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Determinants of Judicial Efficiency Change: Evidence from Brazil

Author

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  • Fauvrelle Thiago A.

    (Institute of Law & EconomicsUniversity of HamburgJohnsallee, 35. D-20148Hamburg,Germany)

  • Tony C Almeida Alessio

    (Graduate Program of Economics, Federal University of Paraiba, João Pessoa, Brazil)

Abstract

Judicial efficiency matters for economic development. Nevertheless, the determinants of judicial productivity growth are not entirely understood. Using data of Brazil's state courts for the period of 2009 to 2014, this paper analyzes judicial productivity change and its possible determinants over time in a two stage approach. First, data envelopment analysis is used to calculate Malmquist productivity measures which are decomposed in: technical change (frontier-shift effect) and efficiency change (composed of pure efficiency change and scale efficiency change). In the second stage, fixed effect models are estimated to evaluate the associated factors with judicial productivity growth. The first stage results show a slight improvement in judicial productivity trend, which is defined mainly by efficiency change, since technical change deteriorated in the period. The second stage findings suggest the nonexistence of a trade-off between judicial quality and efficiency improvement. Moreover, judges’ remuneration, legal complexity and technological use are correlated with judicial productivity, however not always in the expected direction.

Suggested Citation

  • Fauvrelle Thiago A. & Tony C Almeida Alessio, 2018. "Determinants of Judicial Efficiency Change: Evidence from Brazil," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 14(1), pages 1-36, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:rlecon:v:14:y:2018:i:1:p:36:n:6
    DOI: 10.1515/rle-2017-0004
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    judicial efficiency; Malmquist index; productivity; Brazilian courts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government

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