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On the Role of Emotions in Experimental Litigation Contests

Author

Listed:
  • Gerald Eisenkopf

    (University of Vechta)

  • Tim Friehe

    (University of Marburg)

  • Ansgar Wohlschlegel

    (Portsmouth Business School)

Abstract

We present experimental evidence on the influence of emotions on litigation. Our experiment compares the impact of an intentional taking of points, resulting in an unfair outcome, to that of an exogenous taking. The intentional taking induces negative emotions (e.g., anger), but this emotional arousal does not influence litigant behavior in terms of either filing a case or spending litigation effort. Our observation is independent of litigation being a one-staged or a (possibly) two-staged contest (i.e., one with an an appeal).

Suggested Citation

  • Gerald Eisenkopf & Tim Friehe & Ansgar Wohlschlegel, 2018. "On the Role of Emotions in Experimental Litigation Contests," Working Papers in Economics & Finance 2018-02, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Business School, Economics and Finance Subject Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:pbs:ecofin:2018-02
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    Cited by:

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    2. Baharad, Roy & Cohen, Chen & Nitzan, Shmuel, 2022. "Litigation with adversarial efforts," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    3. Wladislaw Mill & Jonathan Stäbler, 2023. "Spite in Litigation," CESifo Working Paper Series 10290, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Litigation; Contest; Emotions; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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