Eric Helland

Adjunct Economist

Santa Monica Office

Education

Ph.D. in economics, Washington University, St. Louis

One Page Bio

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Eric Helland is an adjunct economist at the RAND Corporation, in the Institute for Civil Justice, and the William F. Podlich Professor of Economics and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College. He is the author of over 50 books and articles on topics in law and economics ranging from bounty hunters to judicial elections. His current research focuses on pharmaceutical and patent litigation, securities litigation, auto safety, and medical malpractice. In 2002–2003 he was a visiting fellow at the Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. In 2003–04 he served as a senior economist on President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers. In 2008 he was a visiting professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles and in 2011–12 a visiting scholar at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC. He is a coeditor of the International Review of Law and Economics.

His articles have appeared in such scholarly journals as the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Journal of Regulatory Economics, Journal of Legal Studies, American Law and Economics Review, Land Economics, Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Contemporary Economic Policy, Journal of Law and Economics, Economic Inquiry, and Review of Economics and Statistics.

Helland holds a Ph.D. in economics from Washington University in St. Louis.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

Estimating the Impact of Case Management in MDLs
Peremptory Challenges of Judges
Opioid Litigation

Selected Publications

Eric A. Helland, "“The Role of Ideology in Judicial Evaluations of Experts,” Journal of Law and Economics.," Journal of Law and Economics (forthcoming)

Paul Heaton and Eric Helland, " “Does It Matter Who Pays for Auto Injuries?" ," Journal of Risk and Insurance, 2018

Eric A. Helland and Jon Klick, "“Medicare Secondary Payer and Settlement Delay”," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 15(2), 2018

Eric A. Helland and Jungmo Yoon, "“Estimating Effects of English Rule on Litigation Outcomes”," Review of Economics and Statistics, 99(4), 2017

Honors & Awards

President, Society for Empirical Legal Studies
Fellow of the Society for Empirical Legal Studies

