Essays in Law and Economics.

详细信息   

• 作者：Yang ; Crystal Siming.
• 学历：Doctor
• 年：2013
• 导师：Katz,Lawrence,eadvisorGoldin,Claudia,eadvisorShavell,Stevenecommittee memberMiron,Jeffecommittee member
• 毕业院校：Harvard University
• Department：Economics.
• ISBN：9781303187698
• CBH：3567129
• Country：USA
• 语种：English
• FileSize：3007531
• Pages：154

文摘

This dissertation consists of three papers relating to the field of Law and Economics. The first two papers examine the impact of increased judicial discretion on both racial disparities and inter-judge disparities in the federal criminal justice system. The third paper analyzes the effects of OSHA programs on workplace safety,wages,and employment. The common thread throughout this work is a focus on how legal actors and institutions affect substantive outcomes of individuals. The first paper explores the effect of judicial discretion on racial disparities in federal sentencing. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines were created to reduce unwarranted sentencing disparities among similar defendants. In this paper,I analyze the impact of increased judicial discretion on racial disparities in sentencing after the Guidelines were struck down in United States v. Booker 2005). Using data on the universe of federal defendants,I find that black defendants are sentenced to almost two months more in prison compared to their white counterparts,a 4% increase. To identify the sources of racial disparities,I construct a dataset linking judges to over 400,000 defendants. Exploiting the random assignment of cases to judges,I find that racial disparities are greater among judges appointed after Booker,suggesting acculturation to the Guidelines by more experienced judges. Prosecutors also respond to increased judicial discretion by charging black defendants with longer mandatory minimums. The second paper estimates the impact of increased judicial discretion on inter-judge disparities,another potential source of unwarranted disparity in the federal criminal justice system. Using the judge-defendant linked dataset from the first paper,I rely on the random assignment of cases to judges. I find that inter-judge disparities have increased significantly after the Guidelines became advisory using a random effects model. A defendant who is randomly assigned a one standard deviation "harsher" judge in the district court received a 2.6 month longer prison sentence before Booker,but received a 5.3 month longer sentence following Booker. Inter-judge disparities exist in above range and below range departures. Some of the recent increase in disparities can be attributed to differential sentencing behavior by judge demographics. The application of mandatory minimums by prosecutors is another prominent source of disparities,potentially through the use of superseding indictments. The third paper analyzes the differential impact of state versus federal regulation of OSHA programs on the use of traditional enforcement tools,nonfatal injury rates and fatalities,as well as wages and employment. I find that certification of a state regulated OSHA program leads to an increased use of inspections per capita and issuance of violations per capita. However,in the more recent period from 1996-2008,state regulated OSHA programs have no significantly lower rate of total nonfatal injuries,compared to federally regulated programs. Disaggregating state regulated OSHA programs,I find that state regulated programs that adopted stringent standards beyond the federal program are associated with significantly lower fatalities,compared to all other states. A case study on the 2000 California penalty reform reveals that greater magnitude of sanctions and prosecution are potentially effective enforcement tools in promoting greater workplace safety and reducing fatalities. Finally,I find that there is a compensating differential for workplace safety,as wages fall significantly following certification of a state regulated program,with no changes in employment.