Understanding Modes of Civil Case Disposition: Evidence from Slovenian Courts

49 Pages Posted: 27 Apr 2013 Last revised: 28 Jul 2013

See all articles by Valentina P. Dimitrova-Grajzl

Valentina P. Dimitrova-Grajzl

Virginia Military Institute

Peter Grajzl

Washington and Lee University - Department of Economics; CESifo

Katarina Zajc

University of Ljubljana - Faculty of Law

Date Written: July 28, 2013

Abstract

While it is well known that the majority of civil cases filed in U.S. courts are not resolved through trial, little is known empirically about the modes of civil case disposition worldwide. To fill this void in the literature, we analyze civil case disposition in post-socialist Slovenia. We first characterize the empirical patterns of modes of civil case disposition in Slovenian local courts. We then examine court-level determinants of the incidence of in-court settlements versus trial-based judgments. Consistent with the theory that both judges and disputing parties take into account their respective private benefits and costs when choosing their preferred mode of case disposition, we find evidence that the incidence of in-court settlements versus trial-based judgments increases with the number of all case filings per judge. Thus, court resources and demand for court services influence not only total court output, as previously established in the literature, but also how cases are disposed of.

Keywords: Case disposition, civil disputes, in-court settlements, trials, court resources

JEL Classification: K40, K41, P37

Suggested Citation

Dimitrova-Grajzl, Valentina P. and Grajzl, Peter and Zajc, Katarina, Understanding Modes of Civil Case Disposition: Evidence from Slovenian Courts (July 28, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2256901 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2256901

Valentina P. Dimitrova-Grajzl

Virginia Military Institute ( email )

Department of Economics and Business
Scott Shipp Hall
Lexington, VA 24450
United States

Peter Grajzl (Contact Author)

Washington and Lee University - Department of Economics ( email )

Lexington, VA 24450
United States

HOME PAGE: http://home.wlu.edu/~grajzlp/

CESifo ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Katarina Zajc

University of Ljubljana - Faculty of Law ( email )

Dunajska 104
1000 Ljubljana, 1000
Slovenia

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