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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Helene Laurent (University of Namur); Marc Sangnier; Carole Treibich |
| Abstract: | We use a simple model of drivers’ vigilance effort choice to show that drivers’ propensity to follow traffic rules has two opposite effects on road safety. On the one hand, it lowers the frequency of dangerous situations. On the other hand, it also reduces drivers’ vigilance effort as each driver anticipates that dangerous situations will be less frequent. These two opposite effects may lead to a non-monotonic relationship between compliance with road rules and the incidence of road traffic accidents. We present cross-country estimates that support the existence of a bellshaped relationship between norms of compliance with rules and traffic fatalities. |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nam:defipp:2103&r= |
| By: | Roberto Galbiati (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Emeric Henry (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Nicolas Jacquemet (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Max Lobeck (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Laws not only affect behavior due to changes in material payoffs, but they may also change the perception individuals have of societal norms, either by shifting them directly or by providing information on these norms. Using detailed daily survey data and exploiting the introduction of lockdown measures in the UK in the context of the COVID-19 health crisis, we provide causal evidence that the law drastically changed the perception of the norms regarding social distancing behaviors. We show this effect of laws on perceived norms is mostly driven by an informational channel. |
| Date: | 2020–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02957434&r= |
| By: | Ash, Elliott (ETH Zurich); Chen, Daniel L. (Toulouse School of Economics); Ornaghi, Arianna (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | Do gender attitudes influence interactions with female judges in U.S. Circuit Courts? In this paper, we propose a novel judge-specific measure of gender attitudes based on use of gender-stereotyped language in the judge’s authored opinions. Exploiting quasi-random assignment of judges to cases and conditioning on judges’ characteristics, we validate the measure showing that slanted judges vote more conservatively in gender-related cases. Slant influences interactions with female colleagues: slanted judges are more likely to reverse lower-court decisions if the lower-court judge is a woman than a man, are less likely to assign opinions to female judges, and cite fewer female authored opinions. |
| Keywords: | Gender attitudes ; judiciary ; stereotypes ; NLP JEL Classification: J70 ; J16 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:wqapec:08&r= |
| By: | Sauro Mocetti (Bank of Italy); Lucia Rizzica (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | Organized crime affects the socio-economic development of the areas in which it is rooted through a multiplicity of channels. However, analysing these effects is difficult, largely because it is extremely hard to observe and thus confidently measure the extent of mafia presence in a given area. On the basis of the most recent economic literature and with the aid of new information sources, this paper (i) analyses the spread of organized crime in Italy; (ii) describes the institutional environment that may have favoured the birth of mafias and their subsequent spread beyond traditional borders; (iii) examines the impact on economic growth and the different channels through which these effects occur. |
| Keywords: | organized crime, institutions, economic growth, North-South divide |
| JEL: | K42 O17 |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_661_21&r= |
| By: | Breuer, Matthias; Leuz, Christian; Vanhaverbeke, Steven |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of reporting regulation on corporate innovation. Exploiting thresholds in Europe's regulation and a major enforcement reform in Germany, we find that forcing firms to publicly disclose their financial statements discourages innovative activities. Our evidence suggests that reporting regulation has significant real effects by imposing proprietary costs on innovative firms, which in turn diminish their incentives to innovate. At the industry level, positive information spillovers (e.g., to competitors, suppliers, and customers) appear insufficient to compensate the negative direct effect on the prevalence of innovative activity. The spillovers instead appear to concentrate innovation among a few large firms in a given industry. Thus, financial reporting regulation has important aggregate and distributional effects on corporate innovation. |
| Keywords: | Innovation,Regulation,Disclosure,Financial Reporting,Patents,Growth |
| JEL: | K22 L51 M41 M42 M48 O43 O47 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cfswop:675&r= |
| By: | Daniel Osuna Gómez |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the impact of the capture of leaders of criminal organizations on the labor market in municipalities where these organizations operated between 2004 and 2006. The difference-in-difference analysis compares different employment outcomes in cartel locations and the rest, before and after the capture of cartel leaders. The results show that captures caused a decrease in nominal wages and paid employment in cartel municipalities. Using Economic Census Data, I find that captures also caused a fall in the number of establishments and had a negative impact on other establishment outcomes. This document focuses exclusively on the impact of the capture of leaders of criminal organizations on the labor market until 2011 without studying other possible consequences, and thus does not make an integral assessment of this policy. |
