nep-law New Economics Papers
on Law and Economics
Issue of 2025–12–15
six papers chosen by
Yves Oytana, Université de Franche-Comté


  1. How Laws Promote Economic Opportunities : A Review By Saavedra Caballero, Fabiola; Tribin Uribe, Ana Maria; Perrin, Caroline Sabine Marie
  2. Sleeping with the Enemy: A General Equilibrium Approach By Loureiro, Paulo Roberto Amorim
  3. Does joint liability reduce cheating in contests with agency problems? Theory and experimental evidence By Qin Wu; Ralph-C Bayer
  4. Where You Live Matters: Drug Trade-Related Violence and Discrimination in the Labor Market By Emiliano Tealde
  5. Collusion through Common Leadership By Herrera Caicedo, Alejandro; Jeffers, Jessica; Prager, Elena
  6. From the Black Market to Legalisation: The Causal Impact of Cannabis Reform in Morocco By Michele Liberatore; Anna Pettini; Alberto Tonini

  1. By: Saavedra Caballero, Fabiola; Tribin Uribe, Ana Maria; Perrin, Caroline Sabine Marie
    Abstract: This paper presents a comprehensive review of the literature on how legal frameworks, regulations, and rights influence women’s economic opportunities. Drawing on the Women, Business and the Law 2024 framework as a reference point, the paper adopts a life cycle approach to examine how legal frameworks and policies shape women’s roles as economic actors across different stages of their working lives. It highlights strong evidence showing that the abolition or reform of gender-discriminatory laws can enhance women's economic empowerment by shifting both legal constraints and embedded social norms, although the magnitude and nature of these effects vary across contexts. Persistent gaps are identified in key areas such as pension systems, childcare legislation, and protection against gender-based violence. The review underscores that legal reform alone is insufficient: advancing women’s economic opportunities requires a combination of well-designed laws, their effective enforcement, and complementary policies that address informal institutional barriers. Nevertheless, legal reforms can serve as a meaningful first step toward ensuring better economic opportunities for women.
    Date: 2025–12–03
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11268
  2. By: Loureiro, Paulo Roberto Amorim
    Abstract: This paper develops a general equilibrium model of domestic violence grounded in household bargaining and economic dependence. Inspired by the dynamics portrayed in the film *Sleeping with the Enemy* (1991), the model incorporates exit constraints, enforcement, and social norms as determinants of women’s decisions regarding labor participation and relationship continuity. The analysis shows how insufficient enforcement and limited outside opportunities trap victims in stable but inefficient equilibria characterized by violence and dependency. Comparative statics demonstrate that welfare policies such as shelters, transfers, and employment support shift equilibrium outcomes toward safety and self-sufficiency. The results highlight the role of public intervention in restoring efficiency and individual autonomy when private bargaining fails due to asymmetric power and coercion.
    Keywords: Domestic Violence; Economic Dependence; Household Bargaining; Enforcement; Welfare Policy; Gender Economics; Exit Constraints; Social Norms
    JEL: D13 I38 J12 K42
    Date: 2025–08–07
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126612
  3. By: Qin Wu; Ralph-C Bayer
    Abstract: Contest participants often have strong incentives to engage in cheating. Sanctions serve as a common deterrent against such conduct. Often, other agents on the contestant's team (e.g., a coach of an athlete) or a company (a manager of an R\&D engineer) have a vested interest in outcomes and can influence the cheating decision. An agency problem arises when only the contestant faces the penalties for cheating. Our theoretical framework examines joint liability, i.e., shifting some responsibility from the contestant to the other agent, as a solution to this agency problem. Equilibrium analysis shows that extending liability reduces cheating if fines are harsh. Less intuitively, when fines are lenient, a shift in liability can lead to an increase in equilibrium cheating rates. Experimental tests confirm that joint liability is effective in reducing cheating if fines are high. However, the predicted detrimental effect of joint liability for low fines does not occur.
    Date: 2025–11
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2511.21090
  4. By: Emiliano Tealde (Universidad Católica del Uruguay)
    Abstract: This work studies how drug trade-related violence affects individuals’ employment prospects. Using an experimental design, I find that candidates residing in areas associated with drug trade-related violence face significant labor market discrimination. Willingness to hire decreases a 16 % in candidates from a ”narco” neighborhood. Education acts as a mitigating factor, and candidates from a narco neighborhood who finish secondary school do not face discrimination. The results are not driven by employers’ perceptions of the candidates’ quality. I find that discrimination is higher among more experienced employers and that employers who are more concerned about public safety are not more likely to discriminate, which does not support statistical discrimination as the mechanism driving the effect.
    Keywords: Discrimination, Drug Trafficking, Violence
    JEL: D74 J23 J71 K42
    Date: 2025–11
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:021811
  5. By: Herrera Caicedo, Alejandro (University of Wisconsin-Madison); Jeffers, Jessica (HEC Paris); Prager, Elena (University of Rochester)
    Abstract: This paper studies whether common leadership, defined as two firms sharing executives or board directors, contributes to collusion. Using an explicit measure of labor market collusion from unsealed court evidence, we find that the probability of collusion between two firms increases by 12 percentage points after the onset of common leadership, compared to a baseline rate of 1.2 percent in the absence of common leaders. These results are not driven by closeness of product or labor market competition. Our findings are consistent with the increasing attention toward common leadership under Clayton Act Section 8.
    Keywords: Leadership; Clayton Act Section 8
    JEL: D20
    Date: 2025–06–02
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:1580
  6. By: Michele Liberatore; Anna Pettini; Alberto Tonini
    Abstract: This article analyses the impact of legalising cannabis production for industrial and pharmaceutical use in Morocco, paying particular attention to reducing illegal cultivation. Using an original dataset compiled from multiple sources and employing an advanced econometric approach based on the Synthetic Control Method, the study provides robust evidence of a substantial decrease in illegal production as a consequence of the reform. The results have two main implications. First, for Morocco, regulated legalisation emerges as an effective policy tool for reducing the informal economy, with positive effects on tax revenues and international trade. For Europe, and Italy in particular, the reform introduced in the North African country creates new opportunities for the supply of medical cannabis, providing an alternative or supplementary source that could help to alleviate the ongoing shortage of cannabis intended for medical use.
    Keywords: Morocco, cannabis, legalisation, synthetic control method, Law 13-21, rural development
    JEL: O17 C23
    Date: 2025
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12305

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