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Case Selection and Judicial Decision-Making: Evidence from French Labor Courts

Author

Listed:
  • Claudine Desrieux

    (CRED - Centre de Recherche en Economie et Droit - UP2 - Université Panthéon-Assas)

  • Romain Espinosa

    (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Using a database on French labor courts between 1998 and 2012, we investigate case selection and judicial decision-making. In France, judges are elected at the labor court level on lists proposed by unions, and litigants can first try to settle their case before the judicial hearing. We show that the ideological composition of the court indirectly impacts the settlement behavior of the parties but has no influence on the decision made in court. In addition, parties have self-fulfilling behavior and adapt to institutional rules. When they anticipate long judicial procedures at court, they settle more frequently and only require judicial hearings for complex cases. The duration to decide these complex cases is longer, explaining why they observe (and build their anticipation on) long case duration. Our empirical strategy uses probit, ordered probit and triprobit estimations to control for case selection. JEL codes: K31, K41

Suggested Citation

  • Claudine Desrieux & Romain Espinosa, 2019. "Case Selection and Judicial Decision-Making: Evidence from French Labor Courts," Post-Print halshs-01827472, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01827472
    DOI: 10.1007/s10657-018-9594-7
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01827472
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    Cited by:

    1. Cahuc, Pierre & Carcillo, Stéphane & Patault, Bérengère & Moreau, Flavien, 2020. "Judge Bias in Labor Courts and Firm Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 13794, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Pierre Cahuc & Stéphane Carcillo & Bérangère Patault & Flavien Moreau, 2022. "Judge Bias in Labor Courts and Firm Performance," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03881619, HAL.
    3. Pierre Cahuc & Stéphane Carcillo & Bérangère Patault & Flavien Moreau, 2022. "Judge Bias in Labor Courts and Firm Performance," Working Papers hal-03881619, HAL.
    4. Umberto Nizza, 2023. "The expertise effect: the impact of legal specialists’ intervention on the timely delivery of laymen's judgments," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(2), pages 589-614, July.
    5. Anne Boring & Claudine Desrieux & Romain Espinosa, 2018. "Aspiring Top Civil Servants’ Distrust in the Private Sector," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 128(6), pages 1047-1087.
    6. Camille Signoretto & Julie Valentin, 2019. "Individual dismissals for personal and economic reasons in French firms: One or two models?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 241-265, October.
    7. Claudine Desrieux & Romain Espinosa, 2017. "Economic analysis of French Labor Courts [Analyse économique des conseils de prud'hommes : Enjeux et Perspectives]," Post-Print halshs-02066317, HAL.
    8. Freyens, Benoit Pierre & Gong, Xiaodong, 2020. "Judicial arbitration of unfair dismissal cases: The role of peer effects," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. Li-Ju Chen, 2021. "Female policymakers and educational expenditures: cross-country evidence," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 129-155, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    judicial proceedings; Settlement; case duration; unions; labor courts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law
    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process

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