Emotions in Litigation Contests
21 Pages Posted: 23 Feb 2011
Date Written: February 22, 2011
Abstract
This paper introduces the concept of emotions into the standard litigation contest. Positive (negative) emotions emerge when litigants win (lose) at trial and are dependent in particular on the level of defendant fault. Our findings establish that standard results of litigation contests change significantly when emotions are taken into account. We show that emotions may increase or decrease individual and total equilibrium contest effort, introduce an asymmetry into the contest, and reinforce or weaken a plaintiff’s incentives to bring a suit. In addition, we consider how emotions impact on justice.
Keywords: emotions, litigation contest, trial, defendant fault
JEL Classification: K41, D72
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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