Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Journal of Legal Studies
Publication Date
2001
ISSN
0047-2530
Page Number
107
Keywords
jurors, judges, risk assessment, liability
Disciplines
Law | Litigation | Torts
Abstract
A sample of almost 500 jury-eligible citizens considered a series of experimental situations involving accidents. The juror sample did not properly apply negligence rules, as their errors were particularly great for low-probability, large-loss cases. They also penalized corporations for undertaking corporate risk analyses that seek to trade off cost versus risk reduction benefits. Jurors' damages assessments were also more prone to error than were responses by a sample of state judges. Judges were less prone to erroneous risk beliefs and less subject to the zero-risk mentality.
Recommended Citation
W. Kip Viscusi,
Jurors, Judges, and the Mistreatment of Risk by the Courts, 30 Journal of Legal Studies. 107
(2001)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/85