Utility Maximizing Judges and Judicial Assistants: Testing Rational Choice Theory in 22 EU Countries

Variable	N	Mean	Std. Dev.	Min	Max
Resolved cases (y)	56	2,038,149	2,863,048	89,406	1.13e+07
Caseload (x)	56	1,147,272	1,644,451	42,667	6,519,002
Judges (m)	56	2,378.9	2,911.3	163	14,861
Assistants (w)	56	6,480.9	7,435.6	220	29,144

Table 2

Summary Statistics (Individual level).

Variable	N	Mean	Std. Dev.	Min	Max
Productivity per judge (y_j)	73	889.20	579.35	143.68	3663.70
Caseload per judge (x_j)	68	432.53	296.36	84.06	1322.58
Caseload per judicial assistant (x_ja)	56	182.55	179.65	39.92	976.31
Productivity per judicial assistant (y_ja)	61	401.95	402.62	81.69	2309.10

Table 3

Pooled Data and Random Effects.

Dependent variable	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
resolved cases (y)	Pooled	Pooled	Random	Random
Independent Variables	OLS	OLS	Effects	Effects
Caseload (x)	0.434***	0.443***	0.478***	0.453***
	(0. 098)	(0.0968)	(0.111)	(0.132)
Judges (m)	0.521***	0.817***	0.379**	0.496**
	(0.163)	(0.218)	(0.158)	(0.217)
Assistants (w)		–0.304**		–0.081
		(0.111)		(0.103)
Constant	4.378***	4.589***	4.796***	4.927***
	(0.506)	(0.550)	(0.848)	(0.974)
N	68	56	68	56
R-squared	0.886	0.889
F-test	185.48***	97.70***
Hausman Test			0.2829	0.3653
Wald chi2(2)			126.23***	107.88***
R-sq: within			0.1503	0.1320
R-sq: between			0.8788	0.8770
R-sq: overall			0.8843	0.8813

[i] Robust standard errors are given in parentheses for pooled ordinary least squares models.

y = Logarithmic form of the total number of resolved cases, x = Logarithmic form of the total.

caseload, m = Logarithmic form of the total number of judges, w = Logarithmic form of the total.

number of judicial assistants. Standard errors in parentheses. *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1.

Table 4

Structural equation modelling.

Dependent variable	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Per capita productivity of judges (y_j)
Independent variables	y_j	y_j	y_j	y_j
Per capita caseload of judges (x_j)	0.503***		0.190	1.177**
	(0.0805)		(0.150)	(0.549)
Per capita caseload of assistants (x_ja)		.430***	0.315**	1.552**
		(.0706)	(0.123)	(0.675)
Interaction (x_jx_ja)				–0.210*
				(0.113)
Constant	3.671***	4.507***	3.954***	–1.792
	(0.477)	(0.354)	(0.480)	(3.108)
N	73	73	73	73

[i] Standard errors in parentheses. *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.36745/ijca.361 | Journal eISSN: 2156-7964

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Language: English

Page range: 6 - 6

Published on: Oct 15, 2020

Published by: International Association for Court Administration

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

Caseload,

Judge’s productivity,

Judicial assistant,

Rational choice theory,

structural equation modelling,

Staffing

© 2020 Fatih Deyneli, Peter Mascini, published by International Association for Court Administration
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Volume 11 (2020): Issue 3