Skip to main content

Research

My broad research interest is empirical law and economics.  Specific applications I have written about fall in the areas of:

health law, economics, and policy; crime; litigation; discrimination;

risky sex; addiction; corporate governance; charitable trusts; education;

medical malpractice; regulation; preemption; and punitive damages

 

My theoretical work focuses primarily on topics in constitutional political economy

Cites to my published work can be found on my C.V.

 

 

Articles

2022

62) “When Should Governments Invest More in Nudging? Revisiting Benartzi et al. (2017),” (with Avishalom Tor) Review of Law and Economics, 18(3): 347–376 (2022).

2021

61) “Sobering Up After the Seventh Inning: Alcohol and Crime Around the Ballpark,” (with John MacDonald) Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 37(3): 813-834 (2021).

60) “The Ineffectiveness of ‘Observe and Report’ Patrols on Crime,” (with Marco Fabbri) International Review of Law and Economics, 65: 105972 (2021).

2020

59) “Deterrence and Liability for Intentional Torts,” (with John MacDonald) International Review of Law and Economics, 63(1): Article 105926 (2020).

58) “Surveying the Not Yet Dead,” UC Davis Law Review, 53(5): 2647-2654 (2020).

2019

57) “Requiem for a Paradox: The Dubious Rise and Inevitable Fall of Hipster Antitrust,” (with Joshua Wright, Elyse Dorsey, and Jan Rybnicek) Arizona State Law Journal, 51(1): 293-369 (2019).

2018

56) “Medicare Secondary Payer and Settlement Delay,” (with Eric Helland) Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 15(2): 356-377 (2018).

55) “What Should Empirical Legal Economists Do?” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 174 (1): 29-33 (2018).

54) “The Logic and Limits of Event Studies in Securities Fraud Litigation,” (with Jill Fisch and Jonah Gelbach) Texas Law Review, 96(3): 553-621 (2018).

2017

53) “The Value of the Right to Exclude: An Empirical Assessment,” (with Gideon Parchomovsky) University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 165(4): 917-966 (2017).

52) “The Wealth of Congress,” Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, 40(3): 603-638 (2017).

2016

51) “Reducing False Guilty Pleas and Wrongful Convictions Through Exoneree Compensation,” (with Murat Mungan) Journal of Law and Economics, 59(1): 173-189 (2016).

50) “Identifying Criminals’ Risk Preferences,” (with Murat Mungan) Indiana Law Journal, 91(3): 791-821 (2016).

49) “Everything’s Bigger in Texas Except the Medmal Settlements,” (with Tom Baker and Eric Helland) Connecticut Insurance Law Journal, 22(1): 1-46 (2016).

48) “The Effect of Private Police on Crime: Evidence from a Geographic Regression Discontinuity Design,” (with John MacDonald and Ben Grunwald) Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, 179(3): 831-846 (2016).

47) “The Developmental Effect of State Alcohol Prohibitions at the Turn of the Twentieth Century,” (with Mary Evans, Eric Helland, and Ashwin Patel) Economic Inquiry, 54(2): 762-777 (2016).

2015

46) “Preemption in the Rehnquist and Roberts Courts: An Empirical Analysis (with Michael Greve, Michael Petrino, and J.P. Sevilla) Supreme Court Economic Review, 23(1): 353-392 (2015).

45) “The Effect of Any Willing Provider and Freedom of Choice Laws on Prescription Drug Expenditures,”  (with Joshua Wright) American Law and Economics Review, 17(1): 192-213 (2015).

44) “Appellate Caseload and the Switch to Comparative Negligence,”  (with Jef DeMot and Michael Faure) International Review of Law and Economics, 42: 147-156 (2015).

43) “Discounting and Criminals’ Implied Risk Preferences,”  (with Murat Mungan) Review of Law and Economics, 11(1): 19-23 (2015).

2014

42) “Forfeiture of Illegal Gains, Attempts, and Implied Risk Preferences,” (with Murat Mungan) Journal of Legal Studies, 43(1): 137-153 (2014).

2013

41) “Valid Inference in Single-Firm Single-Event Studies,” (with Jonah Gelbach and Eric Helland) American Law and Economics Review, 15(2): 495-541 (2013).

40) “Shleifer’s Failure,” Texas Law Review, 91(4): 899-909 (2013).

2012

39) “The Relationship between Abortion Liberalization and Sexual Behavior: International Evidence,” (with Sven Neelsen and Thomas Stratmann) American Law and Economics Review, 14(2): 457-487 (2012).

