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Preliminary References - Analyzing the Determinants that Made the ECJ the Powerful Court it Is

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Listed:
  • Lars Hornuf
  • Stefan Voigt

Abstract

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is a very powerful court compared to other international courts and even national courts of last resort. Observers almost unanimously agree that it is the preliminary references procedure that made the ECJ the powerful court it is today. In this paper, we analyze the determinants that lead national courts to use the procedure. We add to previous studies by constructing a comprehensive panel dataset (1982–2008), including more potentially relevant explanatory variables and by testing for the robustness of previous results. In addition to confirming the relevance of variables previously found significant, we identify a number of additional determinants, including the relevance of agriculture to a country, corporate tax rate, familiarity with EU law, and tenure of democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Hornuf & Stefan Voigt, 2012. "Preliminary References - Analyzing the Determinants that Made the ECJ the Powerful Court it Is," CESifo Working Paper Series 3769, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_3769
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mattli, Walter & Slaughter, Anne-Marie, 1998. "Revisiting the European Court of Justice," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(1), pages 177-209, January.
    2. Tridimas, George & Tridimas, Takis, 2004. "National courts and the European Court of Justice: a public choice analysis of the preliminary reference procedure," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 125-145, June.
    3. Voigt, Stefan, 2012. "On the optimal number of courts," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 49-62.
    4. Jean-Yves Pitarakis & George Tridimas, 2003. "Joint Dynamics of Legal and Economic Integration in the European Union," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 357-368, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    European Court of Justice; economic analysis of court behavior; preliminary reference procedure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • K33 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - International Law

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