Research

Published Papers:

Selected Work in Progress

The Lifecycle of Judicial Bias

with Weijian Zou

(draft available on request)

Presented at: Charles University 2025, Freiburg PhD-Workshop on the Economics of Criminal Behavior 2025

Links: Presentation

An earlier version of this research was presented as two separate papers: "The Formation of Judicial Bias" and "Court Contagion".

Abstract: How does judicial bias arise and persist in the legal system? We trace the lifecycle of judicial bias in India's criminal courts, leveraging the quasi-random assignment of judges to courts and cases. We first document substantial variation in bias: within the same court, assigning a same-religion defendant from a judge at the 25th to 75th percentile of bias increases acquittal probability by 7.5 percentage points, 62% of the mean acquittal rate. We then examine how different triggers across a judge's professional career affect their bias. Exposure to Hindu-Muslim communal riots during a judge's first five years of service leads them to increase same-religion acquittal rates by 17.5%. Yet, judges who work alongside colleagues from different religions during this critical period show no such effect. Next, social interactions between judges reinforce judicial bias. On-the-job exposure to biased colleagues leads judges to increase same-religion acquittal rates by 3.2 percentage points, with effects that persist for over a year. These findings suggest that judicial bias is neither innate nor inevitable, but rather shaped by experiences and relationships, and that thoughtful institutional design can prevent and mitigate discriminatory practices across various professions.