The Determinants of the Incidence and Magnitude of Punitive Damages
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Title:
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The Determinants of the Incidence and Magnitude of Punitive Damages |
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Author:
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Kochhar, Ankita
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Advisor:
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Kontorovich, Vladimir
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Department:
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Haverford College. Dept. of Economics |
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Type:
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Thesis (B.A.) |
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Issue Date:
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2011 |
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Abstract:
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This paper investigates the determinants of the incidence and magnitude of punitive damage
awards in a nationally representative sample of US State Courts in 2005. I evaluate the impact of
the compensatory award, disposition type, claim type, the presence of caps, and permanence of
injury on the incidence and magnitude of punitive damages in tort and contract cases. A lack of
federal regulation and a wide range of state regulation can be attributed as the primary cause of
the large variation in punitive damages. Incidence of punitive damages is consistently high in
intentional tort, fraud and employment cases. Juries award higher damages than judges, and are
more likely to suffer from hindsight bias when awarding damages ex-ante. Caps provide jurors
with an anchor, and may cause a higher incidence and magnitude of punitive damages. Incidence
is more predictable than magnitude, which is primarily because jurors can rank behavior based
on ‘how bad it is’, but struggle to put a monetary value while awarding deterrence awards. |
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Subject:
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Exemplary damages -- United States
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Subject:
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Exemplary damages -- United States -- Statistics
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Subject:
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Exemplary damages -- United States -- Decision making
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Terms of Use:
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/
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Permanent URL:
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http://hdl.handle.net/10066/6975
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