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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Jacob Goldin; David Weisbach |
| Abstract: | Line drawing is a pervasive feature of legal systems. Across many domains, the applicable legal treatment turns on whether an activity falls above or below some threshold. We characterize the economic forces that determine the optimal placement of such thresholds, both generally and in specific legal settings involving monetary and non-monetary sanctions, prohibitions, and mandates. We apply our results to two important line-drawing questions in private law: the optimal due-care threshold for negligence liability and the optimal threshold for whether a shortfall in contract performance constitutes breach. In both applications, the optimal line takes the form of a population-level marginal cost-benefit rule, with the relevant costs and benefits weighted over the actors whose behavior the line induces to change. |
| JEL: | H0 K1 K12 K13 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35868 |
| By: | Quynh Nga Do; Pushkar Maitra; Astghik Mavisakalyan |
| Abstract: | Civic mobilization is a common societal response to gender-based violence, but whether it actually changes sexual offending is largely unknown. We exploit geographic variation in exposure to the March 4 Justice (M4J) movement — a nationally coordinated series of protests against gender-based violence held across Australia on 15th March 2021 — as a natural experiment, using a difference-in-differences design. We find that areas hosting the protests experienced a 16 to 21 per cent reduction in recorded sexual assaults over the six to twelve months following the movement, with no significant effects across six other crime categories. This suggests a mechanism specific to sexual violence rather than general deterrence. These effects are larger in locations closer to protest activity and at sites with sizable crowds compared to smaller ones. Attitudinal data from the National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey reveal significant shifts in men’s attitudes: greater rejection of rape myths, increased survivor credibility, and reduced endorsement of patriarchal norms, with these shifts concentrated among younger and more educated men. The reductions in sexual assault are concentrated in male-represented areas, where the movement’s normative signal was more novel, and nationwide, we find suggestive evidence of a modest rise in female electoral support in 2022 relative to 2019. Together, these findings suggest that civic mobilization can reduce violence through the internalization of norms. |
| Keywords: | Social Movements, Sexual Assaults, Difference-in-Differences, Civic Mo- bilization, Protests, Norm Change, Natural Experiment, Australia |
| JEL: | C23 D74 D83 D91 J16 K42 Z13 |
| Date: | 2026–10–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:paper_1791430433518_552 |
| By: | Dhaval M. Dave; Jooyoung Kim; Joseph J. Sabia |
| Abstract: | Licensure sales requirements are commonly justified as consumer protection regulations intended to improve seller compliance and reduce harm associated with risky products. However, licensure effects may differ across communities with heterogeneous enforcement intensity and seller responses. We study this question in the context of e-cigarette retail licensure laws (ERLLs), a policy intended to regulate access to e-cigarettes among youth. We find that state ERLLs with strong penalties for non-compliance reduce nicotine vaping among Black youths by 2.5-4.0 percentage points but have no effect on White youths. This racially disparate finding is driven by heterogeneous supply-side responses to increased regulatory burden. Vendors in Black neighborhoods are more likely to be targeted for inspections than those in White neighborhoods despite having lower pre-treatment rates of infractions. Moreover, vendors in Black neighborhoods are also less likely to sell e-cigarettes following ERLL adoption, consistent with a racially disparate regulatory burden. Together, our results suggest important distributional consequences of licensure requirements. |
| JEL: | H22 I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35848 |
| By: | Javier Donna (University of Miami-Rimini Center for Economic Analysis); E. Mina Guler (University of Miami) |
| Abstract: | A federal court blocked JetBlue’s acquisition of Spirit Airlines in January 2024 to protect consumers who relied on Spirit’s low fares. Spirit failed anyway and ceased operations in May 2026. We ask whether the prohibition protected consumers. Using DB1B data for 2022–2025, we estimate the effect of Spirit’s exit across the 1, 427 routes it served. The 5th and 10th percentile fares rise by 8.6 and 5.8 log points; mean and median fares are unaffected. Where a carrier entered, the bottom is unaffected and mean fares fall. Theharm comes from exit without replacement, which entry policy does not reach. |
| Keywords: | Ultra-low-cost carriers; Entry and exit; Merger enforcement; Failing firm defense; Fare distribution; Antitrust |
| JEL: | L93 L41 L13 L51 K21 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoz:wpaper:409 |
| By: | Ricardo Alonzo Fern\'andez-Salguero |
| Abstract: | This study develops a survey-calibrated, path-dependent agent-based microsimulation for evaluating crime and violence reduction policies in Bolivia. A synthetic population is constructed from the 2025 Household Survey and the fourth-quarter 2025 Continuous Employment Survey using official expansion weights and cross-survey donor matching. The model combines heterogeneous agents, place-based risk, criminal adaptation, institutional capacity, community organization, and multiple policy channels. Uncertainty is propagated through adaptive Gaussian-process and tree-ensemble emulators, global sensitivity analysis, tempered ensemble MCMC, and predictive meta-calibration. Simulated portfolios include focused policing, community control, Guardabosques-type incentives, social prevention, environmental interventions, justice reforms, investigation, rehabilitation, and financial-network disruption. Results are interpreted as structural policy scenarios rather than causal forecasts, with explicit attention to displacement, distributional effects, implementation capacity, and multi-objective trade-offs. |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2610.03895 |
| By: | Leonardo Bursztyn; Rafael Jiménez-Durán; Aaron Leonard; Filip Milojević; Christopher Roth |
| Abstract: | Several countries are adopting social media bans for teenagers, yet early evidence suggests limited adherence to the age-based restrictions. Such bans ask platforms to remove profitable customers and teens to give up access to their online social networks. We study an alternative regulatory regime in which platforms remain liable for teens on the adult tier but may offer a safe tier that removes restricted features, such as algorithmic feeds, while preserving interactions with their relevant network. Provision of the safe tier and enforcement are complementary: teens can adhere without giving up access to their network, and platforms can retain displaced adult-tier users as lower-margin customers. This policy design makes the teen decision to avoid the adult tier less dependent on peer dynamics and increases teen welfare for a relevant range of regulatory penalties. |
| JEL: | D18 D62 L51 L86 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35870 |