Research

"General Deterrence and the Clean Air Act"
Daniel Carvell (2009). Job Market Paper.

Abstract: Sah (1991) theorizes that decisions to comply with laws are based on beliefs about the expected penalties for noncompliance, and that these beliefs are often formed by observing the legal sanctions imposed on others. I test whether this theory applies to the enforcement of air pollution regulations in the United States by analyzing plant-level data on emissions of toxic air pollutants from several thousand manufacturing plants and data on regulatory actions to enforce the Clean Air Act. Identification comes from state governments having much of the authority and responsibility for enforcing the Clean Air Act, and from variation across states in the timing and frequency of enforcement actions. Consistent with Sah (1991), large legal sanctions imposed on polluting plants by state governments are associated with reductions in pollution emissions at other plants in the same state. This deterrent response to sanctions of others, known as the general deterrent effects of sanctions, stretches across industrial categories and persists for several years. Less severe sanctions of other plants in the same county also appear to have a general deterrent effect.

"Accidental Death and the Rule of Joint and Several Liability"
Daniel Carvell, Janet Currie and W. Bentley Macleod (October 2009). NBER Working Paper #15412; under submission.

Abstract: Reforms to the Joint and Several Liability rule (JSL) are one of the most common tort reforms and have been implemented by most U.S. states. JSL allows plaintiffs to claim full recovery from one of the defendants, even if that defendant is only partially responsible for the tort. We develop a theoretical model that shows that the efficiency of the JSL rule depends critically on both whether the care taken by potential tortfeasors is observed, and on how the actions of the potential tortfeasors interact to cause the harm. We then provide evidence that reforms to JSL have been accompanied by reductions in the accidental death rate in the U.S. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that the reform of JSL causes potential tortfeasors to take more care.

"The Effects of Criteria Air Pollutants on Mortality: Evidence from Changes to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards"
Daniel Carvell and Janet Currie. Work in progress.

Abstract: The National Ambient Air Quality Standards for the criteria air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act establish thresholds for ambient concentrations of these pollutants that the air in every county in the United States is not supposed to exceed. Revisions to these thresholds over time have caused reductions in pollution levels in counties whose air quality is worse than the new threshold levels. We identify the contemporaneous effects of the criteria air pollutants on elderly and infant mortality using variation across counties in reductions in pollution levels caused by the revisions to the thresholds.

"How do Tort Reforms Affect the Accidental Death Rate? An Empirical Analysis."
Daniel Carvell (2009). Working paper.

Abstract: In order to reduce the volume and costs of tort litigation, since the 1970's most U.S. states have enacted tort reforms limiting liability for committing torts. I estimate whether several common types of tort reforms affect the number of non-motor-vehicle accidental bodily injury torts that are committed, by analyzing data on accidental death rates, the presence of tort reforms, and controls from the 50 U.S. states and D.C. from 1981-2004. Reforms to the collateral source rule are associated with more accidental deaths and reforms to the rule of joint and several liability are associated with fewer accidental deaths, but other reforms such as caps on non-economic damages and punitive damages reforms do not have robust associations with accidental deaths. I find that estimates of the effects of tort reforms on accidental deaths in prior research are sensitive to model specification and the inclusion of overdoses on illegal drugs and abused pharmaceuticals, a leading but non-tortious cause of accidental death, in the dependent variable.