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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Silvia Bruzzone (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, Direzione centrale per le statistiche sociali e il censimento della popolazione); Stefano Castriota (Department of Political Sciences, University of Pisa); Mirco Tonin (Free University of Bolzano‐Bozen, Faculty of Economics and Management) |
| Abstract: | This paper compares the effects of two reforms implemented in Italy in 2003 and 2016 – respectively the Penalty Points System (PPS) and the Road Homicide (RH) – aimed at reducing road accidents and mortality. In terms of the two main parameters characterizing enforcement – probability and intensity of the penalty – the two policies are opposite. In fact, with the PPS it is very easy to lose points but the maximum penalty – that is, temporary withdrawal of the license – is not dramatic. The RH, instead, introduced heavy penalties in the rare event of dead and injured people. We find a stronger decrease of dead and injured people with the PPS than with the RH. We compare the costs and benefits of the two policies and conclude that, in this context, strong penalties like incarceration are not socially beneficial. |
| Keywords: | Road accidents; penalty points system; road homicide; crime; punishment |
| JEL: | D91 K14 K42 R41 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bzn:wpaper:bemps66&r=all |
| By: | Kenji Hayashi (Bank of Japan); Hiroyuki Takano (Bank of Japan); Makoto Chiba (Bank of Japan); Yasuhiro Takamoto (Bank of Japan) |
| Abstract: | This article introduces the main findings of the Report of the Study Group on Legal Issues regarding Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Based on four stylized models of CBDC issuance, the Report discusses what legal issues would arise within the Japanese legal framework if the Bank of Japan were to issue its own CBDC. |
| Keywords: | central bank digital currency; CBDC; means of payment; central bank money; account-based; token-based; intermediating institution; legality; general acceptance; Bank of Japan Act; private law; administrative law; competition law; cyber law; criminal law |
| JEL: | G20 K14 K21 K22 K23 |
| Date: | 2019–12–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boj:bojlab:lab19e03&r=all |
| By: | de Leverano, Adriano |
| Abstract: | I study a case of market sharing agreements to provide evidence of coordination between colluding firms on the degree to which they compete against each other (henceforth referred to as head-to-head competition) and their bidding behavior. I also quantify the impact that coordinating head-to-head competition has on procurement costs. My focus is on the two largest rms bidding in provincial road paving procurement auctions in Quebec between 2007 and 2015. I use the police investigation into collusion and corruption in the Quebec construction industry launched in October 2009 to capture the end of this cartel. I find that after this date, the two suspected firms i) were more likely to bid in the same auction and ii) submitted significantly lower bids when they competed in the same auction. A structural model of entry and bidding shows that if the firms had kept competing head-to-head at the same rate as in the collusive period but had stopped colluding on bids, bids would have increased by about 3.86% with respect to the competitive scenario observed after the police investigation began. This finding suggests that there were additional procurement costs associated with firms coordinating on the degree of head-to-head competition. |
| Keywords: | Auction,Bidding ring,Collusion,Public procurement |
| JEL: | D44 H57 L22 L74 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:19053&r=all |
| By: | Antonio Acconcia (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF); Marcello D'Amato (Università di Salerno, CELPE and CSEF); Riccardo Martina (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF); Marisa Ratto (Universitè Paris-Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | The unification of Italy in 1861 determined that all institutions of the pre-unitary states were replaced by those of the new-born Kingdom of Italy, thus implying common rules for agents formerly obeying to different ones. Moreover, a major tax reform was also set in that determined differential increments of the tax burden across provinces. We investigate the potential implications of these events for tax compliance. By comparing a province-level measure of tax evasion just after the reform with a corresponding recent one, we show a strong process of convergence in compliance. Non-negligible spatial differences in tax evasion, however, still persist nowadays. Further empirical evidence suggests that such differences can be at least in part traced back to the tax reform. |
| Keywords: | tax evasion dynamics, decentralization, local enforcement externality, learning. |
| JEL: | D62 D81 H26 K41 K42 |
| Date: | 2019–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:551&r=all |
| By: | Anderson, D. Mark (Montana State University); Matsuzawa, Kyutaro (San Diego State University); Sabia, Joseph J. (San Diego State University) |
