ts and costs of the measures, and attenuate the ex-ante risk. Whether measures should be made stronger or softer depends on the size and the sign of the shocks affecting the parties (positive or negative) and their disposition towards risk. With corrective taxes, it also depends on the elasticity of precautions with respect to the tax rate. |
| JEL: | K2 D62 L51 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp1132&r=all |
| By: | Magali Duque; Abigail McKnight |
| Abstract: | This paper outlines the various issues pertaining to how crime, the legal system and punitive sanctions may provide a mechanism through which inequality is positively related to poverty. We analyse trends in crime rates, review evidence on the determinants of criminal activity, trends in incarceration rates and prison populations, and the profile of prisoners. We explore relevant aspects of criminal justice policies, changes to Legal Aid, and legal reforms, and finish by outlining how the evidence suggests that crime, the legal system and punitive sanctions is one of the mechanisms that contributes to the positive link between economic inequality and poverty, before reviewing policy options. |
| Keywords: | Poverty, inequality, crime, law, punishment, criminal justice, police |
| JEL: | I32 D31 E62 H2 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sticas:/215&r=all |
| By: | Ria Ivandic; Tom Kirchmaier; Stephen Machin |
| Abstract: | Do international jihadi terror attacks lead to an increase in local anti-Muslim hate crimes? Analysing data from the Greater Manchester Police, Ria Ivandic, Tom Kirchmaier and Stephen Machin find that the Muslim population faces a media-magnified likelihood of victimisation in the days following such attacks. |
| Keywords: | Islamophobic hate crime, jihadi terror attacks, media |
| JEL: | K42 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:559&r=all |
| By: | Randi Hjalmarsson; Andreea Mitrut; Cristian Pop-Eleches |
| Abstract: | The 1966 abolition and 1989 legalization of abortion in Romania immediately doubled and decreased by about a third the number of births per month, respectively. To isolate the link between abortion access and crime while abstracting from cohort and general equilibrium effects, we compare birth month cohorts on either side of the abortion regime. For both the abolition and legalization of abortion, we find large and significant effects on the level of crime and risky-behavior related hospitalization, but an insignificant effect on crime and hospitalization rates (i.e. when normalizing by the size of the birth month cohort). In other words, the Romanian abortion reforms did affect crime, but all of the effect appears to be driven by cohort size effects rather than selection or unwantedness effects. |
| JEL: | J13 K42 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26024&r=all |
| By: | Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé/Cameroon); Jacinta C. Nwachukwu (Preston,United Kingdom); Stella-Maris I. Orim (Coventry University, UK); Chris Pyke (Preston, United Kingdom) |
| Abstract: | Purpose-The study complements the scant macroeconomic literature on the development outcomes of social media by examining the relationship between Facebook penetration and violent crime levels in a cross-section of 148 countries for the year 2012. Design/methodology/approach-The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Tobit and Quantile regressions. In order to respond to policy concerns on the limited evidence on the consequences of social media in developing countries, the dataset is disaggregated into regions and income levels. The decomposition by income levels included: low income, lower middle income, upper middle income and high income. The corresponding regions include: Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Findings-From OLS and Tobit regressions, there is a negative relationship between Facebook penetration and crime. However, Quantile regressions reveal that the established negative relationship is noticeable exclusively in the 90th crime quantile. Further, when the dataset is decomposed into regions and income levels, the negative relationship is evident in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) while a positive relationship is confirmed for sub-Saharan Africa. Policy implications are discussed. Originality/value- Studies on the development outcomes of social media are sparse because of a lack of reliable macroeconomic data on social media. This study primarily complemented five existing studies that have leveraged on a newly available dataset on Facebook. |
| Keywords: | Crime; Social media; ICT; Global evidence; Social networks |
| JEL: | K42 D83 O30 D74 D83 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:19/003&r=all |
| By: | Hines, Annie Laurie (University of California, Davis); Peri, Giovanni (University of California, Davis) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of immigrant deportations on local crime and police efficiency. Our identification relies on increases in the deportation rate driven by the introduction of the Secure Communities (SC) program, an immigration enforcement program based on local-federal cooperation which was rolled out across counties between 2008 and 2013. We instrument for the deportation rate by interacting the introduction of SC with the local presence of likely undocumented in 2005, prior to the introduction of SC. We document a surge in local deportation rates under SC, and we show that deportations increased the most in counties with a large undocumented population. We find that SC-driven increases in deportation rates did not reduce crime rates for violent offenses or property offenses. Our estimates are small and precise, so we can rule out meaningful effects. We do not find evidence that SC increased either police effectiveness in solving crimes or local police resources. Finally, we do not find effects of deportations on the local employment of unskilled citizens or on local firm creation. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, deportation, crime, police effectiveness, secure communities |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12413&r=all |
