Emotions in Litigation Contests

21 Pages Posted: 23 Feb 2011

See all articles by Florian Baumann

Florian Baumann

University of Tuebingen - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Tim Friehe

University of Konstanz - Department of Economics

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

Baumann, Florian and Friehe, Tim, Emotions in Litigation Contests (February 22, 2011). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 3351, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1766383 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1766383

Florian Baumann

University of Tuebingen - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration ( email )

Mohlstrasse 36
D-72074 Tuebingen, 72074
Germany

Tim Friehe (Contact Author)

University of Konstanz - Department of Economics ( email )

Konstanz, D-78457
Germany

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