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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence
Fear, Irrationality, And Risk Perception, Henry L. Chambers, Jr.
Fear, Irrationality, And Risk Perception, Henry L. Chambers, Jr.
Law Faculty Publications
This brief commentary makes two points. The first is that fear can play multiple roles in any decision-making process. The second is that accurately determining whether reactions to fear are irrational is a complex task. Though neither point necessarily requires that symposium participants abandon their positions, together they suggest that extreme care is necessary in developing policy prescriptions based on the claim that fear can trigger irrationality.
The Virtues Of Uncertainty In Law: An Experimental Approach, Tom Baker, Alon Harel, Tamar Kugler
The Virtues Of Uncertainty In Law: An Experimental Approach, Tom Baker, Alon Harel, Tamar Kugler
All Faculty Scholarship
Predictability in civil and criminal sanctions is generally understood as desirable. Conversely, unpredictability is condemned as a violation of the rule of law. This paper explores predictability in sanctioning from the point of view of efficiency. It is argued that, given a constant expected sanction, deterrence is increased when either the size of the sanction or the probability that it will be imposed is uncertain. This conclusion follows from earlier findings in behavioral decision research and the results of an experiment conducted specifically to examine this hypothesis. The findings suggest that, within an efficiency framework, there are virtues to uncertainty …