38) “Does Anyone Get Stopped at the Gate? An Empirical Assessment of the Daubert Trilogy in the States,” (with Eric Helland) Supreme Court Economic Review, 20 (2012).

37) “The Effect of Contract Regulation on Franchising,” (with Bruce Kobayashi and Larry Ribstein) Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 168(1): 38-53 (2012).

2010

36) “Recessions and the Social Safety Net: The Alternative Minimum Tax as a Counter-Cyclical Fiscal Stabilizer,” (with Brian Galle) Stanford Law Review, 63(1): 187-246 (2010).

35) “The Perils of Empirical Work on Institutions,” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 166(1): 166-170 (2010).

2009

34) “Passive Discrimination: When Does It Make Sense to Pay Too Little?” (with Jonah Gelbach and Lesley Wexler) University of Chicago Law Review, 76(2): 797-857 (2009).

33) “Strong Claims and Weak Evidence: Reassessing the Predictive Validity of the IAT,” (with Hart Blanton, James Jaccard, Barbara Mellers, Gregory Mitchell, and Philip Tetlock) Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(3): 567-582 (2009).

32) “Transparency Should Trump Trust: Rejoinder to McConnell and Leibold (2009) and Ziegert and Hanges (2009),” (with Hart Blanton, James Jaccard, Barbara Mellers, Gregory Mitchell, and Philip Tetlock) Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(3): 598-603 (2009).

31) “Federalism, Variation, and State Regulation of Franchise Termination,” (with Bruce Kobayashi and Larry Ribstein) Entrepreneurial Business Law Journal, 3(2): 355-380 (2009).

2008

30) “Agency Costs, Charitable Trusts, and Corporate Control: Evidence From Hershey’s Kiss-Off,” (with Robert Sitkoff) Columbia Law Review, 108(4): 749-838 (2008).

— Eventus output referred to in footnotes 294  and 296

29) “Differential Victimization: Efficiency and Fairness Justifications for the Felony Murder Rule,” (with Nuno Garoupa) Review of Law and Economics, 4(1): 407-418 (2008).

28) “Social Networks, Self Denial, and Median Preferences: Conformity as an Evolutionary Strategy,” (with Francesco Parisi) Journal of Socio-Economics, 37(4): 1319-1327 (2008).

27) “Do Spa Visits Improve Health: Evidence from German Micro Data,” (with Thomas Stratmann) Eastern Economic Journal, 34(3): 364-374 (2008).

26) “Abortion Access and Risky Sex Among Teens: Parental Involvement Laws and Sexually Transmitted Diseases,” (with Thomas Stratmann) Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 24(1): 2-21(2008).  

— Materials for replication (data files, do file, Stata log, published version, etc. in a .zip file)  

2007

25) “Diabetes Treatments and Moral Hazard,” (with Thomas Stratmann) Journal of Law & Economics, 50(3): 519-538 (2007).

24) “Medical Malpractice Reform and Physicians in High Risk Specialties,” (with Thomas Stratmann) Journal of Legal Studies, 36(S2): S121-S142 (2007).

23) “The Tradeoff Between Regulation and Litigation: Evidence from Insurance Class Actions,” (with Eric Helland) Journal of Tort Law, 1(3): Article 2 (2007).

22) “The Effect of Judicial Expedience on Attorney Fees in Class Actions,” (with Eric Helland) Journal of Legal Studies, 36(1): 171-187 (2007).

2006

21) “Mandatory Waiting Periods for Abortion and Female Mental Health,” Health Matrix, 16(1): 183-208 (2006).

20) “Government Regulation of Irrationality: Moral and Cognitive Hazards,” (with Greg Mitchell) Minnesota Law Review, 90(6): 1620-1663 (2006).

19) “Salvation as a Selective Incentive,” International Review of Law and Economics, 26(1): 15-32 (2006).

18) “The Two Dimensions of Regulatory Competition,” (with Francesco Parisi and Norbert Schulz) International Review of Law and Economics, 26(1): 56-66 (2006).

17) “A Law and Economics Perspective on Terrorism,” (with Francesco Parisi and Nuno Garoupa) Public Choice, 128(1-2): 147-168 (2006).

16) “Subsidizing Addiction: Do State Health Insurance Mandates Increase Alcohol Consumption?,” (with Thomas Stratmann) Journal of Legal Studies, 35(1): 175-198 (2006).

15) “Preemption in the Rehnquist Court: A Preliminary Empirical Assessment,” (with Michael Greve), Supreme Court Economic Review, 14: 43-94 (2006).

