IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlstud/v35y2006p31-59.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Unreluctant Litigant? An Empirical Analysis of Japan’s Turn to Litigation

Author

Listed:
  • Tom Ginsburg
  • Glenn Hoetker

Abstract

This paper analyzes the rapid increase in civil litigation in Japan during the 1990s in light of existing theories of Japanese litigiousness. Using a unique set of prefecture-level data, it demonstrates that the 1990s increase in litigation is best attributed to two factors: the expansion in institutional capacity for litigation traced to procedural reforms and an expansion in the bar, and structural changes in the Japanese economy related to the postbubble slowdown in growth. The paper contributes to three literatures. First, it builds on earlier institutionally oriented research on civil litigation in Japan by John Haley and Mark Ramseyer by providing new data and detail about the institutional barriers to litigation. Second, it contributes to the literature on the relationship between economic change and litigation more generally. Finally, it contributes to the empirical and comparative literature on litigation rates by providing evidence about the determinants of litigation in one country.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlstud:v:35:y:2006:p:31-59
    DOI: 10.1086/498833
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/498833
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/498833?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. Ramseyer, J Mark & Nakazato, Minoru, 1989. "The Rational Litigant: Settlement Amounts and Verdict Rates in Japan," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(2), pages 263-290, June.
    2. Davidson, Russell & MacKinnon, James G., 1993. "Estimation and Inference in Econometrics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195060119.
    3. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    4. Balestra, Pietro & Varadharajan-Krishnakumar, Jayalakshmi, 1987. "Full Information Estimations of a System of Simultaneous Equations with Error Component Structure," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 223-246, April.
    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. Giuseppe Croce & Emanuela Ghignoni, 2011. "Overeducation and spatial flexibility in Italian local labour markets," Working Papers in Public Economics 145, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Economics and Law.
    2. Hany Eldemerdash & Hugh Metcalf & Sara Maioli, 2014. "Twin deficits: new evidence from a developing (oil vs. non-oil) countries’ perspective," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 825-851, November.
    3. Cawley, John & Markowitz, Sara & Tauras, John, 2004. "Lighting up and slimming down: the effects of body weight and cigarette prices on adolescent smoking initiation," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 293-311, March.
    4. Oded Palmon & Ben J. Sopranzetti, 2017. "On the relationship between the number of a broker’s real estate listings and transaction outcomes," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 65-89, July.
    5. O'Brien, Raymond & Patacchini, Eleonora, 2003. "Testing the exogeneity assumption in panel data models with "non classical" disturbances," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 0302, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
    6. Andre Jungmittag & Paul Welfens, 2009. "Liberalization of EU telecommunications and trade: theory, gravity equation analysis and policy implications," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 23-39, June.
    7. Doko Tchatoka, Firmin & Dufour, Jean-Marie, 2020. "Exogeneity tests, incomplete models, weak identification and non-Gaussian distributions: Invariance and finite-sample distributional theory," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 218(2), pages 390-418.
    8. Robert Mulligan, 1996. "Export-import endogeneity in the context of the Thirlwall- Hussain model: an application of the Durbin-Wu-Hausman test incorporating a Monte Carlo experiment," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(4), pages 275-279.
    9. Guilhem Bascle, 2008. "Controlling for endogeneity with instrumental variables in strategic management research," Post-Print hal-00576795, HAL.
    10. Noble, Stephanie M. & Lee, Kang Bok & Zaretzki, Russell & Autry, Chad, 2017. "Coupon clipping by impoverished consumers: Linking demographics, basket size, and coupon redemption rates," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 553-571.
    11. Maranzano, Paolo & Cerdeira Bento, Joao Paulo & Manera, Matteo, 2021. "The Role of Education and Income Inequality on Environmental Quality. A Panel Data Analysis of the EKC Hypothesis on OECD," FEEM Working Papers 310225, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    12. Balagtas, Joseph Valdes & Sumner, Daniel A., 2004. "Milk Marketing Orders And Milk Sanitation Regulation: Re-Evaulating Marketing Orders' Welfare Effects," 2004 Annual meeting, August 1-4, Denver, CO 20399, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    13. Faiza Siddiqui & Yusheng Kong & Hyder Ali & Salma Naz, 2024. "Energy-Related Uncertainty and Idiosyncratic Return Volatility: Implications for Sustainable Investment Strategies in Chinese Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-39, August.
    14. Aparicio, Sebastian & Audretsch, David & Noguera, Maria & Urbano, David, 2022. "Can female entrepreneurs boost social mobility in developing countries? An institutional analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    15. E. Michael Foster & Leonard Bickman, 1996. "An Evaluator's Guide To Detecting Attrition Problems," Evaluation Review, , vol. 20(6), pages 695-723, December.
    16. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2003. "Instrumental variables and GMM: Estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 3(1), pages 1-31, March.
    17. Panayotis Kapopoulos & Sophia Lazaretou, 2007. "Corporate Ownership Structure and Firm Performance: evidence from Greek firms," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(2), pages 144-158, March.
    18. Stewart, Hayden & Davis, David E., 2005. "Price Dispersion and Accessibility: A Case study of Fast Food," MPRA Paper 7617, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Coën, Alain & Hübner, Georges, 2009. "Risk and performance estimation in hedge funds revisited: Evidence from errors in variables," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 112-125, January.
    20. Russell Davidson & Victoria Zinde‐Walsh, 2017. "Advances in specification testing," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(5), pages 1595-1631, December.

    More about this item

    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:ucp:jlstud:v:35:y:2006:p:31-59. 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: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JLS .

    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.