Does Empirical Legal Studies Shed more Heat than Light? The Case of Civil Damage Awards

Empirical investigation of legal systems is emerging as a leading trend in both the social sciences and the legal academy in the early twenty‐first century. Law reviews are now filled with studies reporting empirical data. Because empirical investigation of law commonly seeks to inform contentious social and political debates, however, its research often fuels more debate than it resolves. Partisans on both sides of contentious issues now cite the same body of research to support their reform efforts. However, social science research on law is not a useless undertaking, as it can sharpen debate. But the hope that the new empirical legal studies movement will become a neutral source of information for policy makers is unlikely to be realized.