IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/epolit/v40y2023i2d10.1007_s40888-022-00277-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The expertise effect: the impact of legal specialists’ intervention on the timely delivery of laymen's judgments

Author

Listed:
  • Umberto Nizza

    (University of Verona)

Abstract

France relies exclusively on lay assessors to solve conflicts between entrepreneurs and employees for the longest time compared to any other civil jurisdiction. Given the lack of legal training of labor judges, the paper tests whether an intensification in the offer for legal services, whether coming from professional judges or specialized labor lawyers, induces delays in the procedure. Using a two-stage least squared estimating method and an innovative dataset on French labor courts between 2013 and 2017, the manuscript estimates the effect of an increase in the intervention of legal experts in labor litigation. The analysis showed that referrals to a professional judge delay labor cases’ solutions but refuted the long-standing economic theory that lawyers induce delay to acquire higher fees. This study indicates that the current structure of employment courts, entirely left in the hand of laymen with little knowledge of the ever-changing labor legislation, should be reconsidered to foster collaborative solutions accounting for industrial experience and, at the same time, legal competency.

Suggested Citation

  • Umberto Nizza, 2023. "The expertise effect: the impact of legal specialists’ intervention on the timely delivery of laymen's judgments," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(2), pages 589-614, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolit:v:40:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s40888-022-00277-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s40888-022-00277-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40888-022-00277-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40888-022-00277-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Claudine Desrieux & Romain Espinosa, 2020. "La barémisation des indemnités pour licenciement abusif : quelques éléments d’analyse empirique," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 71(3), pages 527-556.
    2. Thomas Breda & Esther Chevrot-Bianco & Claudine Desrieux & Romain Espinosa, 2017. "French employment tribunals : can the disparity of their decisions be explained?," Institut des Politiques Publiques halshs-02522702, HAL.
    3. Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silane & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "Courts: the Lex Mundi Project," NBER Working Papers 8890, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Philippe Lemistre & Nicolas Moreau, 2009. "Spatial Mobility And Returns To Education: Some Evidence From A Sample Of French Youth," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 149-176, February.
    5. Claudine Desrieux & Romain Espinosa, 2019. "Case selection and judicial decision-making: evidence from French labor courts," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 57-88, February.
    6. William Robert Reed, 2015. "On the Practice of Lagging Variables to Avoid Simultaneity," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 77(6), pages 897-905, December.
    7. Neykov, N.M. & Čížek, P. & Filzmoser, P. & Neytchev, P.N., 2012. "The least trimmed quantile regression," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1757-1770.
    8. Marc F. Bellemare & Casey J. Wichman, 2020. "Elasticities and the Inverse Hyperbolic Sine Transformation," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(1), pages 50-61, February.
    9. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    10. Alain Marciano & Alessandro Melcarne & Giovanni Battista Ramello, 2019. "The economic importance of judicial institutions, their performance and the proper way to measure them," Post-Print hal-02005900, HAL.
    11. Palumbo, Giuliana, 2006. "Optimal duplication of effort in advocacy systems," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 112-128, May.
    12. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2007. "Enhanced routines for instrumental variables/generalized method of moments estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(4), pages 465-506, December.
    13. Fenn, Paul & Rickman, Neil, 1999. "Delay and Settlement in Litigation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(457), pages 476-491, July.
    14. Romain Espinosa & Claudine Desrieux & Hengrui Wan, 2017. "Fewer courts, less justice? Evidence from the 2008 French reform of labor courts," Post-Print halshs-01634211, HAL.
    15. Stefan Voigt, 2016. "Determinants of judicial efficiency: a survey," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 183-208, October.
    16. Tom Ginsburg & Glenn Hoetker, 2006. "The Unreluctant Litigant? An Empirical Analysis of Japan’s Turn to Litigation," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(1), pages 31-59, January.
    17. Mora-Sanguinetti, Juan S. & Garoupa, Nuno, 2015. "Do lawyers induce litigation? Evidence from Spain, 2001–2010," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 29-41.
    18. Koenker, Roger W & Bassett, Gilbert, Jr, 1978. "Regression Quantiles," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 33-50, January.
    19. Thomas Breda & Esther Chevrot-Bianco & Claudine Desrieux & Romain Espinosa, 2017. "French employment tribunals : can the disparity of their decisions be explained?," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-02522702, HAL.
    20. A. Mitchell Polinsky & Daniel L. Rubinfeld, 2003. "Aligning the Interests of Lawyers and Clients," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 5(1), pages 165-188.
    21. Kim Economides & Alfred A. Haug & Joe McIntyre, 2013. "Are Courts Slow? Exposing and Measuring the Invisible Determinants of Case Disposition Time," Working Papers 1317, University of Otago, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2013.
