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Labor Courts, Nomination Bias, and Unemployment in Germany

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  • Helge Berger
  • Michael Neugart

Abstract

Labor courts play an important role in determining the effective level of labor market regulation in Germany, but their application of law may not be even-handed. Based on a simple theoretical model and a new panel data set, we identify a nomination bias in labor court activity - that is, court activity varies systematically with the political leaning of the government that has appointed judges. In an extension, we find a significant positive relation between labor court activity and unemployment, even after controlling for the endogeneity of court activity. The results have potentially important policy implications regarding the independence of the judiciary and labor market reforms.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by CESifo Group Munich in its series CESifo Working Paper Series with number 1752.

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Date of creation: 2006
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Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1752

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Keywords: courts; labor courts; law production; nomination bias; unemployment; regulation; firing costs; Germany;

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References

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  1. Gilat Levy, 2003. "Careerist Judges," STICERD - Theoretical Economics Paper Series 457, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
  2. Frick, Bernd & Schneider, Martin, 1999. "Zunehmende Konfliktregulierung durch Arbeitsgerichte? Eine ökonomische Analyse der Häufigkeit von Kündigungsschutzprozessen," Quint-Essenzen 56, Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Community (IAAEG), University of Trier.
  3. Andrea Ichino & Michele Polo & Enrico Rettore, . "Are Judges Biased by Labor Market Conditions?," Working Papers 192, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
  4. Olivier Blanchard & Justin Wolfers, 1999. "The Role of Shocks and Institutions in the Rise of European Unemployment: The Aggregate Evidence," NBER Working Papers 7282, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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  6. Stephen Nickell & Luca Nunziata & Wolfgang Ochel, 2005. "Unemployment in the OECD Since the 1960s. What Do We Know?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(500), pages 1-27, 01.
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  8. Lars P. Feld & Stefan Voigt, 2003. "Economic Growth and Judicial Independence: Cross Country Evidence Using a New Set of Indicators," CESifo Working Paper Series 906, CESifo Group Munich.
  9. F. Andrew Hanssen, 2004. "Is There a Politically Optimal Level of Judicial Independence?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 712-729, June.
  10. David H. Autor, 2003. "Outsourcing at Will: The Contribution of Unjust Dismissal Doctrine to the Growth of Employment Outsourcing," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(1), pages 1-42, January.
  11. David H. Autor & John J. Donohue III & Stewart J. Schwab, 2003. "The Costs of Wrongful-Discharge Laws," NBER Working Papers 9425, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  12. David H. Autor & John J. Donohue & Stewart J. Schwab, 2004. "The Employment Consequences of Wrongful-Discharge Laws: Large, Small, or None at All?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 440-446, May.
  13. Martin Schneider, 2005. "Judicial Career Incentives and Court Performance: An Empirical Study of the German Labour Courts of Appeal," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 127-144, September.
  14. Voigt, Stefan, 2009. "The effects of lay participation in courts -- A cross-country analysis," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 327-339, September.
  15. Laszlo Goerke & Markus Pannenberg, 2005. "Severance Pay and the Shadow of the Law: Evidence for West Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 1619, CESifo Group Munich.
  16. Goerke, Laszlo & Pannenberg, Markus, 2009. "The effects of income taxation on severance pay," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 107-118, January.
  17. Cooter, Robert D & Rubinfeld, Daniel L, 1989. "Economic Analysis of Legal Disputes and Their Resolution," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 1067-97, September.
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Cited by:
  1. Niklas Potrafke, 2013. "Minority Positions in the German Council of Economic Experts: A Political Economic Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 4206, CESifo Group Munich.
  2. Hefeker, Carsten & Neugart, Michael, 2010. "Labor market regulation and the legal system," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 218-225, September.
  3. Claudia M. Buch & Martin Schlotter, 2008. "Regional Origins of Employment Volatility: Evidence from German States," CESifo Working Paper Series 2296, CESifo Group Munich.
  4. Heijdra, B.J. & Ligthart, J.E., 2006. "Fiscal Policy, Monopolistic Competition and Finite Lives," Open Access publications from Tilburg University urn:nbn:nl:ui:12-199395, Tilburg University.

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