NES Professor Sultan Mehmood will present his article "The impact of Presidential appointment of judges: Montesquieu or the Federalists?" at the City Economic Seminar.

Abstract: A central question in development economics is whether there are adequate checks and balances on the executive. This paper provides causal evidence on how increasing constraints on the executive –via removal of Presidential discretion in judicial appointments - promotes rule of law. The age structure of judges at the time of the reform and the mandatory retirement age law provides us with an exogenous source of variation in the termination of Presidential discretion in judicial appointments. Overall, the results indicate that Presidential appointment of judges deteriorates rule of law.

Working language of the seminar: English.

The seminar will be held online.

To join the seminar, please write to [email protected] with your first and last name from your business email address. Seminar organizers will send you the link.

Joining the seminar will be organized through a "waiting room". Please enter ZOOM under your first and last names, and the moderators will proceed you directly to the "room" where the seminar will be held. Please join in 3-5 minutes before the start of the event, so that everyone (but no more than the first 100 attendees) can be connected to the talk.

During the seminar, microphones and cameras will be turned off for all participants except for the speaker and moderator.

Anyone who wants to comment during the talk or ask a question should write his or her comment / question in the chat. The moderator, at his or her discretion, will address it to the speaker or not.

If you want to ask a question or make a comment after the end of the presentation, you should write about it in the chat, and write your comment / question, at least briefly. The moderator will read out your question / comment or give you the floor by turning on the microphone and camera.