    22. Damien Broussolle, 2012. "Le commerce des services, un commerce en trompe-l'œil ?. Une analyse fondée sur le point de vue de Hill," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 63(6), pages 1145-1177.
    23. Marciano, Alain & Melcarne, Alessandro & Ramello, Giovanni B., 2019. "The economic importance of judicial institutions, their performance and the proper way to measure them," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 81-98, February.
    24. Giuseppe Di Vita, 2012. "Factors Determining the Duration of Legal Disputes: An Empirical Analysis with Micro Data," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 168(4), pages 563-587, December.
    25. Paul Ryan, 2001. "The School-to-Work Transition: A Cross-National Perspective," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(1), pages 34-92, March.
    26. Jérôme Deauvieau & Céline Dumoulin, 2010. "La mobilité socioprofessionnelle des professions intermédiaires : fluidité, promotion et déclassement," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 431(1), pages 57-72.
    27. Nathalie Chappe & Myriam Doriat-Duban, 2003. "La résolution des conflits individuels du travail. Conciliation versus médiation," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 113(4), pages 549-568.
    28. Berlemann, Michael & Christmann, Robin, 2017. "The Role of Precedents on Court Delay - Evidence from a civil law country," MPRA Paper 80057, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Berlemann, Michael & Christmann, Robin, 2017. "The Role of Precedents on Court Delay - Evidence from a civil law country," MPRA Paper 80057, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Samantha Bielen & Peter Grajzl & Wim Marneffe, 2017. "Understanding the Time to Court Case Resolution: A Competing Risks Analysis Using Belgian Data," CESifo Working Paper Series 6450, CESifo.
    3. Duy Vu & Michele Pezzoni & Duc Lam Nguyen, 2021. "Arbitrator teams and dispute resolution performance: an empirical analysis," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 347-381, April.
    4. Castelliano, Caio & Grajzl, Peter & Watanabe, Eduardo, 2021. "How has the Covid19 pandemic impacted the courts of law? Evidence from Brazil," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Sila Mishra, 2023. "‘Cyclic syndrome’ of arrears and efficiency of Indian judiciary," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-27, January.
    6. Marques, André M., 2022. "Is income inequality good or bad for growth? Further empirical evidence using data for all Brazilian cities," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 360-376.
    7. Caio Castelliano & Peter Grajzl & Tomas Aquino Guimaraes & Andre Alves, 2021. "Judicial enforcement and caseload: theory and evidence from Brazil," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 137-168, August.
    8. Ayça Akarçay & Sezgin Polat, 2023. "Reluctance to report criminal incidents: limited access to justice, social exclusion, and gender," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 145-166, February.
    9. Bielen, Samantha & Peeters, Ludo & Marneffe, Wim & Vereeck, Lode, 2018. "Backlogs and litigation rates: Testing congestion equilibrium across European judiciaries," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 9-22.
    10. Timothy Yu-Cheong Yeung & Michal Ovádek & Nicolas Lampach, 2022. "Time efficiency as a measure of court performance: evidence from the Court of Justice of the European Union," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 209-234, April.
    11. Svetlana Avdasheva & Svetlana Golovanova & Elena Sidorova, 2022. "Does judicial effort matter for quality? Evidence from antitrust proceedings in Russian commercial courts," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 425-450, June.
    12. Umkehrer, Matthias, 2013. "Youth Employment Instability, True State Dependence and Adult Wage Inequality," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 80014, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. Aziza Garsaa & Nadine Levratto, 2015. "Do labor tax rebates facilitate firm growth? An empirical study on French establishments in the manufacturing industry, 2004–2011," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 613-641, October.
    14. Miloš Božović, 2021. "Judicial efficiency and loan performance: micro evidence from Serbia," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 33-56, August.
    15. Berlemann, Michael & Christmann, Robin, 2020. "Disposition time and the utilization of prior judicial decisions: Evidence from a civil law country," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    16. Aluko, Olufemi Adewale & Opoku, Eric Evans Osei, 2022. "The financial development impact of financial globalization revisited: A focus on OECD countries," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 13-29.
    17. Francesco Aiello & Graziella Bonanno & Francesco Foglia, 2021. "On The Heterogeneity In The Judicial Efficiency Literature: A Meta-Regression Analysis," Working Papers 202102, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    18. Neubecker, Nina & Smolka, Marcel, 2013. "Co-national and cross-national pulls in international migration to Spain," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 51-61.
    19. Divine Ikenwilo & Anthony Scott, 2007. "The effects of pay and job satisfaction on the labour supply of hospital consultants," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(12), pages 1303-1318.
    20. Vance, Colin & Frondel, Manuel, 2015. "From fuel taxation to efficiency standards: A wrong turn in European climate protection?," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113171, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Courts' delay; Professional judges; Lay assessors; Attorneys;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies
    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:epolit:v:40:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s40888-022-00277-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.