Lajos Kossuth

Our study sheds light on how gender shapes judicial decision-making under uncertainty, with implications for child welfare, fairness, and justice in developing countries.

We hope it sparks discussion at the intersection of law, gender, and development economics.

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🔹 Result 3: We find no conclusive statistical evidence for other mechanisms—such as bias against female plaintiffs, workplace masculinization, or differences in legal objectives.

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🔹 Result 2: Among defendants in the informal sector (over 70% of cases), the gap seems to come from female judges’ greater skepticism toward claims they perceive as inflated, shaping their beliefs about defendants’ earnings.

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We study how judges in Lima, Peru assign child support awards to mothers.

Our findings show clear differences in how male and female judges evaluate cases.

🔹 Result 1: Female judges award child support amounts that are on average 0.18 standard deviations lower than those awarded by male judges.
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Gender differences in judicial decisions under incomplete information: Evidence from child support cases We study gender differences in child support rulings by judges in cases where defendants (fathers) may work in either the formal or informal sector. O…

Thrilled to share that, after years of work, Roberto Asmat and I have published our paper in the Journal of Development Economics:

“Gender Differences in Judicial Decisions under Incomplete Information: Evidence from Child Support Cases” 👩‍⚖️👨‍⚖️

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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JMP2: RCT. A non-monetary incentives scheme, "Destaca Docente", improves teaching quality in Peruvian primary schools through boosting teachers' perceptions of relative autonomy.

More info:

JMP1: tinyurl.com/55etefmv
JMP2: tinyurl.com/3pukyfcv

Thanks!

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On the #EconJobMarket with two JMPs!

JMP1: Natural Experiment. Female judges award less child support. In cases where income is unknown, this is explained by them being more sensitive to overstatements of mothers' claims.

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