First we show that for wealth-constrained agents who may commit an act twice, the optimal sanctions are the offender's entire wealth for the first crime, and zero for the second. Then we ask whether this decreasing sanction scheme is subgame perfect (time consistent), i.e., does a rent-seeking...

In 2003 Genn's Paths to Justice study for the UK was replicated in the Netherlands. A survey was held among 3.500 citizens into their experiences with problems for which there might be a legal solution.The data were collected by internet questionnaires, which were addressed to a random sample of...

The standard model of optimal deterrence predicts that the probability of wrongful conviction of the innocent is, at the margin, as detrimental to deterrence as the probability of wrongful acquittal of guilty individuals. We extend the model in several directions: using expected utility as well...

The implementation of European Union directives into national law is at the discretion of member states. We analyze incentives for member states to deviate from these directives when the European Commission may sue a defecting member state and rulings at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) are...

Plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits are entitled to compensation for future medical expenses. We argue that the “guaranteed issue” and “individual mandate” requirements of the recently passed Affordable Care Act (ACA) will allow victims to address their health needs through the...

We model the different ways in which precedents and contract standardization shape the development of markets and the law. In a setup where more resourceful parties can distort contract enforcement to their advantage, we find that the introduction of a standard contract reduces enforcement...

The financial situation of a firm represents a knowledge that is necessary for all stakeholders because they all need to have information about the capacity of the entity to be profitable. The purpose of the study is to examine the evolution of insolvency regulation throughout the years by...

In most economic models of damage compensation, the indemnity is proportional to the fault and victims have to file the claim. Contrary to the tort law approach, a growing number of reparation mechanisms choose to ignore the fault (“no-fault law”) to compensate damages in their entirety. The...