An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Economic Models in Complex Litigation

59 Pages Posted: 27 Jun 2018

See all articles by Jeff Todd

Jeff Todd

Texas State University, San Marcos - Department of Finance and Economics

Date Written: June 18, 2018

Abstract

Courts lack consistency and coherence in admissibility decisions regarding expert testimony based on economic models. Legal commentators have addressed the issue, but their conclusions range from treating questions about economic models as law to treating them as routine fact-finding. Evidence law bases admissibility upon the standards of the relevant field, and a substantial body of scholarship by economics methodologists conceives of models as tropes and economists as storytellers. Accordingly, models should be evaluated in the context of their use and by their target audience, which in complex litigation is the jury. The economics scholarship therefore supports a lower admissibility threshold because challenges to the choice of underlying studies, excluded variables, and simplifying assumptions go to credibility.

Keywords: Economic Models, Economics Experts, Complex Litigation, Daubert, Admissibility, Economics Methodologists

Suggested Citation

Todd, Jeff, An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Economic Models in Complex Litigation (June 18, 2018). Hofstra Law Review, Vol. 46, 2018, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3198389

Jeff Todd (Contact Author)

Texas State University, San Marcos - Department of Finance and Economics ( email )

San Marcos, TX 78666
United States

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