摘要：The appellate review system is intended to serve as an efficient remedy for imperfect judicial decisionmaking. However, it can fulfill this task only when appeals are filed solely due to bad verdicts and areex-ante unpredictable based on factors that are exogenous to the judge. Using data from case recordsof a German trial court, we show that the probability of appeal can be predicted based on easilyobservable exogenous factors. Controlling for the complexity of a legal case, we find that judgesalso tend to increase their effort when the ex-ante probability of appeal is high. Thus, our empiricalevidence indicates an inefficiency in the appellate review system