| Abstract: | Since the landmark ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health in 2004, the legalization of same-sex marriage (SSM) has proliferated throughout the United States via either legislative action or court order. Advocates of SSM laws argue that marriage equality will generate important health benefits not only for adult same-sex couples, but also for LGBQ-identifying youths. Using data from the State Youth Risk Behavior Surveys for the period 1999-2017, we explore the relationship between marriage equality and suicidal behaviors among LGBQ-identifying youths. We find little evidence that SSM laws have reduced suicide attempts among teen sexual minorities, nor have they decreased the likelihood of suicide planning, suicide ideation, or depression. Instead, we find some evidence that SSM legalization via judicial mandate is associated with worse mental health for these individuals. |
| Keywords: | same-sex marriage laws, youth suicide, risky health behaviors |
| JEL: | I18 I12 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12819&r=all |
| By: | Elisa Giuliani; Federica Nieri; Andrea Vezzulli |
| Abstract: | Traditionally, financial distress and lack of access to opportunities have been seen as among the most important determinants of corporate wrongdoing. Applying performance feedback theory to the context of emerging country companies (ECCs), we seek to show that the biggest wrongdoers are ‘best in class’ companies with better performance than that of their industry peers. Using an original dataset, we examine the involvement in business-related human rights controversies (HRCs) for a sample of 245 large public companies from Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Thailand during the period 1992-2012. We find ECCs with good financial performance (relative to their industry peers) are more likely to be involved in HRCs but that this probability is attenuated if these companies invest in host countries characterized by strong regulatory enforcement which demonstrates the importance of internationalization for reducing wrongful business conduct. We find evidence also that firm self-regulatory policies (i.e. adoption of corporate social responsibility policies) work to mitigate the probability of high performers violating human rights in the conduct of their business. We discuss the contribution to research on the antecedents to corporate wrongdoing, and for performance feedback theory. |
| Keywords: | Performance feedback theory, Human rights controversies (HRCs), Corporate wrongdoing, Emerging country companies (ECCs), Regulatory enforcement, Corporate social responsibility (CSR) |
| JEL: | F23 M14 K40 C23 |
| Date: | 2019–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pie:dsedps:2019/250&r=all |
| By: | Boustead, Anne |
| Abstract: | Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are databases designed to help healthcare professionals identify problematic drug-seeking behavior from patients. PDMPs can also be used by police officers to obtain evidence, raising concerns about exposure of sensitive health information. In this paper, I describe the approaches that states have taken to regulate law enforcement access to PDMPs, and present evidence that some but not all protection mechanisms are associated with fewer law enforcement requests for PDMP information. This research provides novel and important information about law enforcement behavior in response to privacy protections. |
| Date: | 2019–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:ha6wv&r=all |
| By: | Arnaud Chevalier (Royal Holloway University of London); Olivier Marie (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | We study the link between parental selection and child criminality. Following the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, the number of births halved in East Germany. These cohorts became markedly more likely to be arrested as they grew up in reunified Germany. This is observed for both genders and all offence types. We highlight risk attitude as an important reason why certain women did not alter their fertility decisions during this time of economic uncertainty. We also show that this preference for risk was then strongly transmitted to their children which may in turn explain their high criminal propensity. |
| Keywords: | Fertility, crime, parental selection, economic uncertainty, risk attitude |
| JEL: | K42 J13 |
| Date: | 2019–12–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20190087&r=all |
| By: | Wibowo, Rizal Arya (Peneliti Profesional) |
| Abstract: | The company is related to things that occur after the law that is related to corporate crime. The purpose of the discussion of this article is to find out about prison sentences imposed on corporations, detention and settlement of corporate criminal acts. The type of legal research conducted is a type of normative legal research that examines literature sources without conducting field research. The conclusion of this article is that it can be fined, approved and finalized. |
