Essays on Law and Economics
Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This dissertation empirically studies problems in law and economics. Using data and econometric methods, the dissertation estimates causal effects in different legal settings. Chapter 1 studies eviction reduction policies, finding that reforms to the number of LA County eviction courts had limited effects. Chapter 2 further studies eviction court assignments using a regression discontinuity design, finding local gaps in eviction probability and testing the impact of two causal mechanisms. Chapter 3 develops a partial identification approach to regression discontinuity designs, offering local and extrapolated bounds, new estimators, simulation results, and an application to a prior property price study. Chapter 4 studies the relationship between courts and legal scholarship, finding that judicial mentions boosted citations to certain works. Overarching themes include specification robustness, partial identification, measurement, counterfactual simulations, and visualizations to demonstrate causal identification and model estimation.
Source: Caltech Library
DOI: 10.7907/g820-7b35
Author: Estes, Matthew
Institution: California Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7161689655
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