New study reveals the high financial value of privacy in legal proceedings
A new Management Science study provides rare real-world evidence that people are willing to give up thousands of dollars to prevent sensitive information about their health and income from becoming public.
A new Management Science study provides rare real-world evidence that people are willing to give up thousands of dollars to prevent sensitive information about their health and income from becoming public.
The short version
- The research, developed over five years by an international team, has now also laid the foundation for a European research project led by Ehud Guttel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
- This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies .
- The study was conducted by Hebrew University researchers Guttel, Ilan Kremer (also affiliated with the University of Warwick), Guy Lakan and Sarit Weisburd (also affiliated with CEPR), together with Liran Einav of Stanford University and NBER.
What happened
The researchers examined a legal reform introduced in Israel that granted anonymity to plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits. Before the reform, individuals who rejected an insurance settlement and pursued their claims in court faced the possibility that judgments would publicly disclose private details about their injuries, medical condition and earnings.
Why it matters
Using data from Israel's five largest insurance companies covering claims between 2011 and 2020, the researchers found that payments for personal injury claims increased by 12% to 17% after the privacy protections were introduced.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Phys.org via the links above and below.