Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-2018
Publisher
Boston University School of Law
Language
en-US
Abstract
This paper examines the deterrence properties of aggregate litigation and class actions, with an emphasis on positive value claims. In the multiple victim scenario with positive value claims, the probability that an individual victim will bring suit falls toward zero with geometric decay as the number of victims increases. The reason is that the incentive to free ride increases with the number of victims. Deterrence does not collapse but is degraded. Undercompliance is observed, which worsens as the number of victims increases. Compliance is never socially optimal, and the shortfall from optimality increases with the number of victims. These results, which continue to hold even if victims anticipate being joined in a single forum, suggest a more nuanced and potentially more robust justification for the class action than has hitherto been provided. Implications for collusive settlements of class action litigation are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Keith N. Hylton,
Deterrence and Aggregate Litigation
,
in
No. 17-45
Boston University School of Law, Law and Economics Research Paper
(2018).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/273
Comments
Paper written for the Winter 2018 Law and Economics Workshop at Michigan Law School.