Dispute Rates Research Articles

Litigation with negative expected value suits: An experimental analysis

AbstractThe existence of lawsuits providing plaintiffs a negative expected value (NEV) at trial has important theoretical implications for signaling models of litigation. The signaling equilibrium possible when there are no NEV suits breaks down because plaintiffs with NEV suits do not have a credible threat to proceed to trial, which undermines the ability to signal type. Using a laboratory experiment, we analyze behavior with and without the possibility of NEV suits. Absent NEV suits, behavior largely follows predicted patterns. However, the possibility of NEV suits is not found to cause the signaling equilibrium to unravel or to cause the dispute rate to increase. Plaintiffs only drop NEV lawsuits three‐fourths of the time, the rejection rate by defendants for revealing demands rises less than predicted and, contra theory, the rejection rate on demands in the semi‐pooling range remains unchanged.

Proposal convergence and settlement under final offer arbitration

Under final offer arbitration (FOA), each party to the dispute submits a proposal to the arbitrator who must choose one of the two submitted proposals in the event an agreement is not reached. A long line of research on FOA has assumed that the submitted proposals to the arbitrator are the final bargaining positions of the parties to the dispute. One consequence of this assumption has been a focus on whether proposals submitted to the arbitrator converge towards one another. However, current practice implies a separation between settlement negotiations and proposals submitted to the arbitrator. We use a simple setting to show that proposal convergence can be consistent with an increase in disputes, a decrease in disputes or no effect on the dispute rate. In order to be fully evaluated, mechanisms which lead to proposal convergence must be embedded in a model in which disputes arise endogenously. Understanding FOA is important because it is a widely used procedure. These uses include labor disputes as well as pricing disputes in the telecommunications industries of the United States and Canada.

Medical Disputes on the Concept of Inspanningsverbintenis vs Resultaatsverbintenis: A Critical Review

The relationship between patients and doctors in health services is a therapeutic contract-based relationship. The therapeutic contract begins with an (unwritten) agreement where both parties are assumed to be accommodated when the agreement is reached. Agreement that can be reached include agreeing to medical action or rejecting a medical action plan. Doctors as health workers who work in the health care sector are involved in a working relationship with the hospital as a place to carry out their profession. A doctor working in a hospital also has an administrative relationship that affects rights and obligations between the two parties and responsibilities to third parties. In the relationship between patients and the hospital, patients are the recipient of health services and the hospital is the provider of such services. Hospitals are obliged to provide health services in accordance with health care standards. Doctors, patients and hospitals are in a relationship based on trust, under an assumption that doctors can cure patients' illnesses and will do the best for patients. However, this mindset has changed along with the times, science, and technology that affect the human mind. Their social-moral-oriented relationship has turned into a material-oriented one because doctors face various demands to improve their professionalism. The change in orientation above is one of the causes of medical conflicts and disputes. Conflicts arise between doctors as health service provider and patients as health service receivers. Conflicts can turn into disputes if the party who feels aggrieved has expressed dissatisfaction with the party considered to be the cause. Medical disputes have risen sharply along with the disruption of services amid the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout 2020 and 2021. The high rate of disputes also begs question of quality control of health services. This qualitative research-based article attempted to describe and analyze the phenomenon of medical disputes at the Dr. Iskak General Hospital of Tulungagung using the conception of inspanningsverbintenis vs resultaatsverbintenis. The findings show that, in the provision of health services, there may arise four violation categories, namely: ethical violations, disciplinary violations, administrative violations, and legal (both civil and criminal) violations.

In the Question of Geospatial Information Data Use in the Forestry Legislation Making in Indonesia

The high rate of deforestation and many forest disputes in Indonesia show that forest management in Indonesia is not based on the principles of good forest governance. It also shows that there is still a lack of attention to the aspect of sustainable forest development which focuses on a balanced sustainability condition between the three forest functions (production, ecology, and socio-economic functions). Geospatial Information is expected to be the solution to help provide an accurate data and information which mapping forest development in accordance with the conditions of each forest area, so that the three functions can operate coherently. Furthermore, with the presence of integrated geospatial data, it can be used as a tool in policy formulation, decision making, and/or dispute resolution in the forestry sector. This paper applies empirical juridical research consisting participatory methods through discussions and interviews with related parties. In practice, the legal materials are firstly collected by using inventory and documentation. Then, it’s completed by interviews and Focus Group Discussion data. Moreover, it also applies statutory, conceptual, and case approaches. This paper highlights the use of geospatial information data in the forestry legislation making in Indonesia. Hence, this paper will present new information about the model of forestry dispute resolution based on geospatial information.

