Colloquium : Understanding Judicial Mechanisms: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Courts

Abstract

Despite their pivotal role, courts as institutions have often been overshadowed by other political entities in academic studies. However, with the advent of increased digitization and a growing emphasis on transparency, there is a renewed interest in understanding the functioning and impacts of judiciaries. This talk offers an overview of an array of projects aimed at unraveling the complexities of the judiciary from various angles, including access to justice, ingroup bias, institutional coherence, and the reciprocal impacts of law. Drawing on tools from economics, law, and machine learning, we will present some insights into these questions and highlight some limitations of such interdisciplinary efforts. Along the way we will also highlight some challenges of transitioning disciplines from mathematics to applied social science.