| By: | Carletti, Elena (Bocconi University, IGIER, and CEPR); Ongena, Steven (University of Zurich, the Swiss Finance Institute, KU Leuven, and CEPR); Siedlarek, Jan-Peter (Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland); Spagnolo, Giancarlo (SITE-Stockholm School of Economics, the University of Rome Tor Vergata, EIEF, and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | The effect of regulations on the banking sector is a key question for financial intermediation. This paper provides evidence that merger control regulation, although not directly targeted at the banking sector, has substantial economic effects on bank mergers. Based on an extensive sample of European countries, we show that target announcement premia increased by up to 16 percentage points for mergers involving control shifts after changes in merger legislation, consistent with a market expectation of increased profitability. These effects go hand-in-hand with a reduction in the propensity for mergers to create banks that are too-big-to-fail in their country. |
| Keywords: | banks; regulation; mergers and acquisitions; merger control; antitrust; |
| JEL: | G21 G34 K21 L40 |
| Date: | 2019–07–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedcwq:161402&r=all |
| By: | Carletti, Elena (Bocconi University, IGIER, and CEPR); Ongena, Steven (University of Zurich, the Swiss Finance Institute, KU Leuven, and CEPR); Siedlarek, Jan-Peter (Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland); Spagnolo, Giancarlo (SITEStockholm School of Economics, the University of Rome Tor Vergata, EIEF, and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | We fi nd that the introduction of stricter merger control legislation in the European Union in the period 1986–2007 increases the abnormal announcement returns of targets in bank mergers by 7 percentage points. In searching for potential explanations, we document an increase in the pre-merger profitability of targets, a decrease in the size of acquirers and a decreasing share of transactions in which banks are acquired by other banks. Other merger properties, including the size and risk profile of targets, the geographic overlap of merging banks and the stock market response of rivals appear unaffected. The evidence suggests that the strengthening of merger control leads to more efficient and more competitive transactions. |
| Keywords: | banks; mergers and acquisitions; merger control; antitrust; |
| JEL: | G21 G34 K21 L40 |
| Date: | 2017–07–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedcwq:161401&r=all |
| By: | Jonathan Fisher; Nathaniel Johnson |
| Abstract: | We test whether two-earner married couples are more likely to file for consumer bankruptcy in the future than similar married couples. Since two-earner households are unable to adjust their income on the extensive margin, they are more vulnerable to income shocks, and thus at risk of bankruptcy in the future. We find that two-earner married couples in 1999 are more likely to file for bankruptcy from 2002-2004 compared to other married couples. Additionally, we present supporting information that suggests that two-earner households have a higher average propensity to consume. |
| Keywords: | added worker; personal bankruptcy |
| JEL: | J2 K3 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:19-19&r=all |
| By: | Wolfgang Kerber (Philipps University Marburg); Daniel Moeller (Philipps University Marburg) |
| Abstract: | The need for regulatory solutions for access to in-vehicle data and resources of connected cars is one of the big controversial and unsolved policy issues. Last year the EU revised the Motor Vehicle Type Approval Regulation which already entailed a FRAND-like solution for the access to repair and maintenance information (RMI) to protect competition on the automotive aftermarkets. However, the transition to connected cars changes the technological conditions for this regulatory solution significantly. This paper analyzes the reform of the type approval regulation and shows that the regulatory solutions for access to RMI are so far only very insufficiently capable of dealing with the challenges coming along with increased connectivity, e.g. with regard to the new remote diagnostic, repair and maintenance services. Therefore, an important result of the paper is that the transition to connected cars will require a further reform of the rules for the regulated access to RMI (esp. with regard to data access, interoperability, and safety/security issues). However, our analysis also suggests that the basic approach of the current regulated access regime for RMI in the type approval regulation can also be a model for developing general solutions for the currently unsolved problems of access to in-vehicle data and resources in the ecosystem of connected driving. |
| Keywords: | data access, Internet of Things, connected cars, aftermarkets, digital economy |
| JEL: | K23 L62 L86 O33 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201915&r=all |