Extension for contract performance under the CISG 1980 and implications for Vietnamese businesses

Being adopted in 1980 and getting effective from January 1, 1988, The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) has become one of the most widely accepted international trade treaties. Despite its validity in Vietnam since the beginning of 2017, the Convention is still applied in a very limited way by domestic businesses. In fact, there have been a lot of sophisticated legal issues in international trade, especially in cases the parties fail to promptly or properly perform their contractual obligations or even in case of non-performance. This article is aimed to study the provisions of additional time for late performance (Nachfrist) under CISG 1980 in comparison with Vietnamese laws, and current situation of extension for contract performance under CISG 1980. The research collected, summarized, compared and analyzed data from trustworthy sources and conducted the in-depth interviews with the experienced experts in commerce, law, and dispute settlement. The results point out some similarities and differences in establishing the additional time between Vietnamese legal documents and the Convention. Furthermore, it is also showed in this article that disputes related to the Nachfrist clause are quite common and tend to decrease, but only with the participation of mainly European countries and China. In terms of content of dispute cases, the rate of disputes arising from the Seller's breach of contract is much higher than that rate from the Buyer’s. Regarding methods of dispute settlement, China has nearly always chosen arbitration while European countries have given priority to the court. From the analysis, some implications for Vietnamese businesses in the application and interpretation CISG’s provisions of contract extension were represented as solutions to help businesses improve their legal knowledge and limit risks in international commercial activities.

Signaling in the “Before” Model of Final Offer Arbitration

Abstract We develop a signaling model of final offer arbitration (FOA) in which the informed party makes the final settlement demand to the uninformed party. In FOA, each party submits a proposal to an arbitrator and if no agreement is reached, the arbitrator must select one of the two submitted proposals. We analyze a “before” model of FOA in which all settlement activity occurs prior to the exchange of proposals. We characterize the pure strategy separating, equilibrium associated with this game. Relative to a model of conventional arbitration (CA), the pure strategy separating equilibrium is associated with a higher dispute rate because weak player types have an enhanced incentive to bluff in this setting. This result continues to hold in semi-pooling equilibria. Thus our model is consistent with a higher dispute rate in FOA compared to CA. We also compare the incentive to engage in costly voluntary disclosure and costly discovery (JEL K4, C7, J52).

Signaling in the ‘Before’ Model of Final Offer Arbitration

We develop a signaling model of final offer arbitration (FOA) in which the informed party makes the final settlement demand to the uninformed party. In FOA, each party submits a proposal to an arbitrator and if no agreement is reached, the arbitrator must select one of the two submitted proposals. We analyze a “before” model of FOA in which all settlement activity occurs prior to the exchange of proposals. We characterize the pure strategy separating, equilibrium associated with this game. Relative to a model of conventional arbitration (CA), the pure strategy separating equilibrium is associated with a higher dispute rate because weak player types have an enhanced incentive to bluff in this setting. This result continues to hold in semi-pooling equilibria. Thus our model is consistent with a higher dispute rate in FOA compared to CA. Results on the incentive to engage in costly voluntary disclosure are mixed across the two models. In contrast with CA, costly discovery can occur in this model of FOA. The analysis of out of equilibrium beliefs and actions is considerably more complex than in the standard litigation model.