Publications

Report
Rethinking Case Management and the Process of Civil Justice Reform: Summary and Papers Presented at a UCLA-RAND Center for Law and Public Policy Conference
This publication summarizes the discussions and presents four pieces of scholarship presented during the UCLA-RAND Center for Law and Public Policy-sponsored "Rethinking Civil Case Management" conference.
Mar 15, 2023
Multimedia
Opioid Litigation: What's New, and What Does It Mean for Future Litigation?
More than 2,000 plaintiffs have joined the largest civil trial in U.S. history: National Prescription Opiate Litigation (MDL 2804). In this virtual symposium, experts discuss the opioid litigation and its effects on the future of mass litigation.
Feb 9, 2021
Journal Article
Unintended Consequences of Products Liability: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Market
This article explains a surprising effect of tort liability in the market for prescription drugs: punitive damages shift liability from doctors to drug companies, but not when physician malpractice liability is limited."
Dec 11, 2020
Journal Article
What Can DNA Exonerations Tell Us About Racial Differences in Wrongful-Conviction Rates?
We show that data on DNA exonerations can be informative about racial differences in wrongful-conviction rates.
Dec 11, 2020
Journal Article
Does It Matter Who Pays for Auto Injuries?
In many states, auto insurers rather than health insurers pay for a substantial fraction of the medical care following auto crashes.
2019
Journal Article
The Role of Ideology in Judicial Evaluations of Experts
This article tests the legal realist theory of judicial behavior, which posits that judges' ideology impacts their legal decisions, but that the law constrains the judges' ability to exercise those preferences.
2019
Report
The Role of Health Care Liens in Litigation and Recovery
This paper examines the different types of health care liens and trends in prevalence, as well as how liens have changed the landscape of claim resolution.
Nov 19, 2018
Journal Article
Medicare Secondary Payer and Settlement Delay
The Medicare Secondary Payer Act of 1980 and its subsequent amendments led to a delay in the resolution of disputes involving auto accidents of about six months.
2018
Journal Article
Contingent Fee Litigation in New York City
The New York courts have collected a wealth of data on contingent fee litigation. This Article aims to provide a preliminary analysis of the data in the closing statements.
2017
Journal Article
Maybe There Is No Bias in the Selection of Disputes for Litigation
This article attempts to contribute to the empirical and theoretical literature on litigation, settlement, and selection by analyzing New York litigation "closing statements".
2017
Journal Article
Multilevel Selection in Litigation Data: A Bounds Approach
Proposes a bounds approach to address the problem of selection with litigation data.
2017
Journal Article
Estimating the Effects of the English Rule on Litigation Outcomes
The English rule prescribes that the loser of a lawsuit pay the winner's litigation costs.
Dec 8, 2016
Journal Article
Measuring How Stock Ownership Affects Which Judges and Justices Hear Cases
This study aims to measure the impact of recusals due to stock ownership on the pool of judges and justices that hear cases involving publicly traded corporations.
Sep 14, 2015
Draft
Are Settlements in Patent Litigation Collusive? Evidence from Paragraph IV Challenges
Estimates the impact of Paragraph IV challenges and settlements on generic entry and evaluate the implications for drug prices and quantity.
Apr 21, 2015
Draft
Tort Reform and Physician Labor Supply: A Review of the Evidence
Reviews the evidence on the relationship between tort reform and physician supply and assess the implications for any given state.
Sep 12, 2014
Journal Article
Medical Malpractice Reform: Noneconomic Damages Caps Reduced Payments 15 Percent, with Varied Effects by Specialty
The impact of medical malpractice reforms on the average size of malpractice payments in specific physician specialties is unknown and subject to debate.
2014
Journal Article
Bias in the Legal Profession: Self-Assessed Versus Statistical Measures of Discrimination
This article uses data from the After the J.D. study to compare standard Blinder-Oaxaca measures of earnings discrimination to self-reported measures of client discrimination, other work-related discrimination, and harassment.
2014
Report
Fair Value Accounting, Historical Cost Accounting, and Systemic Risk: Policy Issues and Options for Strengthening Valuation and Reducing Risk
Examines the relationship between fair value accounting and historical cost accounting and systemic risk to the financial system, including the role that the accounting approaches played in the 2008 financial crisis.
Oct 9, 2013
Research Brief
Systemic Risk in the Financial Sector: The Role of Fair Value Accounting Versus Historical Cost Accounting
Examines the relationship between fair value accounting and historical cost accounting and systemic risk to the financial system, including the role that accounting approaches played in the 2008 and earlier financial crises.
Oct 9, 2013
Journal Article
Valid Inference in Single-Firm, Single-Event Studies
This paper concerns single-firm event studies, which are especially important in the context of securities litigation. Event studies can be used to address directly the materiality and loss causation elements.
2013
Journal Article
How Much Should Judges Be Paid? An Empirical Study on the Effect of Judicial Pay on the State Bench
Judicial salaries have a small but significant effect on the likelihood of exit and thus the length of judicial tenure, and a small effect on the background of judges that join the appellate bench.
May 1, 2012
Journal Article
Product Liability and Moral Hazard: Evidence from General Aviation
We estimate the impact of tort liability on a subset of consumers who have significant control over the probability of an accident: consumers of general aviation aircraft.
2012
Report
Recovery Under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act: Impact of Reporting Thresholds
Offers findings from an analysis of how the reporting thresholds set for the Medicare Secondary Payer Act will affect the recovery efforts of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Jun 21, 2011
Draft
Judicial Expenditures and Litigation Access: Evidence from Auto Injuries
Measures the relationship between state-level court expenditures and the propensity of injured parties to pursue litigation.
Jan 5, 2010
Draft
Bargaining in the Shadow of the Website: Disclosure's Impact on Litigation Behavior
Investigates the significance of secrecy and disclosure for medical malpractice litigation.
Sep 23, 2009
Draft
The Relation between Regulation and Class Actions: Evidence from the Insurance Industry
Examines the relation between regulation and class actions in the insurance industry.
Aug 13, 2009
Draft
Does Treatment Respond to Reimbursement Rates? Evidence from Trauma Care
Using data from inpatient hospitalizations surrounding a 2003 Colorado auto insurance reform, tests the model of behavior that predicts physicians may respond dysfunctionally to financial incentives by recommending unnecessary treatment.
Jan 29, 2009
Draft
No-Fault Insurance and Automobile Accidents
Examines whether drivers under no-fault insurance causes more accidents.
Jan 16, 2009
Draft
Auto Liability in Nevada Compared to Other States: Testimony for Nevada Auto Theft and Insurance Fraud Task Force
Briefing prepared as testimony for the Nevada Auto Theft and Insurance Fraud Task Force intended to inform the Task Force about Nevada’s liability situation relative to other states.
Jul 17, 2008
Draft
The Impact of Liability on the Physician Labor Market
Examines the impact of malpractice reforms on physician behavior using a new measure of liability risk and a nationally representative, individual-level dataset on physician behavior.
Jun 13, 2006

Multimedia

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What’s the Next Opioids?
Oct 22, 2020