14) “Are Mental Health Insurance Mandates Effective?: Evidence from Suicides,” (with Sara Markowitz) Health Economics, 15(1): 83-97 (2006).

2005

13) “Wealth, Utility, and the Human Dimension,” (with Francesco Parisi) NYU Journal of Law & Liberty, 1(1): 590-608 (2005).

12) “The Micro Foundations of Standard Form Contracts: Price Discrimination vs. Behavioral Bias,” Florida State University Law Review: 32(2): 555-569 (2005).

11) “Limited Autocracy,” Review of Law and Economics, 1(2): 293-304 (2005).

10) “Intra-Jurisdictional Tax Competition,” (with Francesco Parisi) Constitutional Political Economy, 16(4): 387-395 (2005).

9) “Using Terror Alert Levels to Estimate the Effect of Police on Crime,” (with Alexander Tabarrok) Journal of Law and Economics, 48(1): 267-279 (2005).

8) “Data Watch: Tort-Uring the Data,” (with Alexander Tabarrok and Eric Helland) Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(2): 207-220 (2005).

7) “The IOM Report: Too Quick to Diagnose Bias,” (with Sally Satel) Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 48(1): S15-S25 (2005).

2004

6) “Functional Law and Economics: The Search for Value-Neutral Principles of Law Making,” (with Francesco Parisi) Chicago-Kent Law Review, 79(2): 431-450 (2004).

5) “Econometric Analyses of U.S. Abortion Policy: A Critical Review,” Fordham Urban Law Journal, 31: 751-782 (2004).

2003

4) “The Effect of Abortion Legalization on Sexual Behavior: Evidence from Sexually Transmitted Diseases,” (with Thomas Stratmann) Journal of Legal Studies, 32(2): 407-434 (2003).

3) “The Disunity of Unanimity,” (with Francesco Parisi) Constitutional Political Economy, 14(2): 83-94 (2003).

2002

2) “The Differential Calculus of Consent,” (with Francesco Parisi) Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice, 20(2-3): 115-123 (2002).

2001

2000

1) “Do Dollars Make a Difference?: The Relationship Between Expenditures and Test Scores in Pennsylvania’s Public Schools,” American Economist, Vol. 44(1): 81-87 (2000).

 

Book Contributions, Encyclopedia Entries, Monographs, Reviews etc.

2023

34) “Private Security and Deterrence,” (with John MacDonald) in Handbook on Public and Private Security, Erwin A. Blackstone, Simon Hakim, and Brian Meehan, eds. (New York: Springer, 2023).

2022

2021

33) “Big Tech’s Digital Robber Barons,” Regulation, 44(3): 26-29 (2021).

32) Review of the Literature on Diversity on Corporate Boards, AEI Report (2021).

2020

31) “Is the Digital Economy Too Concentrated?,” Global Antitrust Institute, Report on the Digital Economy (2020).

2019

2018

30) “Empirical Analysis of Fiduciary Law,” (with Max Schanzenbach) Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law, Oxford University Press (2019).

29) History of Law and Economics, editor with Henry Butler, Edward Elgar Publishing (2018).

2017

28) “Empirical Analysis of Regulation: The Promise of Field Experiments in China,” Regulatory Reform in China and the EU: A Law and Economics Perspective, Stefan Weishaar, Niels Philipsen, and Wenming Xu, eds. (London: Edward Elgar, 2017).

27) “A Price for Injustice,” (with Murat Mungan) Regulation, 40(2): 12-15 (2017).

26) “Roam if You Want to?” (with Gideon Parchomovsky) Regulation, 40(1): 18-22 (2017).

25) Law and Economics of Federalism, editor, Edward Elgar Publishing (2017).

24) “Empirical Law and Economics,” (with Jonah Gelbach) Oxford Handbook of Law and Economics, Oxford University Press (2017).

2016

23) “Infantilization by Regulation,” (with Greg Mitchell) Regulation, 39(2): 32-37 (2016).

22) “The Value of Training in Quantitative Methods for Judges,” Economic Evidence in EU Competition Law (Intersentia, 2016).

2015

 

2014

 

2013

21) “Regulation and Litigation: Complements or Substitutes?” (with Eric Helland) The American Illness: Essays on the Rule of Law, Frank Buckley, ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013).

2012

20) “Why Aren’t Regulation and Litigation Substitutes? An Examination of the Capture Hypothesis,” (with Eric Helland) Regulatory Breakdown: The Crisis of Confidence in U.S. Regulation, Cary Coglianese, ed. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012).

