This comment on Alan Sykes Article "Economic 'Necessity' in International Law" on AJIL UNBOUND discusses the application of necessity clauses from an economic perspective especially in light of the incentives of investors, who are the third party beneficiaries of the investment treaty/contract....

We investigate theoretically and experimentally how the existence of an appeal system influences the judicial effort of judges in the trial court. We assume that judges care about correct decisions and face reputation losses in case of reversals by the appeal court. Our model suggests that the...

Fine reductions for self-reported offenses entail a potential tradeoff. On the one hand, inducing offenders to self-report allows the social planner to save on enforcement costs and reduce harm through early detection. On the other hand, fine reductions may also reduce deterrence: offenders...

The proliferation of product returns entails substantial financial and environmental costs. Nonetheless, regulators typically restrict firms from charging high fees from consumers who return products, thereby facilitating product returns. To analyze the consequences of such interventions, we...

This paper explores theoretically and empirically whether wrongfully convicted defendants receive different punishments than correctly convicted defendants. I develop a theoretical model in which judges observe a signal -- the level of incriminating evidence -- and then engage in `compromise...