Unequal access to justice: evidence from the universe of labour court cases in Brazil
What is your research about?
The wider agenda that this grant is part of will contribute to this debate by studying the determinants of access to justice for employment disputes in Brazil. First, we will provide novel descriptive evidence on unequal access to labour justice along salient dimensions of social inequality such as income, race, gender, and location. Second, we will evaluate the role of major barriers to accessing justice. Concretely, we will estimate the causal effects of monetary costs and liquidity constraints, the opening and closing of courts, and the digital transformation of the justice system. Third, we will study the broader impacts of access to justice on inequality by estimating the causal effects of these policies in the labour market.
How will the Stone Centre grant help your research?
The Stone Centre grant will be used to fund two types of research assistants. First, research assistants with expertise in modern applied microeconomics methods will prepare and help carry out all the data analyses describe above. Second, research assistants with expertise in Brazilian employment and labour law will continue to help us gather and understand relevant institutional details. This includes qualitative analyses based on interviews with employment lawyers and detailed reviews of specific labour cases.
What will you produce as part of your research?
We will publish a full research paper combining the various parts of the proposed research. We will write a summary of our findings for policymakers and the wider public through the IGC policy brief series and the Stone Centre research summaries series. We will also post a summary of our research and its policy implications on other high-impact blogs (e.g. VoxDev and the IGC blog).
About this grant
Title of the project: Unequal access to justice: evidence from the universe of labour court cases in Brazil
Value of the grant: £24,995
Duration: September 2023 – ongoing