19) “Global Justice and Trade,” (with Fernando Teson) Global Justice and International Economic Law, Chios Carmody, Frank Garcia, and John Linarelli, eds. (New York: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2012).

18) “Mobile Phones and Crime Deterrence: An Underappreciated Link,” (with John MacDonald and Thomas Stratmann) Research Handbook on Criminal Law, Alon Harel and Keith Hylton, eds. (New York: Edward Elgar, 2012).

17) “Fire Suppression Policy, Weather, and Western Wildland Fire Trends: An Empirical Analysis,” (with Jason Johnston) Wildfire: Law, Policy, and Economics, Karen Bradshaw and Dean Lueck, eds. (Washington, DC: Resources for the Future, 2012).

2011

16) The Empirical Revolution in Law and Economics (The Hague: Eleven International Publishing, 2011).

15) “Slim Odds,” (with Eric Helland) Regulation 34(1): 20-23 (2011).

— Reply from David Ludwig and Steven Gortmaker, “Reducing Soda Consumption,” Regulation, 34(2): 2-3 (2011).

— Response from Helland and Klick, Regulation, 34(2): 3 (2011).

14) “Legal Origins and Empirical Credibility,” (with Eric Helland) Does Law Matter?, Michael Faure and Jan Smits, eds. (Cambridge: Intersentia, 2011).

13) “Abortion Access and Risky Sex,” (with Thomas Stratmann) Research Handbook on the Economics of Family Law, Lloyd Cohen and Joshua Wright, eds. (New York: Edward Elgar, 2011).

12) “The Law and Economics of Regulatory Competition,” Production of Legal Rules, Francesco Parisi and Richard Posner, eds. (New York: Edward Elgar, 2011).

2010

11) “The AMT’s Silver Lining,” (with Brian Galle) Regulation, 33(3): 24-29 (2010).

10) “A More Equitable and Efficient Approach to Insuring the Uninsurable,” (with Eric Helland) The Fragmentation of U.S. Health Care: Causes and Solutions, Einer Elhauge, ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).

9) “Police, Prisons, and Punishment: The Empirical Evidence on Crime Deterrence,” (with Alex Tabarrok) Handbook on the Economics of Crime, Bruce Benson and Paul Zimmerman, eds. (New York: Edward Elgar, 2010).

2009

8) “Terrorism,” (with Nuno Garoupa and Francesco Parisi) Criminal Law and Economics, Nuno Garoupa, ed. (New York: Edward Elgar, 2009).

7) “Functional Law and Economics,” (with Francesco Parisi) Theoretical Foundations of Law and Economics, Mark D. White, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

2008

6) “What Drives the Passage of Damage Caps?” (with Catherine Sharkey) Empirical  Studies of Judicial Systems, Kuo-Chang Huang, ed. (Institutum Jurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica, 2008).

2007

5) “Empirical Research Strategies,” “Functional Law and Economics,” “Multivariate Methods in Legal Studies,” and “Mathematical Modeling,” Encyclopedia of Law and Society, David Clark, ed. (London: Sage Publications, 2007).

2006

4) The Health Disparities Myth: Diagnosing the Treatment Gap (with Sally Satel): AEI Press, 2006.

3) “Are Doctors Biased?” (with Sally Satel) Policy Review, 136(April & May): 41-54 (2006).

2005

 

2004

 

2003

 

2) “First, Do No Harm …” (with Thomas Stratmann) Regulation, 26(1): 9 (2003).

2002

1) “Drug Re-Importation’s No-Win Solution,” Regulation, 25(1): 6-7 (2002).

 

Online Essays, Web Symposia etc.

3) Cato Unbound Symposium on the New Paternalism

Contributions:

“The Dangers of Letting Someone Else Decide.”

“Revealing Revealed Preferences.”

2) “Biased Doctors,” (with Sally Satel) National Review Online, February 23, 2006.

1) “Securing the Airways: The Downside to Solidarity,” National Review Online, October 11, 2001.

 

Policy Reports, Public Interest Comments, White Papers, Etc.

 

Testimony to Pennsylvania Senate Committee Regarding Medical Malpractice Venue Rule (September 8, 2020).

Comment on Milliman Research Report (Review of Proposed Amendment of Pennsylvania Rules of Civil
Procedure Nos. 1006, 2130, 2156, and 2179) regarding venue in Pennsylvania medical malpractice cases.

Assessing the USDA Report, “Taxing Caloric Sweetened Beverages: Potential Effects on Beverage Consumption, Calorie Intake, and Obesity.”   Original USDA report available here .