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Ideas Have Consequences: The Impact of Law and Economics on American Justice

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  • Chen, Daniel L.
  • Ash, Elliott
  • Naidu, Suresh

Abstract

This paper provides a quantitative analysis of the eects of the early law and economics movement on the U.S. judiciary. Using the universe of published opinions in U.S. Circuit Courts and 1 million District Court criminal sentencing decisions linked to judge identity, we estimate the eect of attendance in the con- troversial Manne economics training program, an intensive course attended by almost half of federal judges between 1976 and 1999. After attending economics training, participating judges use more economics language, render more conser- vative verdicts in economics cases, rule against regulatory/taxation agencies more often, and impose longer criminal sentences. These results are robust to adjusting for a wide variety of covariates that predict the timing of attendance. Non-Manne judges randomly exposed to Manne peers on previous cases increase their use of economics language in subsequent opinions, suggesting economics ideas diused throughout the judiciary.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Daniel L. & Ash, Elliott & Naidu, Suresh, 2022. "Ideas Have Consequences: The Impact of Law and Economics on American Justice," TSE Working Papers 22-1392, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    • Handle: RePEc:tse:wpaper:127594
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    2. Pierre Cahuc & Stéphane Carcillo & Bérengère Patault & Flavien Moreau, 2024. "Judge Bias in Labor Courts and Firm Performance," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 1319-1366.
    3. Benito Arruñada, 2021. "La seguridad jurídica en España. Documento de discusión (versión revisada y comentada)," Studies on the Spanish Economy eee2021-18, FEDEA.
    4. Chen, Daniel L., 2018. "Judicial Analytics and the Great Transformation of American Law," TSE Working Papers 18-974, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    5. Chen, Daniel L., 2018. "Judicial Analytics and the Great Transformation of American Law," IAST Working Papers 18-87, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
    6. Goutsmedt, Aurélien & Sergi, Francesco & Claveau, François & Fontan, Clément, 2023. "The Different Paths of Central Bank Scientization: The Case of the Bank of England," SocArXiv jzwdt, Center for Open Science.
    7. Markus Eberhardt & Giovanni Facchini & Valeria Rueda, 2023. "Gender Differences in Reference Letters: Evidence from the Economics Job Market," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(655), pages 2676-2708.
    8. Paul Baumgardner, 2019. "Ronald Reagan, the Modern Right, and…the Rise of the Fem-Crits," Laws, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-10, October.
    9. Samuel Bowles & Wendy Carlin, 2020. "What Students Learn in Economics 101: Time for a Change," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(1), pages 176-214, March.
    10. Lancieri, Filippo Maria & Valleti, Tommaso, 2024. "Towards an effective merger review policy: A defence of rebuttable structural presumptions," Working Papers 345, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • K0 - Law and Economics - - General
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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