Analysis of the Effect of Clinical Application of Detailed Nursing Measures in Ensuring the Safety of Nursing in Operating Room

To discuss the clinical application effect analysis of detailed nursing measures in ensuring the safety of nursing in the operating room is the objective. 140 patients who were admitted in the operating room of our hospital from December 2018 to December 2020 were randomly selected as the research objects. According to the computer random allocation method, they were divided into the control group and the experimental group, with 70 patients in each group. The control group was given routine nursing care and the intervention group was given detailed nursing care. The two groups were observed and compared the nursing quality scores, the rate of nurse-patient disputes and error rates, self-rating depression scale and self-rating anxiety scale scores, nursing satisfaction rate and complications. The results showed that compared with the control group, the intervention group had higher nursing quality scores, higher nursing satisfaction rate and postoperative self-rating depression scale and self-rating anxiety scale scores, lower nursing-patient disputes and complications and the differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). Detailed nursing measures improve the quality of care, relieve patient’s anxiety and depression, increase patient satisfaction, significantly reduce postoperative complications and provide a guarantee for ensuring the safety of nursing care in the operating room.

Application of Nursing Risk Management in Nursing of Severe Peptic Ulcer Bleeding

Objective: To assess and compare the clinical application value of nursing risk management in the diagnosis and treatment of severe peptic ulcer bleeding. Methods: A total of 70 patients with severe peptic ulcer bleeding were selected as the research objects, randomly divided into observation group and control group, 35 cases for each. The nursing risk management and conventional nursing management were implemented for the two groups, respectively. The success rate of hemostasis, average length of stay, cure rate, complication rate, dyspnea rate, nursing dispute rate, SAS score, and SDS score were compared between the two groups. Patients’ satisfaction with nursing quality was also compared. Results: After the implementation of two different nursing management methods, all the above-mentioned metrics were better in the observation group than in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Conclusion: The application of nursing risk management in the nursing intervention process of patients with severe peptic ulcer bleeding can effectively reduce the probability of nursing risk events, increase the cure rate, shorten the patient’s hospital stay, but also improve the patients’ psychological state and increase the patient’s satisfaction with nursing quality, which is worth clinical promotion.

Costly Voluntary Disclosure in a Signaling Game

Abstract We conduct an experimental analysis of pretrial bargaining, while allowing for the costly disclosure of private information in a signaling game. Under the theory, 100 % of plaintiffs with a weak case are predicted to remain silent, while 100 % of the plaintiffs with a strong case are predicted to voluntarily disclose their type. We find that 75 % of weak plaintiffs remain silent and 67 % of strong plaintiffs reveal their type. In line with theory, weak plaintiffs who reveal their type receive a lower payoff, while strong plaintiffs who reveal their type receive a higher payoff. Plaintiffs with a strong case who reveal their type have a dispute rate which is 50 % points lower than strong plaintiffs who remain silent. Because plaintiffs who reveal their type cannot extract the entire surplus from settlement from the defendant, the incentive to engage in voluntary disclosure is weaker empirically than it is in theory.

Effects of the Joint Custody Law in Italy

We study the effect of a 2006 reform to Italian family law that made joint custody the default for separating couples. The reform boosted joint legal custody by about 75 percentage points. Our research design uses difference‐in‐differences to estimate reform effects on the likelihood of a contested settlement, length of trial, and transfers between separating parents. The analysis is based on Italian individual‐level administrative data, which cover the entire population. The joint custody default appears to have increased dispute rates and length of trial markedly, without affecting transfers. There is no evidence that mothers buy custody rights back through reduced support. Our findings are consistent with the excessive discretion given to judges on some aspects of law implementation, which resulted in a partial application of the reform.

Trends in the Lethality of American Violence

Research on homicide trends has not adequately considered trends in interpersonal disputes. Aggregate homicide rates partly reflect the extent to which less serious forms of interpersonal violence escalate to deadly violence. This study argues that the rate of disputes in a society and the proportion that result in deadly violence vary independently. But both are necessary to understand lethality trends. The study compares rates of homicide in the Supplemental Homicide Report with rates of violence in the National Crime Victimization Survey to estimate lethality trends from 1992 to 2016. Findings are discussed regarding their implications for explanations of homicide trends.

