Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 96 No. 3 1981
The Valuation of Legal Rights
Abstract
Such issues as the freedom of speech or the right to vote are usually discussed as matters of principle or public policy, without concern for the preferences of the potential users of these rights. Yet it is interesting to see how strongly valued they are. This paper develops a method to derive the demand for legal and constitutional rights and rules, the values attached to them, and their sensitivity to income and education. The model is based on referendum data and on the interpretation of nonvoting behavior.
- DOI
- 10.2307/1882682
- Volume
- 96
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 465
- Sources
- openalex crossref