| JEL: | J20 J48 K42 O17 |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdm:wpaper:2021-19&r= |
| By: | Mastrorocco, Nicola (Trinity College Dublin); Ornaghi, Arianna (Hertie School) |
| Abstract: | Do U.S. municipal police departments respond to news coverage of local crime? We address this question exploiting an exogenous shock to local crime reporting induced by acquisitions of local TV stations by a large broadcast group, Sinclair. Using a unique dataset of 8.5 million news stories and a triple differences design, we document that Sinclair acquisitions decrease news coverage of local crime. This matters for policing: municipalities that experience the change in news coverage have lower violent crime clearance rates relative to municipalities that do not. The result is consistent with a decrease of crime salience in the public opinion. |
| Keywords: | Police ; Local News ; Clearance Rates ; Sinclair JEL Classification: K42 ; D73 ; |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:wqapec:09&r= |
| By: | Borges Ferreira Neto, Amir; Nowicki, Jennifer; Shakya, Shishir |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between public libraries and local crime rates. Previous studies have looked at different factors that could account for changes in crime, but few have focused on cultural institutions as a primary factor. Using crime data from the Crime Open Database and library data from the Public Library Survey, we leverage the geolocation of crimes and libraries and explore opening a new public library branch in Kansas City, MO. We use a difference-in-difference strategy. Our results show that public library may reduce crime within its nearby proximity. In particular, we find within the nearby proximity of the library a substantial reduction of burglary, vandalism, robbery, fraud, and assault. However, such effects vanish in the distant proximity of the library. |
| Keywords: | crime, public library, geolocation, cultural institutions, Kansas City |
| JEL: | R12 Z19 |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:111073&r= |
| By: | Timothy J. Moore; Rosalie Liccardo Pacula |
| Abstract: | Large and rapid upswings in illicit drug use display similar properties to infectious disease epidemics. In this chapter, we review research to understand what causes drug epidemics and how they end. Drug market actors are subject to both positive and negative reinforcement that lead to rapid, nonlinear increases and decreases in drug market activity. There is evidence that drug epidemics cause serious problems, including drug overdoses, adverse birth outcomes, homicides, lower educational attainment, and migration from neighborhoods subject to intense drug market activity. Many of these costs are borne by those who do not consume or sell drugs. Given the frequency, size, and impacts of illicit drug epidemics, they deserve more attention by researchers and policy-makers. |
| JEL: | I12 I18 K42 |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29528&r= |
| By: | Aitor Erce (Universidad Publica de Navarra LUISS School of European Policty); Enrico Mallucci (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System); Mattia Picarelli (European Stability Mechanism) |
| Abstract: | We introduce a novel database on sovereign defaults that involve public debt instruments governed by domestic law. By systematically reviewing a large number of sources, we identify 132 default and restructuring events of domestic debt instruments, in 50 countries from 1980 to 2018. Domestic law defaults are a global phenomenon. Overtime, they have become larger and more frequent than foreign law defaults. Domestic law debt restructurings are achieved faster than foreign ones, often trough extensions of maturities and amendments to the coupon structure. Face value reductions are rare. Unilateral amendments and post-default restructuring are the norm, but negotiated pre-default restructurings are being increasingly used. Finally, we document that domestic defaults are widely heterogeneous. As such, we complement this paper with a collection of documents, named sovereign histories, that provide the fine details about each default episode. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nav:ecupna:2106&r= |
| By: | Tamilina, Larysa |
| Abstract: | This article examines the process of national identity and pride building among the Ukrainian population. Drawn upon the recent developments in Ukraine, I analyze the relationship between the country’s economic, political, and cultural characteristics and the content of national identification. Special attention is given to the issue of how the current military confrontation with Russia has affected the sense of national identity and pride among the Ukrainians. The analysis is conducted based on the World Values Survey (WVS) data from both the pre-war and the in-war periods. My results suggest that language spoken at home and one’s evaluation of democracy can explain the nature of national identification and pride in Ukraine. In addition, I demonstrate that the way in which the respondents frame the current military confrontation with Russia should affect their sense of national identity and shape their ethnic pride. |
| Keywords: | National identity, national pride, Ukraine, the WVS, country-specific analysis |
| JEL: | K00 Z0 Z00 |
| Date: | 2021–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:111033&r= |