Diagnostic errors in fatal medical malpractice cases in Shanghai, China: 1990\u20132015

BackgroundMedical disputes remain unabated in China. Previous studies have shown the changes of diagnostic discrepancy over time in developed countries, but diagnostic discrepancy remains understudied in China, especially in the setting of medical disputes. We sought to describe the year-based changes of diagnostic discrepancies in medical disputes, and to identify factors associated with classes of diagnostic discrepancy.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of all medically disputed cases from 1990 through 2015 in Shanghai, China, with use of necropsy as the gold standard for diagnosis. Cases were grouped based on national legislative eras. Diagnostic discrepancy was classified as major errors (class I and II), minor errors (class III and IV), no discrepancy (class V) and undetermined (class VI) based on discrepancy severity.ResultsThere were 482 medical disputes. Cases were predominantly males (male: female = 1.6:1) and concentrated in patients less than 10 years old or between 50 and 70 years. Major and minor discrepancy accounted for 51.7 and 34.8%, respectively. Fifty-five cases (11.2%) were non-discrepant (Class V). The dispute rate remained high before the first round of legislation (mean 0.31 per 1 million patients) but declined dramatically afterwards (R2 = − 0.82, p < 0.001 for time trends). Over the national legislative eras, the annual number of cases with diagnostic errors declined steadily. Incidence rates of discrepancy decreased significantly for class I (R2 = − 0.73, p = 0.024), II (R2 = − 0.48, p = 0.013), III (R2 = − 0.69, p < 0.0001), IV (R2 = − 0.69, p < 0.0001) and V discrepancy (R2 = − 0.58, p = 0.0018). Diseases from the respiratory system had significantly lower risks of any diagnostic errors (OR = 0.48, 95% 0.24–0.95, p = 0.036). A neoplasm carrier increased by 92% the risk of any diagnostic error (OR = 1.92; 95%CI 1.18–3.14; p = 0.009) and hypertension reduced by 78% the risk of minor errors (OR = 0.22, 95%CI 0.06–0.91, p = 0.036). Severity of discrepancy relieved over years and associated with ageing in patients with cardiovascular diseases (p = 0.01).ConclusionsThe rate of fatal medical disputes and diagnostic discrepancy declined after stepwise legislations in China. Respiratory diseases, neoplasm carrier and hypertension could be independent predictors for assessing diagnostic errors.

An Empirical Analysis of the Signaling and Screening Models of Litigation

We present an experimental analysis of the signaling and screening models of litigation. In both models, bargaining failure is driven by asymmetric information. The difference between the models lies in the bargaining structure: In the signaling game, the informed party makes the final offer, while in the screening game the uninformed party makes the final offer. We conduct experiments for both models under a common set of parameter values, allowing only the identity of the party making the final offer to change. We find the anomalous behavior to be more common in the signaling game, but the frequency of this behavior diminishes in the later rounds of the experiment. Across both games, in the later rounds of the experiment over 90% of offers are consistent with the theory. Having the right to make the offer raises a player’s expected payoffs, but by much less than is predicted by theory. Dispute rates across the two games are approximately equal.

Characteristics of medical disputes arising from dental practice in Guangzhou, China: an observational study

ObjectivesDoctor–patient conflict is a phenomenon that has become one of the major social problems affecting China’s medical system today. This study aimed to analyse the nature of medical dispute incidents...

What Explains the Low Success Rate of Investor-State Disputes?

AbstractThe treatment of foreign investment has become the most controversial issue in global governance. At the center of the controversy lies the mechanism of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which allows private firms legal recourse against governments if government interference has degraded their investment. Using newly released data covering 742 investment disputes, I assess some of the central claims about ISDS. I argue that the regime has indeed undergone an important shift: a majority of claims today deal not with direct takings by low-rule-of-law countries, but with regulation in democratic states. Such “indirect expropriation” claims have seen a precipitous decrease in their odds of legal success over the past twenty years. They are also far less likely to result in early settlement. These parallel trends may be a result of a rise in strategic litigation by investors whose aim is not only to obtain compensation but also to deter governments' regulatory ambitions.

