Analisi quantitative di dati giuridici

This chapter explores the role of quantitative and empirical analysis in the study and practice of law, highlighting how legal reasoning can benefit from statistical and economic methodologies. Traditionally, legal analysis has been qualitative and discursive, while economic analysis has been quantitative and data-driven. However, the author argues that this distinction is largely stylistic rather than substantive. Both approaches aim to identify causal relationships and correlations between social phenomena. Quantitative legal analysis, in particular, enables the testing of hypotheses using statistical inference rather than relying solely on logical reasoning. The chapter emphasizes that empirical legal studies—especially those based on large datasets—allow scholars and practitioners to measure correlations, assess causality, and quantify probabilities with controlled margins of error. Unlike purely theoretical approaches, quantitative research produces replicable results and enables third-party verification. The chapter also explains the role of econometrics in legal research. Techniques such as linear regression help estimate functional relationships between dependent and independent variables. These methods are widely used across disciplines and can be applied to legal issues such as judicial efficiency, litigation rates, criminal behavior, environmental regulation, and family law reforms.