Essays in empirical law and economics/

Abstract

This dissertation, which is a collection of three essays, uses empirical methods to study questions at the intersection of law and economics. The first chapter, co-authored with Joshua Fischman, explores how supervision by an administrative appeals court, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), influences the exercise of discretion of lower court immigration judges in asylum cases. The second chapter studies whether career concerns influence judicial decision-making within the context of asylum adjudication in immigration courts. The final chapter investigates how expansions in the right to counsel impacted criminal defendants, with particular focus on the Supreme Court's 1963 decision in Gideon vs. Wainwright.