Litigation with judgment proof defendants

We consider a model of litigation in which some defendants have insufficient assets to pay a judgment at trial. Because the defendant’s assets are not observable, this serves as a source of asymmetric information which leads to trials in the equilibrium of the model. Unlike many other types of informational asymmetry, the defendant’s assets are not generally subject to discovery and it may be difficult to credibly establish a lack of assets in a voluntary disclosure. Thus, this is a source of asymmetry between the parties which is likely to persist in the presence of these institutions. This suggests that this particular asymmetry is a potentially important explanation for settlement failure, at least in a subset of cases. We describe three possible equilibria in the model with asset constrained defendants. The constrained equilibrium is consistent with high dispute rates between the plaintiff and defendant. The model suggests that fee shifting will either have no effect on the incidence of trial or will increase it.

Application of hierarchical management system based on ICNSS in traumatic brain injury patients

Objective To explore application effect of hierarchical management based on Intensive Care Nursing Scoring System (ICNSS) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with brain injury. Methods A total of 65 ICU patients with brain injury from June 2013 to May 2014 were treated as control group; another 60 cases of ICU patients with brain injury from June 2014 to May 2015 were treated as observation group. Patients in the control group were implemented with routine nursing, while the observation group with hierarchical management based on ICNSS system. Prognosis, complications, nurse-patient disputes events, nursing risk events, and patient satisfaction of two groups were compared. Results In observation group, plant survival rate (3.33%), incidence of complications(6.67%), nurse dispute event rate(3.33%), incidence of nursing risk events (5.00%) were lower than those of the control group(χ2=4.296, 4.720, 4.296, 5.354; P<0.05). Among patient satisfaction of the observation group, scores of health education(3.85±0.45)points, medical environment(3.79±0.53)points, psychological nursing(3.65±0.78)points, service attitude(3.38±0.56)points, operational care(3.49±0.29)points were higher than those of the control group (t=40.821, 36.362, 23.801, 24.972, 43.465; P<0.01). Conclusions Based on the ICNSS, hierarchical management model can allocate human resources in ICU reasonably and effectively, improve quality of care for patients with traumatic brain in ICU, reduce the incidence nursing risk events and elevate patient and family satisfaction. Key words: Intensive Care Nursing Scoring System; Intensive care unit; Brain injury; Prognosis; Satisfaction

Costly Voluntary Disclosure in a Signaling Game

We conduct an experimental analysis of pretrial bargaining, while allowing for the costly disclosure of private information in a signaling game. Under the theory, 100% of plaintiffs with a weak case are predicted to remain silent, while 100% of the plaintiffs with a strong case are predicted to voluntarily disclose their type. In the second half of the experiment, 80% of weak plaintiffs remain silent and 69% of strong plaintiffs reveal their type. In line with theory, weak plaintiffs who reveal their type receive a lower payoff, while strong plaintiffs who reveal their type receive a higher payoff. Plaintiffs with a strong case who reveal their type have a dispute rate which is 50 percentage points lower than strong plaintiffs who remain silent. Because plaintiffs who reveal their type cannot extract the entire surplus from settlement from the defendant, the incentive to engage in voluntary disclosure is weaker empirically, than it is in theory.

Comparison of Utility Managers’ and Project Managers’ Satisfaction Rating of Alternative Project Delivery Methods Used in Water and Wastewater Infrastructures

Since the 1990s, the use of design-build (DB) and construction manager at-risk (CMAR) as alternative project delivery (APD) methods for water and wastewater projects has significantly increased, fast outpacing the growth of traditional project delivery methods. Currently, U.S. municipalities face challenges of an aging infrastructure, which requires replacing and expanding water and wastewater facilities at more than 7,000 utilities nationwide. This study compared and analyzed the differences between utility managers (UMs) and project managers (PMs) regarding their satisfaction levels of the various benefits when using APD methods. Respondents included UMs and PMs having experience in DB and CMAR water and wastewater projects. In this study, PMs were significantly more satisfied with the quality of project, change orders, and lower rate of disputes than UMs. In addition, PMs experienced a significantly higher schedule advantage than UMs. Most respondents were satisfied with the various advantages provided by APD methods.