| Date: | 2019–02–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:9dn5q&r=all |
| By: | Maarten Pieter Schinkel (University of Amsterdam); Lukas Toth (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | To stimulate companies to take corporate social responsibility collectively, for example for fair trade or the environment, their agreements may be exempted from cartel law. To qualify, the public benefits must compensate consumers for higher prices of the private good. We study the balancing involved in assessing a public interest-cartel in a public goods model. The required compensating public good level decreases in each consumer's willingness to pay, which is contrary to the Samuelson condition. The cartel will provide minimal public good for maximal overcharges. Nevertheless it is typically not sustainable, since those consumers that are damaged most by the cartel price increase, by self-selection also have the lowest appreciation for the public good. The information necessary to tell the rare genuine public interest-defense from cartel greenwashing allows the government to provide first-best itself. |
| Keywords: | cartel, public good, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, greenwashing |
| JEL: | H41 K21 L40 |
| Date: | 2019–12–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20190086&r=all |
| By: | Kegon Teng Kok Tan; Mariyana Zapryanova |
| Abstract: | Recidivism rates are a growing concern due to the high cost of imprisonment and the high rate of ex-prisoners returning back to prison. The factors leading to recidivism are multifaceted, but one policy-relevant and potentially important contributor is the composition of peer inmates. In this paper, we study the role of peer e?ects within a correctional facility using data on almost 80,000 individuals serving time in Georgia. We exploit randomness in peer-composition over time within prisons to identify e?ects of peers on recidivism rates. We ?nd no evidence of peer e?ects for property and drug-related crimes in the general prison population. However, we ?nd strong peer e?ects when we de?ne peer groups by race and age. Our ?ndings indicate that homophily plays a large part in determining the strength of peer exposure among prisoners in the same facility. Our ?ndings suggest that prison assignments can be a way to reduce recidivism for particular groups of prisoners. |
| Keywords: | crime, recidivism, peer effects, prisons |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2019-083&r=all |
| By: | Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov (Institute of Retail Economics (Handelns Forskningsinstitut)); Gidehag, Anton (Institute of Retail Economics (Handelns Forskningsinstitut)); Rudholm, Niklas (Institute of Retail Economics (Handelns Forskningsinstitut)) |
| Abstract: | In 2007, the Swedish government tried to prevent firms from underreporting their wage payments by implementing a reform that required restaurants and hairdressers to have staff registers. Employers were required to provide detailed information on when their employees were working, and the Swedish Tax Authority was also given a mandate to carry out unannounced control visits and to impose fines on firms that had not properly filled out their staff registers. We estimate the effect of this reform on firms’ wage reporting using propensity score matching combined with a difference-in-differences analysis. Then, we compare the increase in tax revenues with the costs that the staff register system generated for the firms and the Swedish Tax Authority. Our results show that the total costs of the system exceeded the increase in tax revenues by approximately 355 million SEK ($36.6 million) over a four-year period, even when utilizing point estimates that are likely to overstate the effect on wage reporting. We thus conclude that considering the costs associated with the reform, the staff register reform is not economically justified. |
| Keywords: | tax evasion; firm regulation; quasi-experimental method; unreported wages; propensity score matching |
| JEL: | H26 H32 K34 L51 |
| Date: | 2019–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:hfiwps:0006&r=all |
| By: | Lucian A. Bebchuk; Scott Hirst |
| Abstract: | We seek to contribute to understanding index fund stewardship by providing a comprehensive theoretical, empirical, and policy analysis of such stewardship. We put forward an agency-cost theory of the stewardship decisions that index fund managers make. Our agency-costs analysis shows that index fund managers have strong incentives to (i) underinvest in stewardship and (ii) defer excessively to the preferences and positions of corporate managers. We also undertake an empirical analysis of the full range of stewardship activities that index funds do and do not undertake. We show that the body of evidence is, on the whole, consistent with the incentive issues identified by our agency-costs framework. Finally, we explain how our analysis should reorient important ongoing debates regarding common ownership and hedge fund activism. |
| JEL: | G23 G34 K22 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26543&r=all |