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Large Courts, Small Justice! The inefficiency and the optimal structure of the Italian Justice Sector

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Abstract

Despite its economic development, the average length of trials in Italy is one of the highest in the world. In this paper we analyze the efficiency of the Italian courts of justice for the period 2003 to 2008. Results show that technical efficiency (lack of best practice adoption) is almost 40% and size inefficiency (courts operating on a too large scale) is about 35% of total inefficiency of the sector. It emerges clearly that the single most effective (and feasible) policy intervention is the splitting of large courts of justice. This would boost the ability of the system to process cases and it should put it on a sustainable path with beneficial effects for economic growth.

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  • A. Peyrache & Angelo Zago, 2012. "Large Courts, Small Justice! The inefficiency and the optimal structure of the Italian Justice Sector," CEPA Working Papers Series WP062012, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    • Handle: RePEc:qld:uqcepa:82
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    File URL: https://economics.uq.edu.au/files/5172/WP062012.pdf
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    6. Lewin, Arie Y & Morey, Richard C & Cook, Thomas J, 1982. "Evaluating the administrative efficiency of courts," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 401-411.
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    1. Giacalone, Massimiliano & Nissi, Eugenia & Cusatelli, Carlo, 2020. "Dynamic efficiency evaluation of Italian judicial system using DEA based Malmquist productivity indexes," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Eugenia Nissi & Massimiliano Giacalone & Carlo Cusatelli, 2019. "The Efficiency of the Italian Judicial System: A Two Stage Data Envelopment Analysis Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 395-407, November.
    3. Ippoliti, Roberto, 2014. "Efficienza Tecnica e Geografia Giudiziaria," POLIS Working Papers 178, Institute of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS.
    4. Roberto Ippoliti, 2015. "La riforma della geografia giudiziaria: efficienza tecnica e domanda di giustizia," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(2), pages 91-124.
    5. Falavigna, Greta & Ippoliti, Roberto & Manello, Alessandro & Ramello, Giovanni B., 2015. "Judicial productivity, delay and efficiency: A Directional Distance Function (DDF) approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(2), pages 592-601.

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