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

Daniel L. Chen, Elliott Ash and Suresh Naidu

No 22-1392, TSE Working Papers from Toulouse School of Economics (TSE)

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.

JEL-codes: D7 K0 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-12-13
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-hpe and nep-law
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Ideas Have Consequences: The Impact of Law and Economics on American Justice (2022)
Working Paper: Ideas Have Consequences: The Impact of Law and Economics on American Justice (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tse:wpaper:127594

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