In this paper, we analyze the impact of past accident experiences on individual care choices. By relying on standard economic theory, we posit three hypotheses: (1) individual choice of efficient care; (2) no accident-history effect; (3) no role-reversal effects. We test these three hypotheses...

This study puts to a causal test a relationship that has been implied by years of correlational research: that individuals’ willingness to pay taxes decreases when tax-funded benefits are distributed to immigrants. To this aim, we designed an online tax evasion experiment with real tax-funded...

We analyze optimal sentence length for recurring crimes in the face of adjudication errors. We develop an infinite-horizon model where offenders are habitual---they repeat crimes whenever free. If apprehended, criminals may be wrongfully acquitted. Similarly, innocent persons may be apprehended...

This paper is about the incentive effects of legal presumptions. We analyze three interrelated effects of legal presumptions in a tort setting: (1) incentives to invest in evidence technology; (2) incentives to invest in care-type precautions; and (3) incentives to mitigate excessive activity...

Economic models of tort law evaluate the efficiency of liability rules in terms of care and activity levels. A liability regime is optimal when it creates incentives to maximize the value of risky activities at the net of accident and precaution costs. The allocation of primary and residual...

In negligence regimes, tort plaintiffs traditionally bear the burden of proving the negligence of their defendants. Several European legal systems adopted rules that have reversed this traditional evidentiary rule in certain categories of torts, creating a rebuttable presumption of negligence...

Do individuals consider bribery as an acceptable behavior? We use a newly-designed game to study if—and under which conditions—bystanders are willing to express disapproval for bribing behavior through costly punishment. We manipulate two key dimensions: the benefits accrued by corrupt...

To address a debate in the literature concerning the impact of culture on tax compliance, we examine a case where extreme disparities in the two variables coincide, and test for a causal relationship. Our research design isolates the role of culture by focusing on regional differences within a...

This paper investigates the influence of parents and friends on teenagers’ deception attitudes. We analyze whether parents’ and friends’ gambling habits affect teenagers’ tendency to hide their gambling activities from their parents. We use survey-based data on 10,885 Italian high-school...