Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/93993 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
SFB/TR 15 Discussion Paper No. 348
Publisher: 
Sonderforschungsbereich/Transregio 15 - Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems (GESY), München
Abstract: 
There have long been claims that compensations for noneconomic damages are random because tort law does not provide clear guidance regarding these compensations. I investigate, in both settled and tried medical malpractice cases, whether noneconomic damage payments are arbitrary and what determines the probability and size of these payments. I find that payments for noneconomic damages are not completely random. They vary, in predictable ways, with observable characteristics of the case. The data suggest similar patterns in non-medical malpractice cases. I end by discussing the implications of my findings for the debate on the efficiency and rationale of noneconomic damage compensation.
JEL: 
K13
K32
K41
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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