State governments tend to discriminate against out-of-state residents. States that attract a lot of tourists, for example, tend to rely more heavily than other states on hotel, food, and other taxes that fall primarily on out-of-state visitors. The authors examine whether tax exporting also...

Reports about runaway jury awards have become so common that it is widely accepted that the US jury system needs to be 'fixed.' Proposals to limit the right to a jury trial and increase judicial discretion over awards implicitly assume that judges decide cases differently than juries. We show...

According to the conventional wisdom, a revolving door operates between government and industry. High ranking government officials leave office and head for Washington law firms or major corporations where they use their connections and influence to further their new employers' political...

The use of “pay-for-delay” settlements in patent litigation – in which a branded manufacturer and generic entrant settle a Paragraph IV patent challenge and agree to forestall entry – has come under considerable scrutiny in recent years. Critics argue that these settlements are collusive...

The value of lawyers to their clients is notoriously difficult to estimate due to endogeneity. We utilize modifications to the collateral source (CS) rule that require reducing trial awards by the amount of payments from first-party insurance as an instrument for hiring a lawyer. The problem...

Few issues are more contentious for local communities than industrial pollution. When local industries pollute, lawmakers and regulators must balance two primary concerns: economic prosperity and the environment. The role of political pressure is well-documented in environmental policy. What is...

Some models of provider behavior predict that physicians, like other experts, may respond dysfunctionally to financial incentives by recommending unnecessary treatment. The authors empirically test this relationship using data from inpatient hospitalizations surrounding a 2003 Colorado auto...

Although flat fees are common for divorces, wills and trusts, and probate, lawyers in personal injury cases generally are paid by contingency fee or at an hourly rate. Arguments have been made that contingency fees increase low-quality, frivolous litigation but counterarguments suggest that...