Abstract
Contrary to traditional wisdom, judges are not passive receivers of their agendas. Instead, many judges attempt to shape their dockets by encouraging potential litigants to bring particular cases. This encouragement takes the form of judges signaling their own positions on an issue as well as their colleagues' expected support. This process is modeled as a signaling game, with both separating and pooling equilibria resulting. The existence of pooling equilibria is of particular interest, as it indicates some judges misrepresent the chances of success of a case in order to induce desired legislation.
Date of this Version
April 2005
Recommended Citation
Tonja Jacobi, "The Judicial Signaling Game: How Judges Shape their Dockets" (April 2005). Law and Economics Papers. Working Paper 6.
https://law.bepress.com/nwwps-lep/art6